In 2011 the General Assembly passed Session Law 2011-395, Tax Credits for Children with Disabilities. This law created an individual refundable income tax credit that parents of children with disabilities can claim for education expenses including nonpublic school tuition and special education services. This tax credit has been successful throughout the state and expanded the educational options for students with disabilities. Despite the tax credit’s overall success, certain provisions in the law limited its effect.

On Monday Representatives Jonathan Jordan, Marcus Brandon, Bert Jones, and Paul Stam filed HB 269, Children with Disabilities Scholarship Grants. HB 269 changes the tax credit into a scholarship grant, which allows more families to benefit from the program. The grants will be up to $3,000 per semester—the same amount as the original tax credits—and may be used for tuition reimbursement and special education and related services.

HB 269 states the criteria children must meet for the parents to qualify for these grants. A child must have an Individualized Education Plan and must be receiving special education or related services on a daily basis. A child must also meet at least one of the following requirements:

1.      Was enrolled in a NC public school during the previous semester

2.      Received special education or related services through the NC public schools as a preschool child with a disability during the previous semester

3.      Received a scholarship grant for the previous semester

4.      Is eligible for initial enrollment in kindergarten or the first grade in a NC public school

After initial receipt of a scholarship grant, a child will be reevaluated every three years to verify that that he or she continues to be a child with a disability.

HB 269 was referred to the House Committee on Education. Please contact your Senator and Representative to urge their support.                

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The homepage includes several options, including a navigation menu, a search bar and a few shortcut buttons at the bottom of the screen.  There are some pages formatted for current families as well as new visitors to our school.

We are still tweaking the links and options, but one feature that we are working on is the tablet functionality of the site.  We know that more of our students are accessing our services using tablets, small or large, so want to make sure our site works well.  Currently we are perfecting a system that displays the mobile site when in portrait mode, and then switches to the full site in landscape mode, allowing for dual functionality.

Some of the resources most useful for current parents and students include the News and Information page, as well as the My Noble Academy page, which duplicates the logins and information from the My Noble Academy page on the website.  You can also click the Contact button to get a link to call or email the school directly.  If you have additional information or services that you think the mobile site should have, please feel free to email Matt Zigler with suggestions!

News and Events

My Noble Academy

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A nervous energy buzzed throughout the room as students took their places on the stage. Supportive parents and educators teetered on the edge of their seats in the Noble Academy auditorium as the 28 participants spelled letter by letter completing word after word. The competition went 32 rounds and lasted over 1.5 hours. During the last 30 minutes, two students from Roxboro challenged each other until the end. The winner of the bee was 5th grader, Daniel Mayo. He will advance to the regional bee in Winston Salem on March 17th.

Click here to watch the video of the final rounds, including the championship word.

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The next step was to begin work on the curriculum requirements from NASA. The assignments involve collaborative research and hands-on science and math activities designed for students and are intended to promote cross-cultural understanding and global friendship. Our first assignment was to create a “Mission Patch” that an astronaut could wear describing the crew members, purpose of the mission, and name of the voyage. Our second assignment involved creating an advertisement for a “Solar System Vacation” that would sell someone on coming to visit their chosen planet. Each partner group chose to do a commercial as their advertisement. We wrapped up filming last week. Keep an eye on my Haiku page for the edited commercials!

Another part of the program involves Skyping with our partner school in Turkey at least 4 times a year. We Skyped on January 22nd, asked questions to our new friends, and shared our mission patches, along with information about North Carolina. On May 10th we will have a 3-way video conference with our partner school in Turkey along with real astronauts from NASA to share our Solar System Vacation commercials.

Noble Academy received a shout out in the PSSP Newsletter last week—check out the link below for the article and accompanying picture.
http://www.gftse.org/astro/Astro_Year_6_Issue_2.pdf
There is also an opportunity for students to meet their epals this summer at the PSSP Space Camp in Turkey. Details are on my Haiku page if your 6th grade student is interested.

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To read more about the International Visitor Leadership Program, click here.

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This proposal went to the full student senate, which wrote it up and had it approved by the administration and faculty.  The students came up with a fun voting process which included a mini club fair, and a wide range of options from the croquet club to the drama club.  Some of the top clubs selected include video games, cooking, art, drama, anime, movies and trading card games.  Students will be working out the next step to start the first four clubs, create the framework needed to run them, and begin the funding process.

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Not only is Noble Academy the first SMART Showcase School in Guilford County, but we are also pleased to announce that Kay McMurphy, Lower Division Master Teacher,  has  been selected to join an exclusive, global network of educators as part of the SMART Exemplary Educator program. Noble Academy prides itself on setting performance measures for both teachers and students, and enriching the learning experience wherever possible. Kay McMurphy’s  consistent innovations in the classroom and outstanding commitment to providing high quality education has been strongly supported by the school community.

“SMART products have had a huge impact on teaching and learning at the school,” says Mrs. McMurphy. “Noble Academy made it possible for me to become a SMART Notebook 11 and Response System certified trainer. It has revolutionized my teaching and the way I am able to present learning concepts in innovative, multisensory ways. Noble Academy is becoming a technology leader in our area, and having Mrs. McMurphy selected to join the SMART Exemplary Educator program is an opportunity to further maximize this high level of instructional technology.

About the SMART Showcase Schools program

SMART Showcase Schools and Districts demonstrate how SMART products can transform classrooms and improve learning outcomes. They serve as host sites for educators who are interested in implementing SMART products – and receive benefits, including professional development opportunities. Today, there are more than 300 SMART Showcase Schools worldwide. For more information, visit:http://smarttech.com/showcaseapplication. To learn where other SMART Showcase Schools are located, visit  http://smarttech.com/showcaseschools.

About SMART  

SMART Technologies Inc. is a leading provider of collaboration solutions that change the way the world works and learns. As the global leader in interactive whiteboards, our focus is on developing a variety of easy-to-use, integrated solutions that free people from their desks and computer screens, making collaboration and learning with digital resources more natural. Our products have transformed teaching and learning in more than 1.9 million classrooms worldwide, reaching over 40 million students and teachers.

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Founder and Director of the
AD/HD Clinic at UNCG
Nationally Recognized Expert in AD/HD

Noble Academy
3310 Horse Pen Creek Rd
Greensboro, NC 27410
(Please enter the main entrance of the Upper Division Building.)

Noble Academy, in partnership with Triad LDA, will provide free continuing education credit to
educators who attend 7 of 10 LDA meetings

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