Jefferson County Public Schools
2007–08 School Year

• First day for schools following the regular calendar is Monday, August 13, 2007.
• Projected 2007–08 enrollment is 98,500 students in preschool to grade 12, a projected increase of approximately 500 students over last year.
• 843 buses transport more than 60,000 students.
• JCPS has hired approximately 500 new teachers.

2007–08 meal prices
(Prices remain the same as last year):

• Breakfast (regular price): $1.50
• Breakfast (reduced price): $.30
• Lunch (regular price): $2.00
• Lunch (reduced price): $ .40

A new application for free- and reduced-price meals must be submitted each school year.

School Hours
(Some schools slightly adjust their hours; confirm times with local school.)

• Elementary: 9:05 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.
• Middle and High: 7:40 a.m. to 2:20 p.m.

Important Telephone Numbers
FACTLINE: 485-3228

Transportation: 485-3470

Parent Assistance Center/Student Assignment: 485-6250

Early Childhood Education Programs: 485-3919

Health Services: 485-3387

Optional, Magnet, and Advance Programs: 485-3323

Exceptional Child Education: 485-3215

New Principals and Principal Transfers

• Brown School: Tim Healy
• Buechel Metropolitan High School: Jackie Wisman
• Byck Elementary School: Tamara Darden
• Carter Traditional Elementary: Connie Hayes
• Cochran Elementary School: TBD
• Coleridge-Taylor Elementary: Yvette Stockwell
• Farmer Elementary: Shannon Conlon*
• Fern Creek Traditional High: Houston Barber
• Iroquois High School MCA: Joey Riddle
• Jefferson County High School: Tom Carter*
• Jefferson County Virtual School: Ruth Jarrell*
• Jeffersontown High School MCA: Martin “Marty” Pollio
• Kenwood Elementary School: Jill Handley
• Liberty High School: Iman Talaat
• Rutherford Elementary School: TBD
• Schaffner Elementary School: Phil Poore*
• Stopher Elementary School: Bridgette Owens*
• Valley Traditional High School: Gary Hurt
• Waller-Williams Environmental School: Scott Hooper
• Wellington Elementary School: Michael Alexander
• Wilder Elementary School: David Bodine*

*Transfer
 

2007–08 Back-to-School Highlights

District Responds to U.S. Supreme Court Ruling
On June 28, 2007, JCPS received the opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the district’s Student Assignment Plan. There will be no changes in students’ school assignments that have already been made for the 2007-08 school year. However, race will not be used as a factor in placing individual students who are new to the district, students who have moved, or students making transfer applications. District staff will work with Chief Judge John G. Heyburn II, United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, to determine what changes might be made in the Student Assignment Plan for the 2008–09 school year. Parents can expect continuity, stability and predictability in the assignment of students to schools. The Jefferson County Board of Education will seek input from parents concerning any changes in the Student Assignment Plan that may be considered in the future.

Every 1 Reads Begins Fourth Year
To date, more than $7.4 million of the $8 million fundraising goal has been reached, and more than 7,000 volunteers throughout the community are volunteering to read with struggling students each week. Every 1 Reads is a partnership between JCPS, Greater Louisville Inc., and Louisville Metro Government to ensure that every JCPS student is reading at or above grade level by the end of the 2008 school year. Since the program launch in 2004, the number of students reading at or above grade level has improved from 81 to 87 percent. There are numerous Every 1 Reads sites available where volunteers can participate ranging from JCPS schools, after-school programs, community-based organizations, and faith-based organizations.

“Add it Up” Math and Science Initiative Moves Forward
Sixth- and seventh-grade students at 22 JCPS middle schools will begin using new math textbooks this fall as part of the JCPS math and science initiative, which is funded by a $25 million grant from the GE Foundation. The textbooks will help students meet the new JCPS world-class math standards (the guidelines for what students in each grade should know). Approved near the end of the last school year, the district’s standards are world-class because they not only meet Kentucky math standards but also combine the elements of standards used in the world’s highest performing countries in math: Japan, Singapore, and the Netherlands. The new JCPS world-class math standards are as follows:

• Divide content into eight units that provide greater depth of instruction at each grade level.
• Create an expectation that students will master content within each unit instead of just being exposed to the content.
• Arrange content so that all students reach algebra in the eighth grade. Many students will have a new way to boost and track their math skills because SuccessMaker® educational software will be offered to 38 additional elementary and middle schools during the new school year. Last year, SuccessMaker® was used in 31 schools. Myers Middle teacher Laura Ecken says her students enjoyed the software’s graphics and sound effects as they learned math building blocks that helped them accomplish higher level tasks. In four months, Ecken’s students averaged more than a one-year gain in their performance levels. Although schools are paying a great deal of attention to math, they also remain committed to the science portion of the initiative. All elementary and middle schools will continue to use the science modules that were introduced to students last year. Science modules are lessons that help students understand concepts in-depth by reading, writing, doing experiments, and sharing their results.

Elementary Schools
Two New Elementary Schools Open
Farmer Elementary (6405 Gellhaus Lane) and Stopher Elementary (14417 Aiken Road) will open their doors on August 13. These two new state-of-the art schools cost $12.5 million each to construct. Each school is designed to serve 650 students in preschool through grade five. Farmer will open with 375 students and Stopher with 530 students.

The 79,000 square-foot prototype facilities have been fully staffed and are equipped with high-tech equipment as well as safety and energy-conservation technologies. Each classroom has ceiling-mounted multimedia projectors, which are connected to the teacher’s computer and to the building’s television system. Wireless Internet access will be available in many areas of the school. Each school is equipped with the most up-to-date energy conservation equipment, such as motion sensors for controlling the lights and temperature when spaces are unoccupied. The data, television, and telephone systems also embrace many of the most current technological advances.

Middle Schools
Iroquois and Southern Middle Open After Reconstruction
Iroquois Middle and Southern Leadership Academy will operate under a newly restructured plan with new staff, smaller class sizes, additional student leadership opportunities, and enhanced technology supports. Additionally, master teachers in math, science, and literacy will provide additional job embedded professional development to teachers throughout the year. These two schools also will receive a highly skilled educator, district coaching teams, and additional financial support to help raise academic performance.

CHAMPs/Foundations Improves Middle School Climate
The Middle School Division is beginning its fifth year of the Foundation/CHAMPs initiative with suspensions already being reduced 22.5 percent over the four-year period. Thru CHAMPs, each school designed and continues to implement a proactive and positive schoolwide discipline plan focused on improving school climate, safety, student behavior, and academic performance.

High Schools
Kentucky’s No Pass/No Drive Statute Takes Effect
The Commonwealth of Kentucky’s “No Pass/No Drive” statute has been re-enacted and will be implemented on August 1, 2007. This statute will affect all 16- and 17-year-old public and private school students across the Commonwealth. The “No Pass/No Drive” statute results in the denial or revocation of a student’s driver’s license for the following reasons:

1. Academic deficiency (defined as a student who does not have passing grades in at least four courses or the equivalent of four courses in the preceding semester).
2. Dropping out of school as a result of unexcused absences (a student is deemed to have dropped out of school when he/she has nine or more unexcused absences in the preceding semester).

All Kentucky Juniors to Take College Entrance Exam
The ACT will be administered during the 2007–08 school year to all 11th-grade students in the Commonwealth, except for those in the Alternate Assessment Program. The ACT will be given in March 2008 and will be free of charge. The ACT test is an integral part of the application process for college-bound students. Normally, the test has a basic registration fee of $30 plus an additional $14.50 fee for the optional writing segment.

Making the ACT test accessible to all juniors is an additional opportunity to identify potential collegebound students. Those students with exceptionally high ACT scores often receive collegiate scholarships. Additionally, this requirement will provide students who have already taken the test with an additional opportunity to raise their ACT score. Accommodations will be made for administering the ACT to students with Individual Education Plans (IEP), 504 Plans, and Individual Service Plans (ISP).

Other Initiatives
FRYSCs Serve 131 Schools
Expanded funding for the Family Resource/Youth Services Centers (FRYSC) network will allow Tully Elementary, Eastern High, Butler Traditional High, and the Jaeger Education Center to offer FRYSC services for the first time during the new school year. FRYSCs help students succeed by connecting families to local social, health, and crisis resources. Established in 1990, Kentucky’s FRYSC network is the largest school-based family support initiative in the nation.

JCPS Expands Technology Opportunities

JCPS Implements New Student Information System
In late 2006, the Commonwealth of Kentucky awarded a contract to Infinite Campus, Inc. to provide and manage the Student Information System (SIS) for the state's 1,200 public schools and 55 area technology centers. Jefferson County is the first site to implement the new SIS and has worked the last several months with Infinite Campus to refine and test the new system and to train more than 4,000 staff members. This new SIS system will manage student data through a centralized database, providing real-time, immediate information to those who are authorized to view it at the school, district

and state levels. The system has many advantages, including:

• Through the Web-based system, authorized users may access grade books, lesson plans, complex scheduling, and more from almost any work station with Internet access.
• The system is accessible on both Windows and Macintosh operating systems.
• Student transfers, grade promotions, and more will be available from year to year.
• The widely supported Microsoft SQL Server database is used at all levels.
• Support is available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST nearly every day of the year.
• Online help within the application and Web support also are available.

Technology Integration Project (TIP)
JCPS is further integrating technology into the classrooms through the Technology Integration Project (TIP). All schools have teachers currently using this technology in the classroom, and by the beginning of the 2009–10 school year, all teachers should be

equipped with this technology. This year more than 2,000 additional teachers will receive the Tablet PC, digital projector, professional development, and follow-up support in the classroom. The mobility of the Tablet PC gives teachers anytime, anywhere access to resources to plan lessons and perform other job related duties. The Tablet PC is an ideal tool for teachers because it provides all the functionality of a standard laptop computer while also allowing the journal functions needed to model instruction.

Project 1st CLASS
JCPS is in the fourth and final year of Project 1st CLASS (Computer Laptops Assisting Student Success) at Western Middle, Shawnee High, and Moore Traditional School (grades 6-12). The pilot program aims to significantly improve student achievement—as measured by CATS—by providing a laptop computer to every student and teacher.

Project 1st CLASS has helped close the digital divide for the 3,000 students in these high poverty schools,

providing access to a technology-rich environment in which technology is no longer a shared commodity. At the same time, it increased teachers' technology skills and created a higher standard for technology proficiency for both students and teachers. The third year process evaluation conducted by the JCPS Research Department demonstrates positive results on student achievement. For example, multiple formative assessments in reading show steady gains in students scoring proficient or above. This year, we will test a variety of changes that focus on the teachers’ integration into the classroom and improve the reliability of the technology in the hands of the students.

CLICK! (Creating Literacy in Computer Knowledge)
This new training program promotes computer literacy among all district employees. CLICK! workshops provide online training for staff who find it difficult to leave the workplace. Employees may take an electronic professional development (ePD) course any day, any time, and any place that Internet access is available! CLICK! open labs also offer one-on-one assistance, online tutorials, and coaching for work-related projects.

New Improved Internet Connection
Financed by the Kentucky Education Network (KEN), JCPS has established an improved Internet connection that is two-and-a-half times faster than last year.

Higher Speed Wide Area Network
An upgrade to higher speed (up to 1 GB transfer rate)

connections to all schools sites will take place throughout the school year. This faster network will improve the network response time and provide access to live video productions across the network. JCPS also will test a centralized storage capability for students’ data for all schools as this upgrade takes place.

JCPS Online—A Virtual Education Space
This virtual education space uses the ANGEL Learning Management System to provide tools for teachers to develop technology-supported curriculum, electronically distribute and publish materials and assignments, create and conduct assessments and

surveys, and compile grade book information. Teachers and staff participate in ePD, district instructional support staff create and distribute common materials that support core content instruction, students take the district technology assessment online, and central office staff conduct online surveys and automatically tally results.

JCPS Encourages PTA Membership and Parent Involvement
The 15th District PTA will launch its annual membership drive led by honorary membership chairperson, Dawne Gee of WAVE-TV. The theme of this year’s membership drive is “Together we can make a difference.” Last year, more than 61,000 joined local school and district PTAs. Decades of research has shown that when parents are involved in their child’s education, students achieve greater success through higher grades, test scores, and graduation rates; better school attendance; increased motivation and better self-esteem; lower rates of suspension; decreased use of drugs and alcohol; fewer instances of violent behavior; and greater enrollment rates in post-secondary education.