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impressed with the wonderful start that each school has had. You have once again laid the foundation for an amazing year. Please remember to stay focused on the important things as you become increasingly busy during the start of a school year. I have the utmost confidence in the ability of each of you to accomplish great things and to help change the lives and legacies of the students you work with. Id like to include an excerpt from the opening meeting that I shared with you: I've heard people nostalgically describe the Good Old Days. One of my favorite quotes comes from the wise television show, The Office, when Andy Bernard shared, I wish there was a way to know that you're in The Good Old Days before you've actually left them.. Do more of what makes you
remarkable. Schools are just brick, block, mortar and materials. YOU make the buildings come alive. Give a hug. Do something today that your future self will thank you for. If we each have a choice of being good enough or awesome, dare to be awesome. Show compassion. Dont wait for inspiration, be the inspiration! Be a servant leader to the students we have the privilege to serve. Learn to let things you cannot control GO! YOU were made to be awesome!

Congratulations!
NCCS Teacher of the Year, Mr. Michael Townsley! NCCS Principal of the Year, Mr. Kevin Campbell! NCCS First Year Teachers of the Year, Mrs. Caroline Crouse and Mrs. Candace Styers! Teachers of the Year
~N-CHS: Jessica Luby

Dr. David Stegall, Superintendent

As you look towards to this year, I

want you to know something: You were made for a purpose. Your unique life path has brought you to this date in this room. Have Passion! Enjoy the little things in life, for one day youll look back and realize they were the BIG things. Have Fun. Two word phrases that we should never say, I cant I quit or What does this button do? Thats actually 5 words. Teamwork isnt just for sports. Serve others. Be so happy that when others look at you, they become happy, too. Show compassion. Everyone needs that colleague that they can call and say, You want to hear something GROSS? Be that friend. In the end, everything will be ok. If things are not OK, then its not the end. Work on your weaknesses until they

~NCMS: Keith Recker ~Discovery School: LouAnn Walker ~Conover School: Michael Townsley ~Shuford Elementary: Chee Yang ~North Newton: Jonathan Tharpe ~South Newton: Leah Hayes

become strengths. Work on your strengths until they become second nature.

Who knows if the next President, CEO, Pastor, Physician, Inventor or great leader is in your classroom or building this year? Lets make this year one of those years that we look back on many years from now and describe as The Good Old Days. Dr. David Stegall, Superintendent

Elementary Updates: Mrs. Tammy Brown, Director Read to Achieve Act Basics: The goal of the State is to ensure that every student read at or above grade level by the end of third grade and continue to progress in reading proficiency so that he or she can read, comprehend, integrate, and apply complex text when needed. Read to Achieve Summer Camp will last 6-8 weeks this coming summer!

ESL Updates: Mrs. Tammy Brown, Director The 2012-13 AMAO ESL DATA RESULTS ARE INThe state goal was 57.1%, to be considered making progress. We had 65.4% of students who made progress, and excited 77 students! We met our AMAO goals! Exciting News!

Middle School Madness: Ms. Heather Mullins, Chief Academic Officer We have new faces at NewtonConover Middle School this year. Kim Kaylor is our new principal! Check out this WBTV story on the first day of school at NCMS - http://bit.ly/18hMJUC.

Digital Days, our districts day of instructional technology staff development, will take place on October 7, 2013 at NCMS. Teachers will be required to select two Digital Days classes to attend.

SUMMER INSTITITE 2013! Eighteen NCCS teachers, administrators, and central office staff attended the 2013 NCDPI Summer Institute in Greensboro this summer. Teachers attended sessions aimed to improve the quality of instruction in their content areas, data literacy, teaching strategies, 21st century skills, and a variety of other statewide initiatives. If you are interested in learning more about this conference, visit the NCDPI Summer Institute website: http://si2013.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/. HIGH SCHOOL UPDATES: Mr. Bill Long, Director of High School Curriculum, CTE, and Student Services Both high schools have had smooth openings, with minor scheduling updates taking place daily. At both NCHS and Discovery School, there will be a great emphasis this year on fostering a focused approach to teaching classes with inquiry-based learning using 21st Century Skills. A strong focus of both high school programs will also be to improve student scores on the ACT and PLAN tests that are given on a regular basis.

Flu Shots will be offered to all insured employees and their dependents on September 30, 2013 from 1:30 to 5 pm in the NCCS Gallery. You must have your health insurance card with you. Wellington Benefits will be presenting the 2014 Supplemental Health Insurance Benefits for the calendar year 2014 the weeks of October 14 and 21. The week of October 14 will be the school group meetings, and the week of October 21 will be the individual meetings with a Wellington Representative.

Finance News: Carmen Houston, Director

Our Finance Department was recognized at the NCDPI FBS Conference in July for receiving both the Government Finance Office Association Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting and Association of School Business Officials Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting for 2010-2011. The Finance Department was recently notified that they will be recipients of these two awards again for 2011-2012.

United Way will be kicking

off in the month of September! Again, we will have NewtonConover Partners of $100 or more to receive a free celebration dinner. Benny Yount has again provided a car to be given away. Many other prizes and incentives are available and will be discussed by the site coordinators. Again, you may choose to use eight payroll deductions. Look for this presentation to roll out this month!

The General Assembly approved 5 Bonus Leave days for all permanent employees in leave earning status. These days will expire on June 30, 2014.

EC Updates! Dr. Betsy Rosenbalm, Director

Congratulations and best wishes to Mrs. Michele Jordan on her retirement after 30+ years of service to special needs students! Our new Pre-K Village is up and running at the South Newton/Thornton Building! Our three Pre-K classes have joined forces to give our youngest students a firm foundation through support and collaboration! Disability Awareness Month will take place in October. NCCS will be hosting an ART SHOW to showcase the amazing gifts and talents of the Exceptional Children across our district!

Operational Notes: Dr. Aron Gabriel, Assistant Superintendent We are continuing to finish up outstanding construction items at the middle school. Hats off to Mrs. Robin Rudisill, our Director of Maintenance, and her hard-working crew. This summer involved multiple whole school moves, work on our newly built N-CMS, ongoing work at the new North Newton Elementary, and the normal preparations for our kids return to school. We appreciate the long hours, skill, and dedication of these important behind-the-scenes folks!!!

Child Nutrition News: Mrs. Jill Gobin, Director

Welcome to our new Cafeteria Manager, Stephanie Wilhelm, at Conover School. Please keep former Thornton Manager, Rita Wilson, in your thoughts & prayers. Lunch prices increased this year: K-5 $2.25 6-12 $2.50 Free and Reduced Lunch applications must be filled out every year, unless a family qualifies for food stamps or other assistance. If so your students will receive a letter stating that.

Shuford Elementary Named a Title 1 Reward School!

Shuford Elementary was recently acknowledged as one of the highest performing Title I schools in the state of NC. A Reward School is a Title I school that, based on the most recent data available, has been identified as being among the highest 10 percent of all Title I schools in the state. As a highest-performing school, the school has the highest absolute performance over a number of years for all subgroups, including the "all students" group, on statewide assessments. Congratulations to Mr. Nelson, Mrs. Humphrey, and the entire hard-working Shuford Staff! North Newton Elementary Dedication Service

New Faces, New Places!

Sylvia White, Director of Human Resources Welcome to all new hires for NCCS:
Emily Abernathy Boreen Bailey Steve Brucker Karen Caldwell Willie Cooper Amanda Crouch Lindsay Flannery James Frye Teresa Frye Aron Gabriel Laurie Garner Lacy Graham James Hilburn Laura Jo Hopson Erika Hoyle Stacy Huffman Michael Iosca Kalie Kincaid Bart Lowman Renee Moore Heather Mullins Kimberly Noles Kimberely Nye Shelton Parks Jennifer Quantz Eric Rosenberg Vanessa Stinson Stephanie Wilhelm Diana Wilson Teresa Younce

North Newton Elementary School's dedication service was Thursday, August 22nd at 4pm. Special speakers were Newton Mayor Anne Stedman, BOE chair, Scott Loudermelt, former Principal, Tammy Brown, and Superintendent, Dr. David Stegall. BOE members, esteemed community members, the NCHS JROTC, and Dr. Redmond, former NCCS Superintendent, were present. Mr. Shane Whitener, who recently took Tammy Brown's place as principal, was also there to welcome attendees. The new Bulldogs opened their doors for their first student day on Monday, August 26th. This building was previously the home of NCMS, but much remodeling and preparation has gone in to making it the new & improved place! of learning it is today.

Technology Announcement:
Farewell to Mr. John Worley, our Director of Accountability and Technology. We wish him the best in Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County Schools! Welcome to our new director, Mrs. Cindy Geddes!

New Central Office Staff in NCCS

Superintendent, Dr. David Stegall
Dr. David Stegall is the new N-CCS Superintendent. Prior to holding his current position, Dr. Stegall served as the Associate Superintendent of Curriculum for Newton-Conover City Schools, a position he was appointed to in 2009. He also worked for over two years as the Director of Curriculum, Academically Gifted and English as a Second Language Programs. Thus, he clearly has a strong background in curriculum and instruction. Dr. Stegall also has roughly seven years of experience as a principal in the IredellStatesville Schools. Finally, he taught elementary school for several years in both the Iredell-Statesville and Rowan-Salisbury School Systems. Dr. Stegall received his bachelors degree in elementary education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and went on to obtain a masters degree in education administration from Gardner-Webb University. Within the past seven years, Dr. Stegall has received both his education specialist degree and doctorate in educational leadership from Appalachian State University. Dr. Stegall is a published scholar and was recognized as a finalist for the Outstanding Dissertation Award in his doctorate program. In 2012, Dr. Stegall was named the Outstanding Young Educator of the Year by the North Carolina Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, and he has been nominated for the national award. During his six years in NewtonConover City Schools, Dr. Stegall has been instrumental in raising student achievement and closing achievement gaps, providing direct oversight of district directors and principals. He started and led many initiatives and programs designed to improve curriculum and instructional practices. He is known as a passionate, visionary and visible leader who can build consensus and who always puts the students first. He leads by example and sets high goals for the staff and students. Dr. Stegall looks forward to the opportunity to lead N-CCS, and he is thrilled that he and his family can continue to be part of the Newton-Conover community. Dr. Stegall has been married to his wife Manda for 16 years. They have two children, Owen, 13, and Ava, 9.

Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Aron Gabriel

Dr. Gabriel is Newton-Conovers new Assistant Superintendent. He is currently in his 18th year of public education service. He has been a high school English teacher, basketball coach, assistant principal, principal, and now assistant superintendent. Dr. Gabriel came to N-CCS after serving for 9 years in various administrative roles in the Iredell-Statesville Schools. Most recently, Dr. Gabriel served as principal of South Iredell High School. He is thrilled to be in N-CCS and so are the other members of his team.........his family! Aron has been married to Mandy for 12 years and they are the proud parents of 2 boys: Trysten (age 6) and Layton (age 2).

Chief Academic Officer, Ms. Heather Mullins

Heather Mullins is Newton-Conovers new Chief Academic Officer. Ms. Mullins was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow who attended Western Carolina University. She taught English for 12 years in both Wilkes County Schools and Hickory City Schools. She achieved her National Board Certification in 2002. Ms. Mullins has a master's degree in Special Education - AIG from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has served as an Instructional Coach and a Curriculum Specialist at the central office level. She also worked as an adjunct professor at Lenoir-Rhyne University. Ms. Mullins most recently served the Northwest Region of our state as the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Professional Development Consultant. Currently, Ms. Mullins is pursuing her doctorate in Educational Leadership from Western Carolina University. In her free time, she loves cooking and spending time on Lake Hickory with family and friends. Jackson, her son, is an avid sports fan, so Ms. Mullins enjoys attending local and professional sporting events with her son.

Director of Exceptional Children & Communication Services, Dr. Betsy Rosenbalm

Dr. Betsy Rosenbalm is the newly appointed Director of Exceptional Children and Communication Services for Newton-Conover City Schools. She is a native of Statesville, NC where she lives with her husband, Andy, and her 4 year old daughter, Cora, who was adopted from China in 2011. Betsy and her husband are eagerly awaiting the homecoming of their 2 year old second daughter, Charlotte, who is currently living in an orphanage in Haiti. Betsy has been an elementary teacher, a reading specialist, an instructional coach, an Assistant Principal, and more recently, a Principal for the past 4 years at Conover School. Recently, she was awarded the honor of being the NewtonConover City Schools Principal of the Year, as well as the Region 7 Principal of the Year for 2012-2013. Dr. Rosenbalm was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow in her undergraduate program. She received her Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education, her Masters of Arts in Reading Education, and her add-on licensure in School Administration from Appalachian State University. She received her National Boards Certification in Reading/Language Arts in Early/Middle Childhood, and her Doctorate degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Gardner-Webb University. She enjoys singing in her church choir, leading in her teaching sorority, Alpha Delta Kappa, and serving in the newly chartered Catawba County Civitans Club.

Director of Elementary and ESL Services, Mrs. Tammy Brown

Mrs. Brown is the new Director of Elementary Services for N-CCS. She attended Appalachian State University to receive her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She has been in education for 17 years and taught elementary school for 9 years at Thornton Elementary School. Then, she became an administrator and served as an Assistant Principal for Thornton and South Newton Elementary Schools. After this, she became the Principal of Thornton Elementary School. She remained as the Principal for 6 years. She has been married to Kevin Brown for 17 years. They have two lovely sons, Carson, 11, and Connor 7. She has two dogs, Patches (a chow) and Cheyanne ( a Alaskan Husky). She loves to spend time with her family!

Director of Technology and Accountability Services, Mrs. Cindy Geddes

Cindy Geddes is the new Director of Accountability and Technology Services for N-CCS. She served last year as the district's Instructional Technology/ Staff Development Coordinator. Prior to that, she taught at Shuford Elementary for thirteen years and is Nationally Board Certified. She recently co-authored the article, Growing Technology Leaders in an international technology journal, Learning and Leading with Technology. She presented on Newton-Conover's Instructional Technology plan and implementation this past year at the NCASCD (North Carolina Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) Conference and NCTIES (North Carolina Technology In Education Society) Conference. Mrs. Geddes is also a cofounder and moderator of the #NCed twitter chat. She lives in Newton with her husband, Leonard, and her two children, Cassidy and Brandon.

New Building Level Administrators in NCCS

Principal of Shuford Elementary, Mr. Patrick Nelson
Mr. Patrick Nelson is the newly appointed principal of Shuford Elementary. He graduated from Mars Hill College with an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education and a Master's Degree in School Administration from GardnerWebb University. He is a native of Caldwell County where he taught grades 3-5 before coming to Newton-Conover in 2005 as Assistant Principal of NCMS and Shuford Elementary before being promoted to a Principal. He recently completed a two year term at N-CMS before his move back to Shuford Elementary. Mr. Nelson currently resides in Iredell County with his two dogs, Conrad and Mia.

Principal of Newton-Conover Middle School, Ms. Kim Kaylor

Ms. Kim Kaylor is the newly appointed principal of Newton-Conover Middle School. Teaching has always been her love! She taught for 21 years in Iredell and Catawba County, and her love of history led her to be selected as the DAR Catawba County Teacher of the Year. She completed her MSA through Appalachian State University in 2010 and served as the AP for N-CHS for three years. She feels it all privilege and glory to serve as the Principal of NCMS. She is a single mom to three boys, and they are all college educated. Her middle son will soon be getting married in December.

Principal of Conover School, Mrs. Phyllis Pegram

Mrs. Phyllis Pegram is the newly appointed principal of Conover School. She served as principal at Shuford Elementary in the 2012-13 school year and prior to that, she was the principal at East Iredell Elementary in Statesville for five years. In Statesville, she taught 4th grade and 2nd grade before going into administration. While serving as an administrator, she had experience with special education students and had six self-contained exceptional children classrooms. She has a BA in Elementary Education from Catawba College, a Masters in Educational Leadership from Gardner Webb, and she is currently working on her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Gardner Webb. She is married to Roy Pegram and has two sons, Derek and Brandon, and three grandchildren which she loves spoiling every chance she gets.

Principal of North Newton Elementary, Mr. Shane Whitener

Mr. Shane Whitener is the newly appointed principal of North Newton Elementary. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Appalachian State University. He taught math for 7 years at NCHS, served as Assistant Principal for 5 years, served as Principal at Shuford Elem. for 1 year, served as Math Curriculum Specialist for 1 year and is currently serving as Principal at North Newton Elementary. He has two beautiful kids who are in Kindergarten at North Newton Elem.

Assistant Principal of Conover School, Mrs. Priscilla Palmisano

Mrs. Priscilla Palmisano is the newly appointed assistant principal of Conover School. She was born and raised in Pennsylvania. She received a B.A. in Social Studies Education from the University of Charleston in West Virginia. She received a Masters of Education in Special Education from California University of PA and a School Administration add-on licensure from Gardner-Webb University. Her husband is Michael and her daughter is Josephine, and they reside in Statesville. She is very happy to continue serving the staff, students, and families of Conover School.

Assistant Principal of Newton-Conover High School, Mr. Billy Cannon

Mr. Billy Cannon is a newly appointed Assistant Principal at N-CHS. He is a 2002 graduate of Newton-Conover High School. He graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne in 2007 where he received a degree in elementary education and shortly after began working for NCCS. Since 2007, he has earned a Masters degree in Middle Grades Education as well as School Administration. He is married to Kelly Cannon and they have a 6 year old and twin two year olds, all boys. He loves being outdoors and working in his garden. He is an avid Washington Redskins fan as well as a Tarheels fan. He is excited to be working at NCHS and with the wonderful staff.

Assistant Principal of Newton-Conover High School, Ms. Jessica Luby

Ms. Jessica Luby is a newly appointed Assistant Principal of N-CHS. She originated from Missouri, and earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Biology from Lincoln University, 9-12 Science Teaching License from East Carolina University and will finish earning her Masters degree in School Administration from Appalachian State University in 2014. Ms. Luby has served as a N-CHS science teacher on the following committees/teams: School Improvement Team, Technology Team, MTAC, SWAT, Key Club Adviser and Calendar Committee. Ms. Luby received the following honors in her career: Beginning Teacher of the Year, Teacher of the Year, Wells Fargo Teacher of the Year, Lillian Jones Scholarship recipient, LES Scholarship recipient, Google Gravity Games 2nd Place Winner, iPad Pilot Teacher, and Fulbright Scholar (Germany). Ms. Luby is eager to serve the NCHS family!

Assistant Principal of Newton-Conover Middle School and Newton-Conover High School, Mrs. Valerie B. Leath
Mrs. Valerie Leath is the new Assistant Principal at NCMS and NCHS. She has worked her entire career in public education, because she believes she can make a difference in young peoples lives. She graduated from Lenoir High School and East Tennessee State University with a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction, as well as School Administration. She has been an elementary classroom teacher, Assistant Principal, and Principal. She is married and the proud parent of one daughter, who is a lawyer in California.

Big THANKS to Basset Furniture for donating three beautiful new pieces of furniture to NCCS for the Central Office Lobby!

CONTACT US: Newton-Conover City Schools~(828) 464-3191 (ph) or (828) 466-0063 (fax) 605 N. Ashe Ave. Newton, NC 28658