Rock Hill School News For March 29, 2010

Rock Hill Schools conducted a Voter Registration Campaign last month. Supt. Lynn Moody initiated the campaign stating: "If we don’t vote, we don’t count! Those running for office know who contributes to their campaign and who votes. Public school employees can cast a vote and let their voices be heard."
 
Rock Hill Schools has received a $23,750 grant from the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation to build an outdoor classroom on the campus of the Sunset Park Center for Accelerated  Studies. With an expected completion date in August, the classroom will be open to all elementary schools during the day and to the community evenings and weekends.
    
In addition to singing the praises of Lowe's, Deborah Maynard, the district's grant writer, stated that she would like to thank David Norton, instructional specialist; Sally Shive, science coach at Sunset Park; and Duke Power which has contributed $1,000 toward this project.
  
Sullivan Middle School will host a Spring Festival and Car Show on its campus from 10 am - 5 pm on Sat., April 17. Proceeds will help to kick off  the school's literacy initiative. Sullivan will accept vendors and business sponsors until Weds., April 14.                                

Congratulations to:

• Cathy Griffin (Northwestern High School) and Caroline Yetman (Rock Hill High School) and their Model UN teams on awards received at the Winthrop Model UN competition last weekend. Northwestern's team, representing Russia, won the  Winthrop Cup while Rock  Hill High, representing the U.S.A., won "The Delegation Most in Character" award. 
• Beverly Laney, choral music teacher at South Pointe High School and the Stallion Corral Concert Choir which, for the 3rd year in a row, placed 5th in the state out of 30 choirs. 
• Emily Thompson, orchestra teacher at Dutchman Creek Middle School. The 7th and 8th grade orchestra earned a Superior rating at the S. C. Orchestra Concert Festival on March 26. Members received straight superior ratings from the judges, including a perfect score from one judge.   
• Coordinator Sandra Holeman and the  Sullivan Middle School Junior Civitans on raising $2800 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. 
• Coordinators Jason Werts and Jacob Stancil and the students and faculty at Old Pointe Elementary School on raising $3,291 for the American Heart Assn. 
• James Turner, band director at South Pointe High School, and the Band of Thunder's Winter Drum Line which placed first and the winter guard which placed third at the Carolina Winter Ensemble Assn.'s competition last weekend. 
• Marsha Gross and the Northwestern High School Chamber Orchestra. The orchestra performed Grade VI repertoire at the S.C. Orchestra Concert Festival and received a perfect score on their prepared musical selections.  

To bring attention that April is "Child Abuse Awareness Month," the Central Child Development Center is bringing a speaker to the Community Performance Center on March 30 to talk about recognizing signs of physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, and mental injury and what concerned adults can do.

 The South Pointe High School Prom Committee will sponsor a district-wide sale on April 24 in the Sullivan parking lot.

Who Are Your Rock Hill School Representatives?

Sometimes it's good to know what your Rock Hill School Representatives look like. The Rock Hill School Board contact information can be found here. The state and federal contacts can be found here.

We Get Emails

As you can imagine, the Rock Hill School Board has been getting a lot of emails.  There have been a lot of appeals to the board to save items on the "cut" list by the school district administration. Unfortunately, something has to be cut, and most emails only focus on saving items, which is only part of the issue.  One letter from Northwestern Band Director, Larry Wells, was particularly moving. You can read it (with permission from Mr. Wells) by clicking here.

An Interesting Look At South Carolina's Taxes

The Maps below show how South Carolina compares to the other states in tax rates. Yellow means some of the lowest rates and blue means some of the highest. You can find more information by clicking here.

Rock Hill Schools March Work Session To Be Streamed Live Over Internet

The Monday, March 22nd, 2010 Rock Hill Schools work session on budget issues will be streamed live over the internet. You can access the link by clicking here. The meeting is scheduled to start at 6:00 PM.

How Do You Know Who Supports Public Education in the State Legislature?

The Rock Hill School Board passed a resolution on March 8th, 2010 asking the York County delegation to make known their personal position on several items important to public education in South Carolina. Since this is an election year, ask them their position on those items. You can get a copy of the resolution by clicking here.

Improving education in South Carolina doesn't start in Columbia, it starts at home. Educate yourself and your legislator.

Rock Hill School Board To Have Extra Work Session in March For Budget Discussions

The Rock Hill School Board will not have a March Business Meeting so extra time can be spent discussing the 2010-11 budget shortfall. The extra work session will be on Monday, March 22, 2010 in the District Office Training room. The proposed agenda is as follows:



SCHOOL BOARD WORK SESSION

District Office - Training Room

6:00 p.m.

22-Mar-10


AGENDA TOPIC DISCUSSION LEADER Time
Additional Thoughts on Crisis Plan Lynn Moody  
    *Current Status of Cuts Made in 2009-2010   5 minutes
    *Consultants   5 minutes
    *Professional Development, Field Trips   5 minutes
    *Foreign Language   5 minutes
    *Band and Orchestra   5 minutes
    *Reading Recovery   5 minutes
    *Athletics   5 minutes
    *District Office Staff   5 minutes
Financial Crisis Plan Discussion Bob Norwood 60 minutes
Task Force of Business Leaders Lynn Moody 10 minutes
Overnight Field Trip Request - SPHS Wrestling Team Harriet Jaworowski 5 minutes
Recommended Change in 2010-2011 School Calendar Elaine Baker 5 minutes