Parent Teacher Magazine Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools September 2014 | Page 8

Shining a light on a school’s unique needs

Beacon Initiative will provide sustainable supports to 14 schools

Fourteen schools in Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Schools will participate in a new initiative to
develop sustainable, individualized support for
schools to help close achievement gaps and
build leadership capacity, Superintendent Heath
E. Morrison said Aug. 12. Called the Beacon
Initiative, it will begin in the 2014-2015 school
year with 14 Title I schools.
While the initiative will build on earlier district
efforts to turn around struggling schools, it will
take a different approach by personalizing the
support structures for individual schools, Dr.
Morrison told the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board
of Education. A unique feature of the Beacon
Initiative is that participating schools will work
with an outside partner to identify their particular
needs.
“As a district, we must shine a light on our
schools that need additional support,” Dr. Morrison
told the Board. “We also recognize that each
school is unique. So the Beacon Initiative won’t
start with prescriptive programs.”
The district plans to work with the University
of Virginia as its partner to determine the
contextual needs of each school. The resulting
school-based deep-needs assessments will be used
to map out plans for continuous improvement.
Morrison said that the Beacon Initiative
aligns closely with the district’s Strategic Plan
2018: For a Better Tomorrow. Goal 1 in the
plan is to “maximize academic achievement in a

personalized 21st-century learning environment
for every child to graduate college- and careerready,” with closing achievement gaps identified
as one of four focus areas in the goal. Goal 5 is to
“optimize district performance and accountability
by strengthening data use, processes and
systems.” Strategic use of district resources and
school performance improvement are identified as
two of four focus areas in the goal.
“This is very important work and we want to
get it right,” Dr. Morrison said. “That’s why we will
use the first year to assess the individual needs of
these schools. Then we will be able to identify and
use all available resources to close achievement
gaps.”
The 14 schools that will be part of the Beacon
Initiative next year include four elementary
schools (Briarwood, Albemarle Road, Nations Ford
and Winterfield), four PreK-8 schools (Druid Hills,
Bruns Academy, Reid Park and Westerly Hills),
three middle schools (James Martin, Whitewater
and Martin Luther King Jr.) and three high schools
(Harding, Garinger and Vance).
“Every school has a unique, specific set of
needs,” said Tyler Ream, principal at Albemarle
Road Elementary. “We are really excited about
being part of this initiative because it will allow
us to find the supports and programs that will
give our students exactly what they need. This
is a terrific opportunity for Albemarle Road
Elementary.”
The schools chosen
for the Beacon Initiative
were selected in a threepart process. Dr. Lynne
R. LaCaria, the executive
director of school
performance, assembled
a list of more than a
dozen potential target
schools based on testing
and academic data from
several years. Frank
Barnes, the district’s chief
accountability officer,
also assembled a list
of more than a dozen
schools using testing
and academic data from

Book your education program today by
filling out the program reservation form
online. CRC offers formal education
programs for K-12 students on the Raptor
Trail or in your classroom.

6 • Sept/Oct 2014 • Parent Teacher Magazine 

several years compiled by his office. Finally, the
district’s executive leadership compiled a list based
on academic achievement and growth for multiple
years, as well as other factors.
The three lists were compared and found to be
similar, with many schools on all three lists. The
final choice of schools for the Beacon Initiative was
made by the executive leadership team.
“To identify schools, we looked at a range of
factors that were complex and nuanced, not just
state test scores, which allowed us to see which
schools were making progress and which schools
needed more help,” Dr. Morrison said.
The framework for the Beacon Initiative
was developed by a cross-functional committee
within Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. The
committee included representatives from the
learning communities, schools, human resources,
Exceptional Children, Title I, accountability, finance
and communications.
The partnership with the University of Virginia
is expected to take place over three years at a
cost of approximately $600,000 per year.
“Our partners at the University of Virginia
will help us identify other local and national
partners to further enhance resources and
supports at these schools,” Morr