Who makes the most money in the Wake County school system?

That's one of the questions that the Charlotte Observe looked at as part of a Sunday article on six-figures salaries in Wake and Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools. Wake had 99 employees making at least $100,000 with 60 of them being principals.

This compares to 103 Wake employees with six-figure salaries in 2010, 112 in 2009 and 99 in 2008.

Very seldom do we high school reporters get a chance to talk to administrators of the schools we cover. But with the circumstances this week surrounding the importance of Millbrook having both its girls and boys basketball teams playing for a state title tomorrow, I felt Principal Dana King needed to have a voice in our coverage.

I’m really glad I had a chance to meet King, who not only was Wake County’s Principal of the Year in 2010 but she is an avid sports fan. She knows her basketball and she was able to give a good sense of the pulse at Millbrook right now. She’s been at the school for 10 years and has seen the Wildcats only come close to a state championship. Now with both teams playing for the titles for the first time, here’s what King had to say about the school rallying around its basketball teams.

King on Millbrook’s victories in Fayetteville in the Eastern Regional final:

“I was in tears because it was such an emotional day and because we’re the underdogs. And those are our kids. It was high visibility for the school. We were in the stands saying to each other ‘What does this means?’ For our Millbrook Maniacs it meant you run around the gym.”

On what makes both teams refreshing:

“I’ve been here those years when someone was the perceived superstar on the team and the attention is on that person first and everybody might get mention if they have a good game. For some reason both teams have figured out the right combination of playing for each other and doing what the coach tells them. I think this team understands they have to work together to play at this level. It’s fun to see that everybody has a place on this game and that everyone needs to contribute.”

The Wake County school system has announced this evening its top school-level administrators for 2010.

Millbrook High School Principal Dana King was named the district's 2010 Principal of the Year. Briarcliff Elementary School Assistant Principal Robert Grant was named Wake's 2010 Assistant Principal of the Year.

Before you guys ask, I'm not certain if Grant is the son of Gerald Grant, author of "Hope and Despair in the American City: Why There Are No Bad Schools in Raleigh."

Most Wake County students aren't in class yet but we've already got the 2010-11 finalists for Principal of the Year and Assistant Principal of the Year.

The Principal of the Year finalists, announced on Thursday, are James Argent of Lake Myra Elementary, Pamela Kinsey-Barker of Brassfield Elementary, Teresa Winstead of Durant Road Elementary, Cathy Williams of East Garner Middle and Dana King of Millbrook High.

Could Wake County teachers be meeting in the mornings this fall instead of in the afternoons for their professional learning community time?

That's an idea being explored by school board member John Tedesco. In that scenario, teachers would meet in the mornings with the possibility of delaying the start of classes.

Whether that option will be doable this fall is a question.

UPDATE

See end of post for links to three of the school PLT presentations.

Speaking of the weekly Wednesday early dismissals, Wake NCAE is holding a press conference today on how professional learning teams are helping improve student performance

At the press conference, Wake NCAE "will invite invite parents, community leaders and school board members to celebrate American Education Week by joining educators at local schools during a PLT Wednesday session."

"Educators want to keep this important time to communicate, cooperate, and help ensure that all children's educational needs are met," according to the press release.

CORRECTED DANA KING'S TITLE TO SAY PRESIDENT OF SCHOOL SYSTEM'S PRINCIPAL'S DIVISION 

The tune from Wake is a lot more upbeat about the latest report coming from Queens University of Charlotte.

As noted in today's article, the report found that Wake's high school graduates outperformed those from Durham, Charlotte, Forysth and Guilford when it comes to academic performance in the UNC system. The Wake students also had the higher UNC graduation rate of the group.

For at least some people in Wake, the report lends new validity to their belief that the district's diversity policy is superior to the neighborhood school approach used in Charlotte.

UPDATE

Click here for the Charlotte Observer article on the study.