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Polk County Schools – Doing What’s Right For Students
Polk County Schools is a public school system in Western North Carolina serving approximately 2,300 students. All Polk County schools have been recognized by state and national organizations for their student centered focus and academic excellence.
Polk County Schools is proud to maintain small, community centered elementary schools with preschools for our youngest students. The students then come together into Polk County Middle School where they participate in a variety of academic courses and extracurricular activities. For the upper grades, students have a choice of the comprehensive curriculum and activities at Polk County High School or the smaller individualized learning at Polk County Early College.
Relationships
Polk County’s teachers work diligently to develop meaningful relationships with their students. These strong relationships allow teachers to know, understand, and meet the needs of the students they serve.
Academic Success
Polk County Schools was recently ranked as the 2nd highest performing school district in North Carolina. The Polk County Board of Education and hundreds of educators strive to provide high quality educational experiences for young people affording them the tools they need for future success.
Community
Polk County Schools receives substantial support from the Polk County community. Families, local government, businesses, and philanthropic organizations partner with our staff and schools to ensure students are provided opportunities to learn and grow in the classroom and beyond.
Recent Announcements
Spanish Announcements
Stories of Academic success from PolkStudents.com
Stories of Athletic success from PolkSports.com
School Safety
Polk County Schools works hard to provide safe schools where our students are free to learn without concern for this safety. Each student knows that the school staff are available at anytime for conversations about safety concerns at school.
We also understand that some students would feel more comfortable reporting safety concerns through a more anonymous mechanism.
Polk County Schools has a Tip Line available 24 hours a day for anyone who would like to report a safety concern in one of our schools. Polk County also participates in the NC Say Something Anonymous Reporting System. This program is managed by the Sandy Hook Foundation and provides students an opportunity to interact with a trained safety counselor 24 hours a day. Reports made through the Say Something system are forwarded to both the school system and local law enforcement as deemed necessary.
Digital Children’s Reading Initiative
Click the links below to learn more about the NC Literacy at Home: Digital Children’s Reading Initiative
Literacy at Home Flyer
Literacy At Home Website
Polk County PreSchool
Polk County Schools Preschool program was recently featured in this article by EdNc.
Please click below to read and watch a short video about our great preschool program!
‘A lot of people think pre-K is separate.’ How a small, rural district unites two different worlds by, Liz Bell
NCPRE-K Annual Fall Committee Meeting
Stearns Education Center
August 15, 2022
11:30-12:00
Virtual https://meet.google.com/gno-
Phone Access:
(US)+1 585-491-8125
PIN: 814 312 413#
**New**
Kindergarten School Search
Statewide database to help families locate opportunities for Kindergarten.
Children are served if they are three or four years of age on or before August 31, 2021. Our three year old spots are very limited and are only for three year old’s that are eligible for Head Start and the Exceptional Children’s Program. Four year old’s may be served if they are eligible for Head Start, NC PreK, Exceptional Children’s programs, or as tuition.
Please use the online application if possible.
Before completing the online application please read the letter to parents in the additional paperwork section. You may email your additional paperwork if needed to [email protected] or you can drop it off at any school or Stearns.
Please download this letter and additional paperwork before you start your application.
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- Letter to Parents and additional information for your application – click here
- Emergency/Permission Form – click here
- NC Health Assessment form – click here
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English – click here
Español – haga clic aquí
Los niños reciben servicios si tienen tres o cuatro años el 31 de agosto de 2021 o antes.
Nuestros lugares para niños de tres años son muy limitados y solo tienen tres años que son elegibles para Head Start y el Programa de Niños Excepcionales. Los niños de cuatro años pueden recibir servicios si son elegibles para Head Start, NC PreK, programas para niños excepcionales o como matrícula. Utilice la aplicación en línea si es posible.
Antes de completar la solicitud en línea, lea la carta a los padres en la sección de documentación adicional.
Documentación adicional Español
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- Carta a las padreshaga – clic aquí
- Formulario de emergencia / permisohaga – clic aquí
- Evaluación de salud de Carolina del Northaga – clic aquí
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If you are unable to apply online please go to any elementary school or Stearns to pick up a paper packet.
Our Program
Polk County Schools operates model preschool programs at each of its four elementary schools, offering students in each of our communities the opportunity for a wonderful educational start.
Because we know children develop at their own developmental level and learn through playing in their environment, we encourage the educational approach of active learning. Through the use of the research-based High Scope curriculum, teachers allow children to initiate active learning experiences in their area of interest. Children learn by doing, by working with hands-on materials and carrying out projects of their own choosing. The High Scope approach encompasses all aspects of a child’s emerging intellectual, physical, social and emotional skills and abilities. Services are also available for children with special needs such as speech and developmental disabilities. We follow stringent Head Start Performance standards and NC PreK guidelines. All of our teachers are certified by North Carolina to teach preschool.
Our preschool program offers comprehensive family support services. Our staff includes individuals with experience in family support services, health-related services and child development.
Philosophy
In partnership with families and communities, the goal of the Polk County Schools Pre-Kindergarten program is to provide children with a high-quality, developmentally appropriate, early childhood experience that leads to a positive educational start. Children are placed in a blended classroom by qualifying for Head Start, NC PreK, Exceptional Children’s Program, or by fee payment. For children in need of bus transportation, this service will be provided.
Parent Involvement
We believe children’s first and most important teachers are their parents. It is our goal to work as closely as possible with all parents and caregivers of our students. A child has the best chance of achieving in all areas of development when there is good communication between the parent and other adults who help in the child’s care.
Parent Resources
School Readiness
Head Start defines school readiness as children possessing the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary for success in school and for later learning and life. The Head Start approach to school readiness means that children are ready for school, families are ready to support their children’s learning, and schools are ready for children (NCQTL/ECKLC). The philosophy of our preschool program is to provide children with a high quality, developmentally appropriate early childhood experience that leads to a positive educational start.
School Readiness Goals
Program Plans
Listed below are links to our program plans, goals and Annual Report. These are required as part of our Head Start grant.
NCPreK Committee
Polk Board of Education Head Start Program Goals Grant Cycle 2015-2020
Media Releases
2017-2018 Head Start Annual Report for Polk County Schools
Child and Adult Care Food Program Media Release
An interpreter is available to assist our Spanish- speaking families. Please contact us with questions about our program or the application/enrollment process at (828)894-3051
Home visits and parent-teacher conferences allow this communication to take place. All families will receive home visits and/or conferences with their child’s teacher. These may be requested by the teacher or the parent(s). Parents are encouraged to visit their child’s classroom often to observe our program, and to volunteer. Parent meetings and family activities will also be offered by the individual schools and by the program. Teachers will communicate with families with a regular class newsletter.
This will be done in partnership with families and communities. To review our School Readiness Goals for all students, please use the link below.example of longitudinal analysis – HSE Open Seminar on Education – Institute of Education – National Research University Higher School of Economics
efficiency. Researchers and practitioners are constantly working to identify the factors that distinguish more successful schools from less successful ones.
Research on school effectiveness began in the West half a century ago and covers a wide range of aspects of school work, including the stability and constancy of the influence of the school on student outcomes, the stability of school performance in subject areas, etc.
It is not traditional in Russia to study the effectiveness of a school as its “contribution” to student achievement. There are only a few works devoted, for example, to the contribution of pedagogical practices to student outcomes. Basically, researchers and experts are interested in the economic efficiency of Russian schools, wages and optimization of budget expenditures. It also examines how staff and school administration apply “effective strategies”, or school performance is seen as the ability to show one or another result depending on the context. The stability and sustainability of school outcomes remain under-researched. One of the reasons for this is often the lack of longitudinal data in the Russian context or the lack of practice of monitoring the progress of schoolchildren in general.
In our work, we are moving towards answering the question of how stable and effective Russian schools are in the two main subjects over five years. We assume that the data obtained can be useful and interesting not only for Russia, but also for the international community. Our research concerns the following main questions:
— How stable is the average school performance over the years in the Russian language and mathematics? To what extent are academic results explained (“belonging”) to a particular school, if one examines the dynamics?
— Does school performance (results in context) vary from year to year in different subjects? Is there consistency in efficiency across items? What are possible ways to quantitatively track the sustainability of a school in its outcomes?
As part of the discussion, we will discuss the differences we found in the stability of results: a) in different subjects, b) in schools with different socio-economic indicators, as well as possible mechanisms that influence this.
Speakers:
Roman Zvyagintsev, Junior Researcher, Center for General and Additional Education named after A.A. Pinsky
Julia Kersha , Junior Researcher of the A.A. Pinsky Institute of Education HSE
Discussants:
0002 You can connect to view via the link. Do not forget to put a reminder – press the bell.
Date
May 17 16:00
The article mentions
Institute of Education
How to build the school of the future: successful examples and approaches
Despite the rapid development of modern technology, most schools in the world still teach using methods from the 19th century . We figure out how this can be fixed and where the technologies of the future are already being applied
Technologies are new, prejudices are old
Experiments with remote education in 2020-2021 repeatedly caused dissatisfaction of parents.
A McKinsey study found that due to the lockdown in the United States, students in the average school are 5 months behind in their math curriculum, and 7 months behind in poor schools with small budgets. Justin Reich, Director of MIT’s Learning Systems Laboratory and author of Unable to Change: Why Technology Alone Can’t Change Education, described the problem this way: “The craziest thing about the pandemic is that teachers are trying their best to recreate digital version of what they are used to. They do not change the very organization of education, only the form.” Instead of a briefcase, there is now a folder in Google Classroom, and instead of notebooks, a tablet computer, but the teacher still needs everyone to sit in their seats for the prescribed 40-50 minutes during the lesson. Because of this, there are doubts that the next generations of teachers will change this system. Maximum – modernize the most archaic aspects. At the same time, only children from wealthy families will be able to study according to new alternative models of education.
Alternative from the first half of the 20th century
For more than a hundred years, we have not been able to get rid of the model from the 19th century, although attempts to modernize the system were made in the first half of the 20th century. In 1907, Maria Montessori assembled the first class, which was taught according to her experimental methodology. She introduced elements of the game into training, encouraged creativity. In her opinion, grades for homework do not develop in children a craving for knowledge in the long term. There are studies that prove the effectiveness of this approach. However, out of 131,000 American schools, only 5,000 operate according to the Montessori method (and only 10% of them are not private). At 1921 in the UK opened a private boarding school Summerhill. Her philosophy is that “even more important learning happens outside the classroom.” Every student has the full right not to attend official lessons if he does not want to. Children decide how they develop.
Nobody bothers them in this, even if they want to devote all the time to games. Students are responsible only for their own projects, and they can be implemented in any way they like. In addition, teachers and students are completely equal. Twice a week, all Summerhillers meet and vote on the development of the school.
Dissatisfaction and inactivity
In the 1970s, the “unskulling” movement appeared – for home education according to the Montessori method. However, nothing could shake the unified system of public schools, based on the developments of the XIX century. Polls over the past 20 years show that about half of Americans rate schooling as “rather” or “completely unsatisfactory.” Similarly, 88% of school teachers in Russia believe that school does not prepare children for real life. Despite this, change is still lagging behind. Justin Reich sees the problem in the fact that many people do not trust the new models of education. It is easier for parents to put their children into the hands of a clumsy but understandable system than to sign them up for something unknown and unverified.
Moving towards the future
Restoring balance between parents and school requires gently and gradually pushing the system in the right direction. For example, rethink physical education lessons.
Physical exercise promotes neuroplasticity, oxygenates the brain and accelerates the child’s mental abilities. Therefore, training can be combined with study. A simple application like GoNoodle will do for this. It contains short videos and interactive games that will keep kids moving while sharing useful information. Short videos are easily integrated into a regular school lesson and do not challenge the primacy of textbooks. Judging by the reviews on the Internet, the teachers are delighted. Since the start of the pandemic, the app has been downloaded 3.5 million times. According to the company, 14 million people regularly use the service, while approximately 50 million children study in US public schools.
“Active exercise instead of sitting in front of a screen helps kids develop socially and emotionally,” says GoNoodle CEO Kenneth Estenson.
How not to break down due to stress? How to understand that stress is too much? Is it true that exercise makes it easier? I hope that over the next 50 years, the education system will recognize that this knowledge is no less important than the traditional school curriculum.
VR and time
In the near future, classrooms will begin to move into virtual reality. Case studies have shown that VR lessons engage children more than traditional methods. However, it is currently difficult to judge other criteria for the quality of such education. In addition, classes should start later, because young people need better sleep. It is worth taking a closer look at the Finnish school system, which has been repeatedly recognized as the best in the world. There, the lessons end at 14:00, after which the students go to extracurricular activities. Closer to graduation, they stop attending subjects they are not interested in, thus forming their own program.
Technological Skills
Established in 2017, TEKY is the first academy in Vietnam to teach STEAM (an abbreviation derived from Science-Tecnology-Engineering-Mathematics, an English, plus Art – art.
– RBC Trends ). TEKY has established 16 laboratories in five cities across the country in partnership with 30 schools. They offer educational courses ranging from 9 to 18 months. In addition, the academy’s specialists organized a summer camp where schoolchildren learn to write code and created an electronic platform for children from more remote regions of Vietnam.
At TEKY, students spend about 80% of their time interacting with technology. Classes consist of a small number of students – from 3 to 8 people. This allows you to immerse yourself in the program through work on common projects. Children build the educational trajectory themselves, choosing the most interesting lessons. TEKY graduates and students regularly win medals at international olympiads, demonstrating a high level of training.
Collaborative training
In 2009, Peru ranked the lowest in international school rankings. To remedy this, several local companies and engineer Jorge Ouzuskay created innovative Innova Schools complexes.
Ten years later, more than 42,000 schoolchildren were enrolled in this system.
The Innova Schools model is unique because of its method: 70% of class time is devoted to group work (most often in small teams). The teacher here is just a mediator and coordinator. Schools have special “dynamic workspaces” that are designed for collaborative learning. In parallel, students participate in a special innovative program in which they cope with complex social issues. Each task is “open”, there is no correct answer to it. Students gather in groups and go through all stages of design thinking to develop a solution. The collaborative process is as similar as possible to what they will encounter in future jobs. Innova Schools students regularly pass state exams better than other private schools in Peru.
Interpersonal Skills
The Finnish education system traditionally ranks at the top of the world rankings, and Espoo South Tapiola School (ETIS) is the best of the best. Students study subjects, analyze hypothetical problems and historical events through the prism of the real world.