Mark T. Cramer

October 5, 2011
Media Release
The Roger Bacon Academy statement regarding the proposed D. C. Virgo charter school.

In 1996 charter schools were ratified in North Carolina to “increase learning opportunities for all students” and “provide different and innovative teaching methods,” and the change at D. C. Virgo school creates a great opportunity to accomplish that mission. The Roger Bacon Academy commends the New Hanover County school board for their tough decision on making the D.C. Virgo a charter school. Creating a charter school within the county school system is a ground breaking decision that may serve in the best interests of the children in the surrounding community. We hope that a viable charter application agreeable to all can be worked out and approved by the State Board of Education in Raleigh. While we regret not being chosen to lend our twelve years of charter school management experience to aid in this project, we remain supportive of all efforts to “increase learning opportunities for all students” as we have done with our 1,500 students in Brunswick and Columbus counties. We hope that this experience will be a starting point for future coordinating efforts with the New Hanover County School Board and a means of dialogue that will benefit the academic advancement of all students in New Hanover County.

The Roger Bacon Academy schools are tuition-free, open enrollment public schools in southeastern North Carolina. Since 2000, our schools have focused on quality K-8 education and are premier performance-driven year round schools. The Roger Bacon Academy schools have built a reputation for dedicated and highly qualified teachers that give students a strong and proven academic foundation. The Roger Bacon Academy schools have received numerous awards, including the designation of being a Top-25 School for Academic Growth and Excellence in the state of North Carolina.
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Stacey Marjoram, Director of Physical Education poses with her Teacher of the Year award at Charter Day School in Leland, NC.

Charter Day School in Leland, NC recognizes the Teacher of the Year for 2011.

“What’s your favorite subject?” is a common question posed to children and most times the answer comes back resoundingly “P.E!” We all know math, reading, and science are all very important for developing life skills in children, but so is that favorite subject: health and physical education. Charter Day School (CDS) is proud to announce their Teacher of the Year for 2011, Mrs. Stacey Marjoram, Director of Physical Education. Stacey has been with the school for five years and started working at CDS after graduating from East Carolina University where she received her B.S. in Physical Education.

Coach Stacey leads a physical education class for elementary students at Charter Day School in Leland, NC.

Stacey explained that she grew up being very physically active, “I was raised in a military family and since we moved every three years our parents encouraged us to use physical activities and sports as a way to meet new friends.” Stacey also got first-hand experience for her future career – her mom was a physical education teacher as well.

When asked what the best part of her job Stacey’s eyes light up as she talks about teaching kids. “The kids are amazing and make every day fun,” she says. “They are so eager to learn new sports and develop new skills that it really makes my job easier. I love my job because every day is a new adventure with these kids!”

Stacey works with all the children at Charter Day School from Kindergarten through the 8^th grade teaching physical education in every grade and at every fitness level. She follows the Healthful Living curriculum which teaches the importance of health and physical activity starting with locomotive skills development in the elementary grades continuing to game skills in the middle school classes. “This program allows us to teach health education and physical education with the end goal that our students will continue to be healthy and active for a lifetime.”

Teaching is only part of the reason administrators selected Stacey as teacher of the year. Qualities based on leadership skills, teamwork, extracurricular activities, willingness to learn, classroom management, motivational and communication skills, mentoring and innovative instruction all played a part in the selection process and Stacey scored extremely well in all of the categories. On winning the teacher of the year award Stacey modestly exclaimed, “I am extremely honored to be recognized but this award makes me want to do better in my job! I take it as a challenge because there is always room for improvement. My goal is to make sure every student benefits from my class and that’s an everyday thing and doesn’t stop because I have a plaque on my wall.”

The Roger Bacon Academy – Charter Day School is a tuition-free, open enrollment public school in southeastern North Carolina. Since 2000, Charter Day School has focused on quality K-8 education and is a premier performance-driven year round school. Widely recognized as a compelling choice to conventional public education, the school has built a reputation for dedicated and highly qualified teachers that give students a strong and proven academic foundation. Charter Day School has received numerous awards, including the designation of being a Top-25 School for Academic Growth and Excellence in the state of North Carolina.

www.charterdayschool.org  -  “Excellence Without Excuses”

Read the Teacher of the Year letter here.

State releases schools’ test scores.

In the wake of last month’s announcement of just how few schools in the state made Adequate Yearly Progress with the federal government’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, the State Department of Education released data showing how school populations and their subgroups actually performed on the reading, math and science components of the state’s end-of-grade tests for grades three through eight.

Nine schools in the city and county showed gains in the all-students reading category – most notably Chadbourn Elementary and Chadbourn Middle schools.

In meeting the requirements for NCLB, the state raised its reading proficiency target to 71.6 percent from 43.2 percent. With the exception of Boys and Girls Homes School, which is not included in the accompanying charts, every school surpassed last year’s reading target goal. However, only three schools – Columbus Charter, Evergreen Elementary and Nakina Middle – met the new target goal in the all-students category. Those three schools plus Old Dock Elementary and Williams Township schools scored higher than the state average.

Boys and Girls Homes School historically has had the lowest scores in the county due to the itinerant nature of its students who seldom stay for an entire year and who enter and/or leave the school during the year.

In the all-students math category, eight schools made gains.

Columbus Charter and Central Middle schools surpassed the new math target of 88.6 percent proficient. Eight more schools surpassed last year’s target of 77.2 percent proficient.

The best overall numbers were in science with 90 percent of Acme Delco Elementary’s students scoring proficient.

Columbus Charter scored 89.3 percent proficient in its first time with science testing.

Fourteen schools showed gains in science, most notably Guideway, Evergreen, Cerro Gordo, Chadbourn and Tabor City elementary schools.

Only one school – Chadbourn Elementary – made AYP this year and that was done with Safe Harbor, a term used to note that the school had made enough significant gains to qualify even though it fell far short of the state’s target goals in reading and math.

NCLB is an all-or-nothing program. Schools scoring in the 80s or 90s can still fail to make AYP because one or more subgroups have too many students who don’t pass the test.

The Whiteville City Schools Board of Education discussed the situation at its August meeting Monday night.

Director of Curriculum Teresa Carroll presented the results of last year’s testing, noting the subgroups that caused the individual schools that did not make AYP.

At Edgewood, the new math target of 88.6 percent proficient was not met by the all-students subgroup, which had 83.2 percent of its students proficient in that category.

In reading, the subgroups that failed to make the 71.6 percent target were economically disadvantaged students (63.1 percent), students with disabilities (28.8 percent) and black students (58.1 percent).

A student can be in more than one group.

Central Middle School failed to make the math target because of students with disabilities (57.1 percent). Two groups kept it from reaching its reading target – economically disadvantaged students (59.1 percent) and black students (58.1 percent).

(See related story on page 1-A.)

Among the city and county schools, white students had the highest reading scores at Evergreen Elementary (86.1 percent), Hallsboro Middle (85.3 percent) and Central Middle (85.3 percent).

Thirteen schools surpassed the reading target of 71.6 percent proficient. Four schools scored higher than the state average for white reading students.

Black students had the highest reading scores at Columbus Charter School, which was the only school to surpass the reading target in this category.

Eight schools scored higher than the state average for black reading scores.

White students had the highest math scores at Central Middle (94.5 percent) and Evergreen Elementary (93.4 percent). Those two schools and Columbus Charter, Edgewood Elementary and Tabor City Elementary surpassed the new math target goal of 88.6 percent.

Five schools scored higher than the state average for white students in math.

Black students had the highest math scores at Columbus Charter (88.9 percent) which was the only school where black students surpassed the state’s target goal for math.

Only Columbus Charter and Central Middle (79.3 percent) schools surpassed last year’s math target of 77.2 percent proficient for black students.

Students with disabilities had the highest proficiency rate at Williams Township (48.9 percent) followed by Central Middle (40 percent) and Evergreen Elementary (39.1 percent.)

Only Williams Township was higher than the state average and no school met the reading target goal.

In math, students with disabilities had the highest proficiency rates at Williams Township (76.6 percent), Tabor City Elementary (64.1 percent) and Central Middle (62.2 percent).

No school met the math target goal in this category.

It must be noted that all students with an IQ of 55 or higher take the same end-of-grade tests.

By FULLER ROYAL
Staff Writer

Full Story Here.

Senator Richard Stevens, a Wake County Republican, held the press conference with more than 50 charter school supporters.

Administrators from The Roger Bacon Academy attended the 2011 Annual Charter Schools Conference held Raleigh, NC last Monday and Tuesday. The conference hosted by the NC Alliance for Public Charter Schools included a trip to the NC legislature and press conference held by Senator Stevens author of SB-8 which lifted the cap on charter Schools in North Carolina.

Press Conference at the Capital – Click for Video

Two days of workshops, instructional training and networking proved to be valuable to the RBA delegation. Breakout sessions they attended where “Parent Roles in the Charter Movement,” “Participatory Planning and Long-Term Campus Visioning: An Overview,” “Healthy Leadership: Effective Strategies for School Principals,” “Measurement and Models for Better Teaching and Learning,” among many others. The group also heard from keynote speaker Peter Groff, President of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools who brought a national and international perspective to the rise of charter schools and the importance of continued educational innovation.

Superintendent Mark Cramer also had the opportunity to meet with Speaker of the House Tom Tillis, also a keynote speaker for the conference, and discus his appointment to the NC Principals Fellows Commission.

Workshop story – Click for Video

Parents Ryan and Tina Tinkle help kindergarten student Hayden Tinkle arrive for the first day of classes at Charter Day School in Leland NC.

Charter school in Leland, NC starts anew with a successful year-round schedule.

Teacher Katie Coleman greets returning student Quantico Fennel and Sharon Everette on the first day of school at Charter Day School in Leland.

Students hopped, skipped and jumped to Charter Day School in Leland to start their new year with the first day of classes on Monday, July 18, 2011. Tears, smiles and hugs were seen as proud parents, excited students and smiling teachers settled in to the first day of school. Charter Day School is a year-round school and classes start earlier in the summer but have longer breaks throughout the year. The school says their experience has shown that academic skill retention is higher with shorter summer breaks and a year-round schedule. There are still student spaces available for this year in second grade, fifth grade and middle school – contact the school at 910-655-1214 for admission.

Kindergarten teacher Brianna Cox brings a smile to new student Kylie Cochrane on her first day of school at Charter Day School in Leland, NC.

The Roger Bacon Academy – Charter Day School is a tuition-free, open enrollment public school in southeastern North Carolina. Since 2000, Charter Day School has focused on quality K-8 education and is a premier performance-driven year round school. Widely recognized as a compelling choice to conventional public education, the school has built a reputation for dedicated and highly qualified teachers that give students a strong and proven academic foundation. Charter Day School has received numerous awards, including the designation of being a Top-25 School for Academic Growth and Excellence in the state of North Carolina.

www.charterdayschool.org -  “Excellence Without Excuses”

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The Roger Bacon Academy Superintendent and CEO Mark Cramer has been appointed to the NC Principal Fellows Commission.

The Roger Bacon Academy administrator takes a lead role in North Carolina education.

The Roger Bacon Academy is proud to announce that Superintendent and CEO Mark Cramer has been appointed to the North Carolina Principal Fellows Commission. Mr. Cramer was appointed to the post by North Carolina Speaker of the House, Thom Tillis. The NC Principal Fellows Commission position includes administering the Principal Fellows Program and determining the selection criteria, methods of selection, and selection recipients to receive scholarship loans made under the program. The term of service is for 4 years.

“We are honored that Mr. Cramer has been appointed to this commission by Speaker Tillis,” stated Brad Barth, Director of Public Affairs. “And we are encouraged that the successful records of charter schools are being seen as positive and productive influences within the public education system of North Carolina.”

Mark Cramer is a Trustee and the original Headmaster for Charter Day School in Leland, NC, and he is currently Superintendent of the Leland school and Columbus Charter School in Whiteville. The two schools have grown to a combined enrolment of over 1,500 students since beginning classes in 2000. Cramer also serves as the Chief Executive Officer for The Roger Bacon Academy an educational management company for charter schools. After retiring as a Major from the U.S. Marine Corps, he continued his passion for education as a principal of a private school in Okinawa, Japan before coming to Wilmington, NC.

The NC Principal Fellows Program  http://www.ncpfp.org/ helps the best and most qualified students to complete a two-year full-time Master of School Administration (MSA) program.  Authorized by General Statute 116‑74.41 as a competitive, merit-based scholarship loan program that is funded by the North Carolina General Assembly, the program assists selected individuals to prepare for a career in school administration (i.e., assistant principal or principal). From its beginning in 1994, to date, over 1000 Principal Fellows have participated in the program.  Principal Fellows enroll in the Master of School Administration (MSA) program offered at eleven campuses of the University of North Carolina.  The second year students participate in a required yearlong, full-time internship at various school districts throughout the state.  The program has received widespread support from school districts through their granting of leaves of absences to employees who have been selected to receive the scholarship loan, providing sites for interns, and employing graduates of the program.  The benefits of the program include the financial support provided to the Fellows while earning the MSA, the opportunity for school districts to work with Principal Fellow interns for a year, and the development of a pool of well-trained, highly qualified administrative candidates available to all North Carolina school systems.

Think about a football team that scrimmages all year but ends the season never playing a game. Imagine an orchestra that practices for nine months but ends their year never holding a concert. Think of an artist who paints all year in her studio but never exhibits her work in a gallery.

In education, the “End-of-Grade” tests, or EOG’s as they are called, are like the “big game,” the final concert or the gallery exhibition for which the students and staff have worked all year. At The Roger Bacon Academy – Charter Day School, the EOG’s furnish the opportunity for the students and staff to “show their stuff’ and let the world know what they can do.

Charter Day School teacher Bob Wingett standing next to student Nick LaFave, comments on the school’s EOG test results.

“I don’t think Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his crew work all year building a car that they are just going to put up on blocks and never race,” said Bob Wingett, second grade teacher at the school.

The school’s Headmaster Jennifer Beamer said they are competing with themselves and comparing this year’s scores with last year’s scores, not with other schools.  “Each school out there has its own unique objectives with different goals, so it may not be fair to compare one school that emphasizes science with another school that has an emphasis on the arts or on history,” Mrs. Beamer said.  “We see it as a great challenge to improve our scores from year to year,” she added.

The school’s founder Baker Mitchell reflected on comments made that such tests may put pressure on the teachers.  “Why shouldn’t teachers feel some pressure to improve?” he asks.  “If a doctor is operating on me or a lawyer is defending me in court, I hope they feel a little pressure to do their best for me,” Mitchell said.  “I think every good, conscientious professional will admit to feeling pressure to do their best on behalf of their clients and teachers should be no exception,” he added.

Charter Day School fifth grader Matthew Cason prepares for the End of Grade tests in his classroom.

As for the school’s scores this year, Superintendent Cramer said while only preliminary results are in, it appears that the students and staff have indeed beat last year’s scores.  “I’m encouraged by our overall progress in raising our scores in most categories despite the 2.5% cut in state funding,” said Cramer.

Cramer and Middle School Director Tom Miller both cited the fact that Charter Day School added a section of ninth grade high school English I to their eighth grade offerings this year and that 100% of the students passed the high school EOC test for English I.  They also added high school Algebra I to the eighth grade curriculum several years ago and over 95% of the 40 students who took the course passed.

Founder Mitchell points also to the large population of Exceptional Children that is being served by the school.  “Over 11% of our students have Individual Education Programs and quite a few more have accommodations known as 504s,” said Mitchell. “We try just as hard for year-to-year gains for these students as for every other student on campus,” he added.

When asked about the state’s calculation of “expected growth” for each student and for the school, Mitchell said that he felt the state’s formula still needed more refinement. “The state’s definition of “growth” is for a student to make one year’s growth in test scores in one year’s time,” Mitchell.  “But this allows for a student who was near the bottom in his class last year to remain near the bottom of his class this year and still be classified as having made growth,” he said.  “Even though that student never catches up to grade-level, he’ll be scored as making growth!”  Students can fail year after year yet still be classed as having “made expected growth.”

Charter Day School fifth grade sisters, Jillian and Maya Tucker, look forward to completing their End of Grade tests.

Similarly, Mitchell said that a very high-performing student could fail to make “growth” if they slipped from an “A+” to merely an “A.”  If a high-performing student wants to branch out and devote some energy to a sport or an extra-curricular activity, I think they should be allowed to do that without fear of being labeled as not having made growth,” he said.

Mitchell said that Charter Day School looks at students individually.  He said they try to intervene to catch up low-performing students even though the formula might say that they made growth.  Likewise they don’t worry that a high-performing student might calculate as not making formula growth so long as they maintain high grades and have other activities such as being on the archery team or in chorus.

Superintendent Cramer noted that the success of the Algebra program has encouraged him to add high school geometry next year in spite of another anticipated 3% cut in state funds.  “We’ll just sharpen our pencils some more and figure out how to get it done,” Cramer said.

In February 21 The Roger Bacon Academy archery teams made up of 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th graders competed in the NASP state virtual competition.  The virtual competition means that teams across the state simultaneously compete and results are tallied online to declare the winners. Teams with the highest scores qualify for the NASP national tournament. The 5th and 6th grade qualifying score is 2,700, and 7th and 8th grade qualifying score is 2,800. Summation of the highest 12 individual scores, with at least 4 of both gender will comprise the team score.

Both teams scored above the qualifying score and earned a spot at the national competition that will be held in Louisville, Kentucky in May.  We had two archers, Will Britt and Hunter Johnson, tie for the title of State Champion.

Both teams will be taking a charter bus to Louisville on Thursday May 12th.  We are extremely proud of our teams and wish them the very best in the National Tournament.

The Roger Bacon Academy ham radio operators from left: Zach Potter, Elizabeth Eskander, Samantha Stearns, Nevin Wetherill at the 2011 Coastal Carolina Air Show.

 Student ham radio operators from The Roger Bacon Academy went on the air at the annual Coastal Carolina Air Show to help provide emergency communication backup and assist first responders in their communication needs.

 Licensed radio operators and their call signs were Zach Potter, KK4BJU, Elizabeth Eskander, KK4BJT, and Samantha Stearns, KK4BJS – all 6^th graders in the school’s ham radio club.  They were joined by Nevin Wetherill, KJ4WLP who attends Topsail Middle School.

 From 7:00 a.m. until noon, the hams assisted in pedestrian traffic control and with the SKYWARN system which was very active due to the severe weather in the area.  At noon the Air Show officials canceled the program due to the high winds, but the RBA volunteer hams enjoyed a full morning’s excitement.

 “Ham radio has opened up a whole new world of interest for Zack,” exclaimed mother Rebecca Potter. 

 Newly licensed ham Samantha Stearns said, “Ham radio has helped me overcome my fear of talking in public, and I have enjoyed learning about other cultures.”  Elizabeth Eskander commented that actually using the technology was helpful in learning the physics and science that was involved.

 Bill Wetherill, N2WG, has volunteered countless hours into supervising the club and conducting lessons for the students so they can pass the examinations for their FCC radio operator’s licenses.  “The license exams cover the FCC laws about radio communications as well as the electronic principals involved in radio communications,” he said.  “These kids are amazing, and I’m really looking forward to our next set of license courses,” he added.  Wetherill said that one of the kid’s first contacts was a ham in Chile and that lit a real spark in the group.

 “Baker [school founder , Baker Mitchell, K4BAG] has been a ham since the 1950’s and has constructed a radio room on campus for the ham club,” said Wetherill. “This will give the kids a real boost to have their own ‘shack’ as hams call their equipment rooms,” he said.

In an emergency such as a hurricane or other disaster, the kids realize that cell phones, telephones, and the internet may all be put out of service.  Hams with their long-range battery-driven radios may be the only surviving means of communications, and these students intend to be ready.

The Roger Bacon Academy Superintendent Mark Cramer operates the school ham radio at the 2010 Emergency Field Day.

 Each year, hams across the country participate in a weekend-long “Emergency Field Day” where they go to campsites or open areas and erect antennas, set up their radio stations, and use generators or batteries to communicate all over the country.  School Superintendent Mark Cramer, N4NLC, operated the school’s radio at the 2010 field day last summer.