Charlotte Mecklenburg School District's CMS-TV3

The Charlotte Mecklenburg School District is the main school district for the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. The Charlotte Mecklenburg School District is composed of one hundred fifty schools: ninety one elementary schools, thirty two middle schools, seventeen high schools and ten alternative programs. There are one hundred twenty six thousand nine hundred three students enrolled in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District. The District has the top 10% students in the state of North Carolina and in the nation. The ethnic distribution of the school district is nearly 45% African-American.

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Charlotte Mecklenburg School District's CMS-TV3

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In order to better serve the students and parents of the Charlotte Schools the school district has created its own television channel. CMS-TV3 is designed to support the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District by broadcasting professional looking programming that can inform, educate, and entertain the parents, students and teachers of the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District. CMS-TV3 meets this goal by providing a variety of programming.

Current programs that address the needs of the students are the telecasts of the Board of Education meetings, Math Extra and Diversity Matters. The Board of Education Meetings are live broadcasts of the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District's twice monthly meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. This allows parents and teachers to know what is going on in the District. The meetings are rebroadcast on Wednesday nights. Math Extra is a live call in mathematics help show that allows students to get math help from math teachers throughout the school district. The show airs Monday through Thursday in the evening. The show aims to provide homework help to the middle school math students in the school district. Diversity Matters is a character education program aimed at high school students and their parents. This show examines different topics related to the issues about diversity within the Charlotte Mecklenburg School community. These are only a few of the many regular and special programs that aim to educate and connect all the members of the school district.

New Programs on CMS-TV3 for the Next School Year

There are a host of new programs that are being added to the line-up of programs already on CMS-TV3. The first special event to air on CMS-TV3 is the graduation ceremonies for the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District's 6,500 graduating seniors for 2006. Then starting with the new school year, there are a number of new programs. These programs, like those currently running, aim to help and enlighten the Charlotte Mecklenburg community. Financial Fitness is a new program aimed at teaching students the value of money and how to practice financial responsibility. This is an important show that illustrates the perils of credit and interest. Hands On Crafts For Kids is a new program that is created to teach elementary school students how to make easy and fun projects. It also gives advice on room decorations and party planning. Stuff is a cross-subject program that involves the use of sciences, arts, and athletics to teach about health and character. The program uses a variety of subjects in order to better relate to the students' personal interests. Stuff is geared toward middle school students.

Working in Broadcasting

CMS-TV3 gives high school students in Charlotte Mecklenburg School District the chance to intern in television production. The internships give selected students the chance to gain practical experience in radio and television production. Interns have the opportunity to apply for several positions like studio floor directors, camera operators, sound assistants, lighting technicians, phone call screeners, writers, and assistant producers.

Charlotte Mecklenburg School District's CMS-TV3

Stacy Andell is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. Stacy has a nose for research and writes stimulating news and views on school issues. For more information visit Charlotte Schools

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Charlotte - Mecklenburg Schools Lead the Nation in Preschool Education Programs

One program in Charlotte Schools is focusing on the littlest learners. Recognizing that good learners begin early, education officials have developed an award winning preschool program called Bright Beginnings.

Bright Beginnings

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The Bright Beginnings program involves full day, literacy based programs for four year olds in the Charlotte - Mecklenburg area. More than 3000 students benefit from the program at five education centers and fourteen elementary schools. Over time the program has spread beyond the public school system and has been integrated into preschool classrooms throughout the community by partnering with the Smart Start, Child Care Resources, Child Care Centers, and More at Four programs, which all target the education needs of preschool students.

Developing Pre - K Experiences

Teachers and program developers recognize the need for enriching experiences at the preschool level. Students at this age have very limited opportunities to explore the world around them, and the Bright Beginnings Program hopes to change that. By exposing children to new and different things, program developers believe that they can strengthen student vocabulary, a skill that they hope will carry over when the students learn to read. While many of these new experiences take place in the classroom, Bright Beginnings also encourages students with field trips to local learning centers, such as Discovery Place and ImaginOn.

Aligning Pre - K with Elementary Education Curriculum and Instruction

Bright Beginnings has recently been incorporated under the North Carolina State Elementary Education Curriculum and Instruction area. Teachers hope to build connections between what they do in the Bright Beginnings program and what students will need to do when they enter kindergarten. The new partnership seeks to produce students entering kindergarten who are better prepared to learn and kindergarten teachers with a clearer idea of what their students have been exposed to and how they can build on that knowledge as they move through kindergarten. The program has the potential to raise student achievement at every grade level, as better prepared students advance year to year. Bright Beginnings recognizes that as Elementary Education Standards increase, preschool student curriculum must as well. As the director of the program explains, "(Children) are expected to learn more. The standards have increased, not just in college and high school but in kindergarten too."

Professional Development for Teachers

As part of Bright Beginnings commitment to preschool education, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools has used federal and state grant money to ensure that the teachers working in the program are highly trained and qualified. All teachers must be certified in early child development, meaning that they have studied children from birth to kindergarten.

National Recognition for Bright Beginnings

Several years ago, Bright Beginnings sold its award winning curriculum to Pearson Publishing. Through this partnership, the curriculum has been distributed nationwide and continues to grow in neighborhoods far from the Charlotte - Mecklenburg area. The director of the program credits Bright Beginning's success to the continued dedication of teachers and developers to work towards better learning practices. She comments, "We've started some new things and we're going to continue to build them. We have gotten great marks for our curriculum for years. (Charlotte - Mecklenburg Schools) is a leader in the nation."

Charlotte - Mecklenburg Schools Lead the Nation in Preschool Education Programs

Stacy Andell is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. Stacy has a nose for research and writes stimulating news and views on school issues. For more on Charlotte schools visit http://www.schoolsk-12.com/North-Carolina/Charlotte/index.html

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