THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 14, 1996 TAG: 9602140532
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BARCO LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Parents of mainland school children apparently are satisfied with the proposed boundaries for Moyock, Central, Griggs and the soon-to-be Knapp elementary schools.
Only one person spoke at a widely publicized hearing Monday night, and that was to ask about the transition for students moved in the middle of the school year.
Patricia Partridge asked the Currituck County Board of Education about Moyock Elementary School children who are uprooted in the fall, after the new school year begins.
Knapp Junior High School will be converted to an elementary school after construction of a new high school in Barco is completed. That new school, originally slated to open in August, has fallen several weeks behind because of weather-related delays.
Partridge asked if the conversion could be delayed until the 1997-98 school year if the new opening extended into November or December. Elementary-school-age children who lose their familiar surroundings, teachers and friends may not handle the change as well as older youths, she said.
Currituck County Schools Superintendent W.R. ``Ronnie'' Capps responded that efforts will be made to create classes with students and teachers scheduled to move to another school.
But, he added, ``I cannot guarantee 100 percent.''
The inclusion of Knapp and shifting of attendance boundaries will ease overcrowding at most of the schools, particularly Moyock and Central.
Capps said redistricting will ``give each elementary school on the mainland some room to grow and get children out of mobile classrooms.''
The School Board's regular monthly meeting, held at Currituck County High School, was dominated by awards and kudos to both staff and students.
Amy Casey Morgan and Patricia S. Stark, both teachers at Moyock Elementary, were awarded the Sallie Mae First Class Teacher Award.
The national program recognizes outstanding first-year teachers. Morgan, who graduated from Currituck County High School, teaches third-graders. Stark works with sixth-graders.
Three Central Elementary School students who won a two-state stock market game continued to reap the benefits of their precedent-setting record.
Penny Byrd, Lakesha Dance and Becky Workman showed off gifts and a plaque each received earlier in the day from Tom Price, a vice president with Oklahoma-based Chesapeake Energy Corp.
Price flew to Currituck County Monday to personally thank the children for investing all of their money in his oil and gas exploration company.
The trio beat out more than 2,000 other teams in North Carolina and Virginia by earning a 79 percent return on the initial $100,000 investment during a 10-week period.
Among their presents were caps, hard hats, duffle bags and 10 shares of real Chesapeake Energy stock, currently valued at $42 a share. Price also presented Central Elementary with a $1,000 check.
``This is above and beyond anything we would have expected,'' said Principal Buck Green.
Daun Vaughan, the girls' fifth-grade teacher, also was congratulated for her role in helping guide the team to its victory. ILLUSTRATION: PROPOSED ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ZONES
Map
The Virginian-Pilot
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by CNB