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The PTA encourages LRES parents to stay informed about the Wake County Board of Education’s actions as it moves forward to address major issues, including diversity policies, and neighborhood schools in WCPSS, as well as Year Round/Traditional calendars.
The BOE meets twice per month and these dates are posted on the PTA calendar.
Below is some information of interest. Please check back often for the latest updates.
Parent Survey
Critics say survey tells Wake board to rethink (Feb. 5 N&O)
Results of the parent and staff surveys — countywide — can be viewed here.
School calendar suits most parents (Feb. 3 N&O)
Fewer than 30% respond to Wake Survey (Jan. 25 N&O)
Wake calendar requests to be honored (Jan. 25 N&O)
Survey Timeline
By the end of February: Four Community Engagement Meetings will solicit feedback on the surveys.
Tues., Feb. 16: WCPSS staff present recommendations to the school board on which schools to convert.
March or April: School board votes on calendar conversions for the 2010-11 school year.
During its Jan. 5 meeting, the Wake County BOE voted to end mandatory year-round school assignment, starting with the 2010-11 school year. You can see a summary of the Jan. 5 meeting’s activity at this link.
Below are some other recent news stories about the BOE, fyi:
“Vote on year-rounds gives Wake leeway” (Jan. 20 N&O)
“Late school moves rankle some” (N&O, Jan. 7, 2010)
“School board steps back” (No. Raleigh Observer, Dec. 23, 2009)
“Switch is sudden on Wake school board” (N&O, Dec. 2, 2009)
“New school board approves sweeping changes” (N&O, Dec. 2, 2009)
In response to numerous inquiries from PTAs, the Wake County PTA Council offers these suggestions to help families be informed and involved:
Attend Board of Education meetings
Typically held two Tuesday afternoons/evenings per month at 3600 Wake Forest Road. The meetings are open to the public. The next meeting is Tues., Dec. 15, at 3:00 p.m. in the Board Room. These meetings are also broadcast over local television at “off-hours.” Please check your local listings if you are interested in finding out more about how to see the meetings on television. The times are different for Raleigh and Cary, depending on where your television service originates.
To contact members of the BOE, click here.
Speak at Board of Education meetings
Details about this can be found here. You must be there prior to 3:00 p.m. to sign up, even though the public comment period does not begin until 4:00 p.m. or later.
Read materials online
You may keep up with the schedule of meetings, and other details at this link. To email Board members, go to this link.
WCPSS also provides several newsletters and you can sign up here.
Of course, there are other groups who follow school board action and have their own websites, etc. And many media outlets follow the issues.
The LRES PTA does not take a stand on any BOE issue. However, we want to do everything possible to help LRES parents be informed and connected.
Twenty students from North Carolina State University have been spending their evenings at LRES, providing a creative flair to the school’s hallways.
The students are donating their time and talent to paint a colorful mural that will eventually cover about 278 feet of LRES’s walls.
The project was initiated by LRES PTA board member Terri Exel who collaborated with N.C. State’s Art Department, Conner, LRES Principal Cecilia Chapman and fellow PTA board member Rhonda Curtright, to develop décor that encouraged reading.
The News & Observer recently wrote a story about the mural. Click here to see it, or read the full text below:
Young NCSU artists beautify school walls
BY RAY MARTIN – Staff Writer
The purple, polka-dotted frog tangled in an inspirational quote jumps out at students as soon as they walk in the front doors.
Noticeable, too, are a pair of shoes with eyeballs, a half-moon with a smile and a treasure chest releasing Walt Disney’s encouragement to read books.
The bright colors, distinct characters and expressive quotes line the walls of Leesville Road Elementary School’s entrance.
The mural is a project of N.C. State University students, who hope to finish it in the next two weeks.
“It has been challenging, and it has taken a lot of time, but it’s been great,” said Stephanie Conner, an N.C. State junior who leads the group of about 20 students painting the mural. “Passing something like this on to the community is rewarding.”
Conner, who studies psychology, resides in N.C. State’s Arts Village residence hall for artistic students. Students who live in the hall attend events and work on projects every year. The mural is one of those projects.
It will cover about 278 feet on the walls outside the school office.
Terri Exel, a board member of Leesville Road Elementary PTA, initiated the mural. She collaborated with N.C. State’s Art Department, Conner, Principal Cecelia Chapman and fellow PTA board member Rhonda Curtright to develop décor that encouraged reading.
Conner said she first met with Leesville administrators and parents in September.
The only requirement for the mural was that it included quotes provided by PTA members.
Conner and her peers have worked most weekends and some weekdays on the project, often for nine hours at a time on Saturdays.
Chapman says she’s impressed with their work.
“They have done a really good job,” Chapman said.
“I think when you enter a school building you want it to be warm and welcoming. It does exactly that. It’s a wonderful welcoming in the morning to get started for a new day.”
ray.martin@newsobserver.com or 919-836-4952
 LRES students greet the school's new mascot, Le-O, during Spirit Night 2009.
The PTA at LRES hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially unveil its new shade structure during the school’s annual Spirit Night event on Oct. 2.
Special guests invited to attend were Elizabeth W. Sharpe, facility planner for Facilities Design and Construction, WCPSS; Bob Clade, builder; Henry D. Dagit, AIA, architect; Patrick E. Teague, P.E., structural engineer, P.E. Teague, PE, PLLC, and Charlie Seymour, owner of CAD Designers, Inc.
 Pictured at the ribbon cutting for the new shade structure (left to right), Cecilia Chapman, LRES Principal; Charmane Dail, past PTA president and Shade Structure Coordinator; Charlie Seymour, CAD Designer; Henry Dagit, architect; Elizabeth Sharpe, WCPSS Facilities, and Susanne Martin, PTA President. The project was initiated in 2007. “When we learned the school would be converting to a year-round calendar, we wanted to ensure some shade on the playground during the summer months,” said Charmane Dail, PTA past-president.
According to Dail, the PTA raised the funds for the structure’s construction through the school’s Fun Run fundraiser. “It was the first time we’ve specified a purpose for PTA fundraising, other than general PTA operating expenses,” Dail said. In addition to Dail, other parents who led the effort to bring the shade structure to fruition include Lisa Boneham, Karen Irvin, and Shelly Thompson.
“We are so blessed at Leesville to have such active, caring, supportive parents. On behalf of the teachers and staff, I thank the PTA for leading this effort and providing such a great addition to our campus and the Leesville community,” said LRES Principal Cecelia Chapman.
LRES’s 32’ x 32’ shade structure is located on the school’s playground, over an existing concrete pad. It is modeled after a similar project at nearby York Elementary, and Architect Dagit donated his time to work on both projects. The remaining $18,000 cost was covered by funds raised during the 2007-08 Fun Run, and donations from families and friends of LRES, and professionals in the community.
“This structured is a testament to the dedication of LRES’s families, friends and the community who so generously donated time and money to provide not only our students, but the entire Leesville community, with an architecturally beautiful structure that will serve many purposes in the years to come,” Dail said.
The deadline for entries to this year’s Reflections was Mon., Oct. 26. If you have questions about The Reflections Program please contact Kelly Starling Lyons at kelstar71@aol.com for information about entry requirements and forms, rules, size restrictions, and any other questions you may have.
Students from LRES joined schools from around the world to celebrate International Walk to School Day on Wed., Oct. 7.
LRES’s new school mascot was on hand to greet walkers, and officers from the Raleigh Police Department helped out as crossing guards at the intersection of Leesville and Country Trail.
In the U.S., International Walk to School Day was expected to include 5,000 schools from all 50 states. Walkers from the U.S. joined children and adults in 40 countries around the world.
Walk to School events work to create safer routes for walking and bicycling and emphasize the importance of issues such as increasing physical activity among children, pedestrian safety, traffic congestion, concern for the environment and building connections between families, schools and the broader community.
The event was organized by volunteers from the LRES PTA.
For additional information, please visit these Web sites:
International Walk to School in the USA, www.walktoschool.org
National Center for Safe Routes to School, www.saferoutesinfo.org
International Walk to School, www.iwalktoschool.org
 North Carolina’s first Outdoor Classroom Symposium will be held Friday, October 23, 2009 at the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill!
The symposium will focus on techniques for creating, maintaining and using outdoor classrooms and strategies for integrating outdoor learning into the curriculum. It will feature sessions on how to create specific types of school gardens and natural areas, how to start farm-to-school programs, and how to design and use your school grounds to enhance learning across the curriculum. Pre-symposium workshops will be offered on Thursday and mobile workshops on Saturday will give participants the opportunity to visit school and community gardens. Other highlights will include a Friday evening reception, educational exhibits and many opportunities for networking and learning!
Shawn Covely, our Vegetable Garden Director, will be attending this Symposium in order to learn more about creating an exceptional outdoor learning program. This will enhance the vegetable garden program we currently have in place and is part of our master plan. If you are interested in attending, check out more info here. Also, on Saturday the 24th, we’ll be giving tours of our garden to visitors from the Symposium!
Hello everyone, it’s been awhile since I last wrote about what’s going on in the LRES Vegetable Garden. In the next few weeks we’ll be reaching out to volunteers to help us clean out the garden to make way for our new plantings. Then we’ll get the kids involved and plant Kale, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts among many others.
 LRES Students planting Catnip Hello everyone! It’s been another scorcher here in Raleigh this week. The Atrium itself registered over 110° on Thursday. However, the veggies are doing well. Already we’ve pulled out cantaloupe, cucumbers, corn, tomatoes, okra, beans and eggplant.
Classes continue on Tuesday’s for the students. Sarah from NC State has been teaching them about beneficial insects. So far the kids love the worms the best. Please submit a story below about your child’s involvement in the school garden!
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