Executive Summary
Orange County Schools
Dr. Del Burns, Superintendent
200 East King Street
Hillsborough
,
NC 27278-2570
Introduction
1
Description of the School System
2
System's Purpose
3
Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement
4
Introduction
Every school system has its own story to tell. The context in which teaching and learning takes place influences the processes and
procedures by which the school system makes decisions around curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The context also impacts the way a school system stays faithful to its vision. Many factors contribute to the overall narrative such as an identification of stakeholders, a description of stakeholder engagement, the trends and issues affecting the school system, and the kinds of programs and services that a school system implements to support student learning. <br><br> The purpose of the Executive Summary (ES) is to provide a school system with an opportunity to describe in narrative form the strengths and challenges it encounters. By doing so, the public and members of the community will have a more complete picture of how the school system perceives itself and the process of self-reflection for continuous improvement. This summary is structured for the school system to reflect on how it provides teaching and learning on a day to day basis.
Executive Summary
Orange County Schools
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Description of the School System
Describe the school system's size, community/communities, location, and changes it has experienced in the last three years. Include demographic information about the students, staff, and community at large. What unique features and challenges are associated with the community/communities the school system serves?
The Orange County Schools (NC) public school system is located in Hillsborough, NC; the county seat of Orange County. Orange County has nearly 130,000 residents, and it has two school systems within it: Orange County Schools and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. The Orange County Schools district spans from the central part of Orange County northward to encompass the top half of the County. The school system is comprised of 13 schools (7 Elementary Schools, 3 Middle Schools, 2 High Schools, 1 Alternative School).
The townships and communities located within Orange County Schools include Mebane, Cedar Grove, Efland, Hillsborough, and parts of Chapel Hill. The University of North Carolina is located in Orange County, and the university serves as a major draw for a rapidly growing population. The communities served by Orange County Schools have experienced growth as businesses and families look to Orange County as a destination for growth and success.
Orange County Schools serves approximately 7,581 students. The gender composition of those students is 51.32% male and 48.68% female. The ethnic/racial composition of students within Orange County Schools is: White 62.8%, Black 15.63%, Hispanic/Latino 16.93%, Asian .85%, American Indian .29%, Pacific Islander .03%, and Two or more racial/ethnic groups 3.46%. In the past three years, the fastest growing ethnic constituency within the school system has been the Hispanic/Latino classification. This matches the same growth and change that Orange County has experienced as well.
Orange County Schools employs nearly 1,100 staff members. Of that number 550 are classroom teachers. Slightly more than 37% of the teachers within the district have advanced degrees, and 25% of the teachers in the district are National Board Certified teachers. The ethnic/racial component of the district does not match the student composition. Combined, the Black and Latino/Hispanic ethnic groups do not comprise more than 10% of the classroom teachers in the district. Mirroring the demographic composition of the students served will be a challenge that lies ahead for the district.
System's Purpose
Provide the school system's purpose statement and ancillary content such as mission, vision, values, and/or beliefs. Describe how the school system embodies its purpose through its program offerings and expectations for students.
Currently, the schools system does not have a purpose statement, but the district does have a mission and vision statement. The Board of Education for Orange County Schools is committed to gathering thoughts and ideas from across our county to inform the Board and to influence the decision-making process for public education in our community. Based on this commitment, the Board engaged the community during the spring of 2014 to develop a vision for our public schools and build broad community understanding. The result of the community engagement process yielded a vision for Orange County Schools. The community engagement process was used to inform the crafting of the mission and the strategic plan for the district as well.
The district is currently in the process of creating a new strategic plan based on the information gathered during the community visioning process. At this point, the district has adopted a new vision and vision. The implementation of the strategic plan also includes goals that will influence and guide district performance and decisions. Individual schools will align with the district's goals within the strategic plan.
District Vision
We envision a public school system that prepares all students to be creative, constructive thinkers who become healthy, productive and responsible members of our community and the world.
District Mission
Orange County Schools provides learning opportunities that develop resourceful citizens prepared to engage in an ever changing and diverse world.
The Goals in the Strategic Plan for the district are:
Orange County Schools will be the first choice for families....
1.through the provision of engaging learning opportunities for all students to prepare them for citizenship, higher education and careers; 2.through consistent and effective engagement with our diverse community;
3.through retaining, recruiting, and developing a diverse professional team accountable for the learning opportunities for all students;
4.through the provision of safe and sustainable operations and well-maintained facilities and equipment that support learning opportunities for all students;
5.through the accountable, equitable, and transparent management of human and financial resources.
Executive Summary
Orange County Schools
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Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement
Describe the school system's notable achievements and areas of improvement in the last three years. Additionally, describe areas for improvement that the school system is striving to achieve in the next three years.
Most notably, the Board decided to engage the community in the visioning initiative for the district. This process took place over the better part of a year, and the results have gone far beyond a vision document for the district. The community initiative has yielded a fruitful, two-way communication between the district and its external stakeholders, in addition to informing the strategic plan for the district.
The District undertook a technology initiative, the 1:1 initiative, to increase technology use through the curriculum and as a method to drive instruction. All students have laptops or tablets for use in the classroom, and middle and high school students are assigned laptops for take-home use as well.
The District has also begun to increase its investment in its employees. The board believes that investing in employees will retain and attract a highly qualified, diverse team of professionals that support and create an environment of excellence in learning. Within the past 12 months, the Board has approved a vision plan for all employees (with no out-of-pocket employee contribution), an increased life insurance benefit, and a living wage for employees of Orange County Schools.
The challenges that lie ahead for the District include decreasing the achievement gaps between the ethnic/racial groups, improving
achievement for all students in literacy and math, increasing the graduation rate, retaining and recruiting diverse, highly-qualified employees, and managing the fiscal requirements and needs of the District. These challenges present identified areas within the goals of the new strategic plan. The goals of the strategic plan are aligned to the district's mission and vision. Consequently, if the district can meet those goals, then the areas of improvement and challenge for district will be fulfilled and the mission and vision statements will have cascaded throughout the school system.
Additional Information
Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections.
N/A
Executive Summary
Orange County Schools
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