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Year Two of the town’s campaign to get students walking to school has concluded its first month of “Walking Wednesdays.”

Students from the Children's Community School crossed Jetton Street, with help from crossing guard Kristen Harris and second grade assistant teacher Pam Haan (both are wearing green "Davidson Walks" caps).

The Children’s Community School finished off September with a walk along Davidson Gateway Drive, sending students in two groups on a perfect fall morning.  Parents pushed strollers, lugged backpacks and held hands as they joined the walk.

Learn below about how the program has expanded from its beginnings at Davidson Elementary.  We also have a report on fund-raising at Davidson Elementary, along with news of a student-teacher incident at the school Monday.  Plus, our calendar has upcoming dates for all area schools.

Town walking programs adds new schools

The Town of Davidson’s program to encourage students to walk to school has added three new school participants.  Davidson Day, Davidson International Baccalaureate Middle School and the Children’s Community School have joined forces with Davidson Elementary to turn Wednesdays into special days for walking and biking to school.

“We took the model from Davidson Elementary and tailored it,” said Davidson Town Communications Director Sara-Lynne Levine.  “Each school was able to decide what worked for them.”

For Davidson Day, which now walks on the third Wednesdays of each month, that meant sending two groups from two locations.  Kevin Beuchler, dean of student life at the private school on Jetton Street, said grades 5-8 walked to school from the green behind Town Hall, while the younger grades made a shorter jaunt from Sadler Square.

Children's Community School has the fourth Wednesday of each month as its scheduled Walking/Rolling Wednesday.

At Children’s Community School, students also went in two waves, but from the same location.  First the older kids and then the younger, totaling about 145 students in all, gathered behind the clinic building on Davidson Gateway to walk through leafy neighborhoods to the public charter school on Griffith Street.

To prepare for the event, Davidson Police Chief Jeanne Miller held pedestrian training sessions at both Davidson Day and the Children’s Community School, and police officers conducted training session with crossing guard volunteers. (The Town of Davidson’s website has dates and more photos from Walking Wednesdays.)

The coordinator for walkers at Davidson IB Middle said a handful of students walked through rainy weather on the second Wednesday of the month.

“Our next walk is International Walk to School Day, so we’re hoping for more students that day,” said Margeret Goode.

Davidson Elementary launched the program last year and had reported a strong turnout for the 2008-09 kick-off first Wednesday this September.  Large groups of walkers and bikers made the trek of almost two miles from the McConnell neighborhood, while others converged on the school from the town greenway, where they were joined by bus riders dropped off at a special stop allowing for participation in the walk.  Ms. Levine said several hundred walkers participated in the Davidson Elementary event.

Now that the first month of walking/rolling Wednesdays is over, Ms. Levine said coordinators will be looking to fine tune the event.

“We’re meeting tomorrow to compare notes,” she said as the last of the Children’s Community School walkers disappeared around a bend Wednesday morning.  “And then it’s a new month and we start all over again.”

Fundraiser results announced for DES

Davidson Elementary School families raised $30,000 through the “One Ask Campaign” and $15,000 through “Sally Foster” sales in September.  Julia Krauss, the school’s Parent-Teacher Association co-president, announced the numbers at the first meeting of the year, held Tuesday in conjunction with the first of two curriculum nights.  She also said 400 parents have so far signed up for a new campaign to commit to at least two hours of volunteer work during the school year.

“We are fortunate to have strong parent support,” Ms. Krauss told the gathering.

The “One Ask Campaign” seeks direct donations from parents, while “Sally Foster” raises money through sales of wrapping paper and other items.  The money raised is use to buy agendas for all students, pay for school clubs and classroom supplies, and provide programs like the annual Artfest and the “Tigers on the Prowl” running program.  Last year, the PTA also provided eight Promethean Boards — a high-tech, interactive version of an overhead projector — to classrooms.  The PTA will continue to provide teacher training for these devises, and would like to see them available to all classrooms.  This year, the Davidson Elementary PTA has a $120,000 budget.

Teacher suspended

Davidson Elementary Principal Celeste Ellis sent a note home with all students Tuesday about an investigation into an allegation that a teacher hit a student.  Ms. Ellis’s note, dated Sept. 23, stated, “Yesterday, a student reported being hit by a teacher.  We take any allegations of physical contact like this very seriously.”  She added that both the Davidson Police Department and CMS law enforcement were investigating the allegation.  The teacher has been suspended with pay, and Ms. Ellis said a substitute teacher has been brought in to take over the class.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

• Wednesday - Thursday, Sept. 24-25 - The Town of Davidson and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will host a two-day public planning workshop about proposed renovations and additions at Davidson IB Middle School on South Street. The Town Board approved the project Tuesday night. The workshop begins with a school tour and kick-off planning event Wednesday evening, followed by an all-day workshop session Thursday (10 a.m. - 5 p.m.) which will include time for neighbor concerns.  The planning “charrette” session closes with a 7 p.m. overview session at Town Hall. Find more details in our previous coverage, “Planning workshop Sept. 24-25 for IB School project.”
• Friday, Sept. 26 - Faculty Development (classes canceled) for Davidson Day
• Tuesday, Sept. 30 - Teacher workday (classes canceled) for Davidson Elementary, Children’s Community School, Bailey Middle and Davidson IB.
• Friday, Oct. 3 - Cannon School, a private school in Concord for grades K-12, will host the first of two Admission Open House events.  Families can visit from 10 a.m. until noon.  For more information, see the school’s website.  The second open house will be held on Thursday, Oct. 23.
• Monday - Wednesday, Oct. 6-8 - Over 100 volunteers will be working to create a new playground for Pine Lake Prep.
• Thursday, Oct. 9 - No classes at Children’s Community School due to a teacher work day.
• Friday, Oct. 10 - No classes at Woodlawn due to a teacher in-service day.
• Tuesday, Oct. 13 - Columbus Day.  Davidson Day and Woodlawn will be closed for this holiday.

Send calendar items and press releases about local school news to us at lauriedennis@bellsouth.net . Don’t forget to include a contact phone number, in case we have questions.

Filed under: Schools