FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Rodney Nelson, Assistant Superintendent Human Resource Services, 560-2353
Total national board certifications for DPS continues to rise
DURHAM—Thirty-one Durham Public Schools teachers have been certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), the second highest number to be certified in the district in one school year. This brings the total number of teachers certified while serving in Durham Public Schools to 158.
The certification process is an extremely rigorous one in which teachers are asked to thoroughly assess their classroom performance. It includes submission of extensive portfolios, student work samples, and videotapes of applicant teachers’ classroom style. Exhaustive written exercises delving into the applicants’ knowledge of subject matter also are required, along with a final exam.
Achieving NBPTS certification can pay off literally as well as figuratively. North Carolina teachers receive a 12 percent salary bonus from the state along with their certification. The 31 certified teachers will be honored at a dinner hosted by Superintendent Ann T. Denlinger and the Board of Education at the University Club in February 2005.
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and non-governmental agency whose mission is to establish high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do; to develop and operate a national, voluntary certification system to assess and certify teachers who meet these standards; and, to advance related education reforms for the purpose of improving student learning in American schools.
“Durham Public Schools fully supports our teachers’ desires to enhance their knowledge and skills in order to give their very best to their students, and we are very proud of these wonderful professionals,” said Dr. Ann Denlinger. “The number of our national board certified teachers indicates the increasingly high levels of instructional quality and academic rigor being delivered in our classrooms each and every day.”
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Attached: 2004 Durham Public Schools National Board Certified Teachers2004 Durham Public Schools National Board Certified Teachers
Tracey Haring Anderson, Forest View Elementary Kathi Lightcap Breweur, Jordan High Lisa Allen Byrd, Forest View Elementary Robin Barbour, Lowe’s Grove Middle Christopher Barth, Chewning Middle Jill Bierwagen, Hope Valley Elementary Sonya Charlton-Wirth, Merrick-Moore Elementary Elizabeth Conroy, Mangum Elementary Jack Denny, Githens Middle Sherry Dougherty, Hillandale Elementary Julia Emory-Wolfe, Southwest Elementary Kelly Germino, Jordan High Iowana Hagler, Powe Elementary Jessica Morris Hale, Southwest Elementary Heather Hanney, Club Boulevard Elementary Kelli Alyce Hopkins, Lowe’s Grove Middle Grace Johnson, Smith Elementary Judieth Senn Jones, Mangum Elementary Ruth Key, Northern High Jennifer Kleckner, Jordan High Etta Leathers, Harris Elementary Trudy Maness, Morehead Montessori Evelyn Miller, Brogden Middle Katherine Brown Paramore, Glenn Elementary Frances Patterson, Jordan High Cynthia Rigsbee, Chewning Middle Barbara Snyder, Northern High Kathy Springfield-Cobb, Burton Elementary Angela Tew, Hope Valley Elementary Tracy Voreis, Durham School of the Arts Dana Walker, Pearsontown Elementary
