SCHOOL BOARD
Along with other Wake County magnet schools, the PTA has passed this statement in support of the current school assignment policy:
"The General Membership of Hunter Elementary School PTA has voted to support Wake County School District's current student assignment policy and encourage the Board to continue to use socio-economic diversity as a factor to maintain educational excellence, equity and access for all students. We particularly encourage the continued use of the Magnet Program as a successful strategy for achieving strong student performance and socio-economic diversity."

Tuesday, March 2 is going to be a critical day in the history of Wake County Schools and the Magnet Program.
If you have not read Saturday's News and Observer story, please find a link here:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/02/26/360264/wake-school-board-set-to-v...
The story describes the School Board's intentions better than I could.
Also, The New York Times piece can be found here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/us/28raleigh.html?hp
The use of socio-economic statistics to identify at-risk kids is at the heart of the debate in Wake County. Tuesday that practice could be eliminated. And as a result, our schools will change. What will happen to the Magnet Program whose many purposes include promoting socio-economic diversity?
Our opinion matters and now is the time to get involved. If you oppose the changes discussed, you need to make your voice heard NOW. Speak at the Board Meeting and call or email the Board Members.
http://www.wcpss.net/Board/boeinfo.html

Chris Malone, District 1 cmalone2@wcpss.net
John Tedesco, District 2 jtedesco@wcpss.net
Kevin Hill, District 3 klhill@wcpss.net
Keith Sutton, District 4 ksutton@wcpss.net
Anne McLaurin, MD, District 5 amclaurin@wcpss.net
Carolyn Morrison, District 6 cbmorrison@wcpss.net
Deborah Prickett, District 7 dprickett@wcpss.net
Ron Margiotta, District 8 rmargiotta@wcpss.net
Debra Goldman, District 9 dgoldman@wcpss.net

Hunter and other Wake County magnet schools will continue to advocate for our school, families, and community consistent with this statement. In addition, the attached resolution (bottom of this blog entry) is being offered as another way to support magnet schools. The School Board meeting on March 2 will supposedly focus on the school assignment topic. Please continue to voice your opinions to ALL school board members by either telephone or email.

MINI GRANTS AWARDED
With money raised from our fall REACH for the STARS fund raiser, PTA was able to offer $8,000 to our teachers and specialists. Mini grant applications were submitted, reviewed and awarded the beginning of February. A complete list of awards and recipients may be found on the on our website. Congratulations!

AUTHOR VISIT
Author / Illustrator Kevin O'Malley will visit Hunter on April 7th and 8th. Our Author visit committees have been planning his visit, which promises to be a memorable time for all our students. Plan to attend our popular Family Night the evening of Thursday, April 8th at 6:30 pm in the media center. O'Malley will give a presentation, answer questions, and autograph books. His books will be available for purchase that evening. There will also be games and prizes for all attendees. Look for more details in the next few weeks.

REFLECTIONS
The Reflections awards ceremony took place last Wednesday night. Out of 72 total winners, Hunter Elementary had seven-- that's 10%--an amazing success for our school! Out of the seven Hunter winners, two entries have advanced to the state level. CONGRATULATIONS to
Zoe Neijna (5th grade) for Visual Art in the intermediate division and William Arrons (2nd grade) for Musical Composition in the primary division.

READ-A-THON
Read-A-Thon winners by class and individual will be announced soon.
THANK YOU to all that participated.
We raised over $7,400 this year.

HUNTER HOSPITALITY
Upcoming events include:
Author Visit Breakfast (April 8th),
Teacher Luncheon (April 21st),
Secretaries Day (April 21st),
Muffins for Mom (May 7th) and
Donuts for Dad (June 4th).
If you would like to help with any of these events, please contact Kerry Ann Martinez at jmartinez18@nc.rr.com

GOT SCHOOL PHOTOS?
The yearbook elective is looking for photos of students. The kids love to see their faces in the yearbook. Anyone can contribute photos taken during the 2009-10 school year on field trips, in the classroom or at other school events.
Photos will be accepted until April 1st. Use the guideline below when submitting pictures:
Close up photos work the best.
All photos submitted must be clear, digital photos on a CD (300 dpi quality)
Cell phone pictures are will not reproduce.
Turn the CD into the PTA box in the office with "YEARBOOK PHOTOS/Class Name" written on it. Also, please note what grades/events are on the CD. If you only have one or two photos that would work, you may email them to
Angie Parham at aparham@wcpss.net.

HUNTER HEALTH FAIR
Our 1st Healthy Heart Fair will be held on March 17 from 6-8 pm.
Our own Hunter Jump Rope Elective students will be performing their new routines in the Gym. Families will have the opportunity to learn about healthy heart activities. Contact Vickie Adamson at 844-3450
for more information

BATTLE of the GRADES
Class box top winners coming soon.

Don't Forget!
Some important dates to remember:

EVERY WEDNESDAY: School is dismissed at 2:45 pm
Mar 9: Author visit committee meeting, 9:15 media center
Mar 10: Early "EARLY" release at 1:15 Mar 12: Electives end
Mar 17: Health Fair, 6-8 pm
Mar 18: Tropical Smoothie "fundraising night"
Mar 24: Theater Production Show, 7 pm
Mar 25: Theater Production Show, 7 pm
Mar 26: End of 3rd quarter
Mar 29: School (snow make up date)

WHEREAS, the Hunter Parent-Teacher Association, (Hunter PTA), is an all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on improving the education and well-being of children;

WHEREAS, the Hunter PTA has a responsibility to advocate for our children's education by actively supporting the preservation and improvement of Wake County's renowned public education system, including one of its cornerstones - its magnet schools;

WHEREAS, in 1982 Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) began converting many of Raleigh's neighborhood schools to magnet schools with enhanced, innovative curriculums accomplishing the following goals:
Filling underused schools and empty classrooms,
Achieving voluntary desegregation of schools,
Alleviating growth and overcrowding issues in the expanding suburbs,
Expanding educational opportunities and choice throughout Wake County,
Promoting program innovations to foster system-wide improvements,
Providing more parental participation through a program of optional schools, and
Providing a long-range plan for student assignment and facility use.
WHEREAS, in the same timeframe, the U.S. Congress enacted the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP), under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which was predicated on Congressional findings that:
Magnet schools are a significant part of the Nation's effort to achieve voluntary desegregation in our Nation's schools.
These efforts help ensure equal educational opportunities for all students.
Magnet schools offer a wide range of distinctive programs that have served as models for school improvement efforts.
WHEREAS, the WCPSS magnet program has successfully secured seven grants totaling $36 million under the MSAP program (Exhibit A attached hereto sets forth the history of the MSAP grants), most recently securing a grant of $8,320,469 during the 2007-2010 grant period (plus a $200,000 recently awarded supplement), on the basis that the magnet program achieves the purposes of the MSAP legislation to:
Develop and design innovative educational methods and practices that promote diversity and increase choices; and
Eliminate, prevent, or reduce minority group isolation in schools with substantial proportions of minority students in support of voluntary desegregation in public schools.
WHEREAS, Wake County staff is preparing a grant application for the 2010-2013 grant period which must be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education by April 2010;
WHEREAS, the Wake county magnet program may no longer meet the eligibility standards of the MSAP grant if diversity ceases to be one of the goals of the magnet program or if diversity is not one of the factors used in the student assignment criteria for the magnet schools;
WHEREAS, without the MSAP grants, the Wake County magnet schools may lose a significant source of funding and would have to reduce program offerings substantially;
WHEREAS, the Wake County magnet schools have also been an effective way of managing educational costs as school capacity in Wake County's 33 magnet schools is an average of 100% in contrast to the average capacity of non-magnet schools in Wake County of 92%;
WHEREAS, the Wake County Board of Education is tasked with adopting policies to serve as guideposts to staff and the public with the purpose of, among other things, providing uniform and consistent policy statements and sustaining the line of communication to the community; and
WHEREAS, parents currently face considerable uncertainty as to the future of magnet schools and desire that the Board of Education provide guidance to the WCPSS staff and the community by formally adopting policy with respect to the magnet schools.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Hunter PTA urges the Wake County Board of Education to adopt a formal policy reaffirming the importance of magnet schools in Wake County's education system and, in order to ensure the continued excellence of the magnet schools and funding of the magnet program through federal MSAP grants, incorporating socioeconomic diversity into the goals of the magnet schools;
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Hunter PTA urges the Wake County Board of Education to recognize that the magnet school program has resulted in the effective use of school facilities and has otherwise been essential in achieving a low cost-per-student ratio while providing Wake County students with a significantly enhanced and nationally recognized curriculum;
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Hunter PTA urges the Board of Education to formalize their intentions by incorporating the following specific magnet program goals into Board Policy:
Maximize use of school facilities,
Provide expanded educational opportunities, and
Reduce high concentrations of poverty and support diverse populations.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Hunter PTA believes that the Board's adoption of a formal policy with respect to the magnet schools will foster parental and community confidence in the continuity of educational excellence in Wake County and is in furtherance of the purposes of Board policy to provide uniform and consistent policy statements and effectively communicate policy to parents, staff and the community at large; and

PROCLAIMED, that the Hunter PTA thanks the Wake County Public School System for their support of these objectives and encourages the Wake County Board of Education and other governing bodies in the state and county to continue to support all three of these specific objectives when establishing future policy, and making budget recommendations or fiscal decisions.