THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 22, 1995 TAG: 9507220248
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
For the second year in a row, the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank and Dare County school districts have earned high honors from the governor's office.
The Elizabeth City-Pasquotank system was one of two districts in the state to receive an ``Entrepreneurial Schools'' designation recently from the Teacher Advisory Committee, a group of teachers from around the state who advise Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. on educational issues.
Cape Hatteras School in Buxton was one of 11 schools to earn the designation.
The 13 districts and schools were selected from 163 entries throughout the state. They will be recognized at a banquet Oct. 27 in Raleigh.
``It's an acknowledgment of the hard work that so many of the people in the district have engaged in,'' Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Superintendent Joseph Peel said Friday. ``It's quite an honor. . . . I really think that this is something that the whole community can share in.''
Entrepreneurial schools are Hunt's effort to reward schools that develop innovative ways of helping children learn, said Kim Brooks, an assistant press secretary.
Last year was the first time entrepreneurial schools were named. Two Pasquotank schools - P.W. Moore and Pasquotank elementaries - were recognized for innovations in classroom technology and in class scheduling.
In Dare last year, Kitty Hawk Elementary was singled out for a number of instructional initiatives.
Elizabeth City-Pasquotank's 1995 district award notes the system's efforts to involve the community in its schools and to provide teachers and principals more flexibility in their classrooms. The district has spent the past several years working to treat students as customers and to let individual schools manage themselves.
Cape Hatteras School was noted for a new Friday afternoon early-release program that has provided enrichment opportunities for students and training time for staff members.
Under the program, students at the K-12 school have the option of leaving at 1:10 p.m. Fridays. Those who stay, including most of the elementary and middle school students, are exposed to computers, music instruction, business visitors and other activities.
Staff members who aren't working with the children during that time receive technology training.
``It allowed kids to do things they could not do during the regular school day,'' said Cape Hatteras School Assistant Principal Ray Gray. ``We're real excited about it. . . . We reaped a lot of benefits from it, and the community did also.'' by CNB