CCS Families in the Know For You-October 10, 2021

CCS Families In the Know

Craven County Schools Names 2021-2022 Principal of the Year

During a surprise announcement Mrs. Stacie Friebel, Principal of Havelock High School was named the 2021-2022 Principal of the Year (POY) for Craven County Schools. In her role as Principal of the Year, she will serve as the local advisor to the Board of Education and will represent Craven County Schools in local, regional, and state events. Mrs. Friebel was one of three finalists that interviewed with a local selection committee on October 4^th.

During the selection process, Mrs. Friebel shared her school’s slogan “Love All Serve All”, which drives the work they do at Havelock High School. As a school, they started a process for identifying model classrooms within the building that can serve as a support system for both Havelock High School and the district. During her time as principal, she has established a way to recognize and celebrate outstanding classrooms and teachers by creating the “Friebel Focus” newsletter. Mrs. Friebel discussed the importance of creating a culture of academic excellence and using the framework for continuous improvement. She stated, “continuous improvement is what great leaders do”.

When asked what event in your administrative career left an enduring impression on her, she shared her experience as a first-year principal. A retired principal mentored her and taught her to make sound decisions and guided her in the right direction. She stated, “The beauty of that was he let me learn and grow. He steered me when I needed it and gave me a chance to thrive or fail.” She has taken those lessons learned and models those practices with her assistant principals and teacher leaders.

In her portfolio, she exemplified her leadership style by sharing these thoughts, “School leadership that builds an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect is school leadership that is built on service and humility. I believe that out of all my responsibilities and duties, the most sacred is serving teachers, students, and families. Service manifests itself in different ways.”

Congratulations to Mrs. Stacie Friebel for this very deserving recognition. We are proud of you and all you have accomplished as you support the Havelock High School Rams in reaching great success. Continue to let your passion drive your work in creating a culture of excellence for staff, students, and the Havelock Community.

Tomorrow, October 11th is a day of instruction for our students and staff. When planning the calendar for this year, this day was necessary to help balance the semesters. We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

COVID Weekly Letters

Due to the number of positive cases we have been experiencing at each school weekly, we will no longer be sending out the weekly COVID letters to inform parents and staff since this has become a common occurrence. Please refer to the COVID Dashboard that will continue to be updated weekly and shared on Fridays.

Grading for 2021-22

Grading practices in Craven County Schools as related to students’ final course grades will be handled as they were prior to the pandemic. Many may be under the impression that students will be able to substitute their final exam or final project grade for all other lower or failing grades in the course. This grading practice is not required by Craven County Schools leadership. All school leaders and teachers should immediately reiterate the grading practices for their grade span and for specific courses. (For example, high schools would include in their messaging the percentage breakdown for each quarter of 37.5% plus the required final exam of 25%.) Students and parents are strongly encouraged to review all communication from school administrators and teachers regarding grading, such as how much each assignment type counts toward the final grade, final grade calculation, etc.

It is very important that everyone understands that adjustments had to be made during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years in response to immediate closures, remote learning, and reduced access to in-person instruction. This information is being shared in the upcoming Families In The Know newsletter.

Our 5th graders at Brinson Memorial, WJ Gurganus,@rogerbellnta, and @oaksroadowls are learning helpful life strategies through the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. The new curriculum emphasizes teaching detailed information about specific drugs and their negative effects based on prevention science. In addition, our DARE officers are being trained to teach the DARE curriculum, thereby putting a local “human face” on drug prevention in schools. These DARE officers do a fantastic job in our schools and make a difference in our students lives every day.

The teaching style of DARE has changed over the years and now highlights interaction with an emphasis on facilitation, rather than a static presentation model. That is, instead of listening to a lecture, students spend most class time working in small cooperative learning groups, guided by the DARE officer as they apply a decision-making model to develop their own unique ways of positively addressing high-risk situations in their lives.

This program would not be possible without the support of our Craven County Sheriff's Department. These trained DARE officers envision a world in which students everywhere are empowered to respect others and choose to lead lives free from violence, substance use, and other dangerous behaviors.

Thank you to the Craven County ABC board for funding this program and Chairman Chagnon and Matt Knight for supporting our vision for this program. Also a special thanks to Craven County Partners in Education for their coordination and assistance in making this possible.