Our Future, Our Commitment, Our Students

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V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 8

F I R S T T H U R S D A Y

Look Inside!

Take a look at the con-

structions projects

throughout the system

on page 2.

High Marks

for FCS Bus

Fleet Parents, you can rest easily

when your child steps onto to a Franklin County Schools’ bus for a ride to class each day.

FCS has a fleet of more than 100 buses and in the most re-cent state inspection, FCS ranked second in the eastern region. This is the best ranking ever for the system – a system that routinely ranks among the

Principals, APs Set for New Challenges

T he Bunn Community now has two new principals, but odds are the community is already

familiar with both of them. The Franklin County Board of Edu-

cation appointed Robin Faulkner Principal of Bunn High School Mon-day night, in addition to appointing

Bill Askins Principal of Bunn Middle School. Both are graduates of Bunn High School.

The Board of Education also an-nounced the hiring of two new Assis-tant Principals. Jeff Smale was ap-

Robin Faulkner, Bunn High Principal; Bill Askins, Bunn Middle Principal; Jeff Smale,

Cedar Creek Assistant Principal; and Cassandra White, Terrell Lane Assistant Princi-

pal are all excited about their new posts at FCS.

SEE PRINCIPAL PAGE 4

Back To School!!!

SEE BUS PAGE 7

FCS Construction Projects Taking Shape

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If you were to drive by Louisburg High School today, you may not know where you are – the campus looks that differ-ent.

Louisburg High School is still in the same place, but it looks a whole lot dif-ferent, and it is much more defined. A new front office, classroom building, vo-cational building, cafeteria and media center have given the campus a modern look.

In the past the campus lacked a defin-ing feature, but that has all changed.

LHS is not the only campus that has had major renovations. Bunn High School now has an 8,000 square foot vocational center and a new cafeteria that houses all of the students with no difficulty. Students no longer have to experience crowded lunches.

Also at Bunn, an auditorium and class-room building are being built. The 12-classroom building will sit where the old cafeteria was. Bunn has not had an audi-torium in the past and has had to hold assemblies in the gymnasium. This will no longer be the case.

Bunn Elementary School and Laurel

Mill Elementary School also have a new classroom building. Both units will be ready for the first day of school on Au-gust 27th and will house music, art and exceptional children’s programs. Laurel Mill also has a new front walkway that

provides more sufficient drainage. Youngsville Elementary has suffered

from parking problems in recent years, but those problems are now fixed with a new parking lot that can hold an addi-tional 150 cars.

The construction costs was funded by the 2004 school bond.

Renovations at Franklinton High School are still in the bidding process. During the July Board of Education meet-ing, the modular unit project at FHS was put on hold. The project proved very costly for what will probably be a tempo-rary circumstance – considering a new Franklinton High School is in the plans at the intersection of Lane Store Road and Cedar Creek Road.

In the fall of 2008, Long Mill Elemen-tary School is scheduled to open. Con-struction is in full swing and viewable from the intersection of Bert Winston Road and Long Mill Road on the west side of US 1 near Youngsville. Long Mill Elementary will be the 14th school in the FCS system.

- Nathan Moreschi

Workers are in the process of building an auditorium at Bunn High.

The new entrance to Louisburg High School.

Our Future, Our Commitment, Our Students

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School Date Time Bunn Elementary August 23 4-6 p.m.

Bunn Middle August 21 6-8 p.m.

Bunn High August 22 6-8 p.m.—Freshman Only

Cedar Creek Middle August 21 4:30– 6 p.m. (6th Grade)

6-7:30 p.m. 7th, 8th Grade

Edward Best Elementary August 23 3-6 p.m.

6-7 p.m. (Kindergarten)

Franklinton Elementary August 23 6-7 p.m.

Franklinton High School August 22 6:30 p.m.

Laurel Mill Elementary August 23 4-6 p.m.

Louisburg Elementary August 23 6-8 p.m.

Louisburg High School August 23 6 p.m. Fr. Orientation

6:30 p.m. All other grades

Royal Elementary August 23 5-7 p.m.

Terrell Lane Middle August 21 5-7 p.m. 6th Grade

7-9 p.m. 7th, 8th Grade

Open House Dates

Page 4

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F I R S T T H U R S D A Y V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 8

pointed to Cedar Creek Middle and Cas-sandra White was appointed to Terrell Lane Middle. There will be two APs at each middle school when school begins in on August 27th.

Faulkner replaces George Kelley, who is now the Principal at West Brunswick High School in Brunswick County. Kelley spent eight years as Principal of BHS.

Faulkner has worked at Bunn High since 1987 in a variety of positions, in-cluding her most recent post as Assis-tant Principal.

“It’s simple – I love Bunn High School,” Faulkner said. “I’m very excited about this opportunity. I want to be sure to keep all the positive stuff we do intact and make sure we renew our focus on academics. We have great teachers and staff and I believe we can have the same success in academics that we have on the field.”

Faulkner began at Bunn as a ninth-grade counselor and was guidance coun-selor from 1994 through 2004. She spent two years as an English teacher at Athens Drive from 1985 to 1987. She has a Masters of School Administration

and education from North Carolina State University and received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Meredith College in 1984. She graduated Summa Cum Laude.

Askins was an assistant principal at Franklinton High School for the past four years and is equally thrilled about his chance to lead Bunn Middle School. David Hawks was the previous Principal at BMS and spent three years there be-fore leaving to become Principal at Dur-ham School of the Arts a few weeks ago.

“When you get into administration your goal is to become a principal,” Askins said. “This is a very exciting time and I hope to continue with the same success that Mr. Hawks brought to Bunn Middle School. He left the school in very good shape and I hope to continue to bring the students forward.”

Askins was a teacher at Broughton High School for 10 years prior to coming to Franklinton in the spring of 2003. He has had a variety of jobs that require strong leadership and he completed six years of active duty with the US Marine Corps. He spent 15 months of active duty in the Vietnam War. Askins earned a Vietnam Service Medal with three stars, National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medals (2) and a Republic of Vietnam Service Medal during his duty.

Askins holds a Masters in Public School Administration and in Special Education. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Psy-chology from N. C. State University.

Smale has spent the last eight years at Cedar Creek Middle, mostly as a math teacher. He is from eastern Pennsyl-vania, and taught for two years in Mary-land before moving to Franklin County.

“I was greeted very nicely when I moved to Franklin County and I really like it here,” Smale said. “I feel like I have a lot of experience and I want to use that to help both the students and teachers.”

White is originally from New Jersey and is a retired Marine. She spent 21 years as a Marine and was a counselor at Ter-rell Lane Middle in 2005 and 2006. She’s leaving the C. A. Dillon Youth De-velopment Center in Butner to return to Terrell Lane.

“I have a big passion for children and I want to be in there lives,” White said. “I want to help them develop in all aspects and turn into leaders.”

- Nathan Moreschi

Principal Continued from page 1

BHS Principal Robin Faulkner

BMS Principal Bill Askins talks with co-worker and AP Carla Coble.

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The Franklin County Board of Education and Board of Commis-sioners are working together in an effort to find a way to fund Franklin County Schools’ facility needs.

The School Board has proposed a bond referendum for slightly more than $53 million. This cost would cover a variety of future projects with the majority funding a new Franklinton High School.

Both boards continue to discuss the logistics of a School Bond in 2008, which is a presidential elec-tion year.

In an August 6th joint meeting with both boards, a date was discussed for the 2008 bond. The three dates examined were in the months of May, August and November. The discussion was tabled until both boards meet again at Franklinton High School at 6 p.m. on August 27th. The public is invited.

Both groups are committed to providing the best facilities possible to meet the needs of an ever in-creasing population in the most economical way without sacrificing quality.

2008 School Bond? Boards Continue

Discussions of Detail of Potential Bond

A New Home for the Red Rams? The Current Franklinton High School is one of the most distinguished buildings in Franklin County, but the growth of the area is putting pressure on the current school. The site for the new Franklinton High School has already been purchased and is located at the inter-section of Cedar Creek Road and Long Mill Road. A possible bond for 2008 could fund a new facility for the Red Rams.

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Top Employees

In the deepest field of nominees yet, Jenny Radford and Jimmy Floyd emerged as Franklin County Schools Employees of The Quarter for the third quarter.

Both Radford and Floyd were honored with a cash reward of $500 and plaques at the July Board of Education meeting.

Radford, who is an NCWISE Special-ist, is an assistant to Patty Jones who is the Director of Student Accountability.

NCWISE is the program used to track student records, including grades and attendance.

“The bottom line is that Jenny is a good person,” Jones said of Radford. “Jenny is so wonderful to work with. If

you want something done – she’ll do it.” Radford was thrilled after learning of

her award and thanked the fine people she works with each day. Radford’s family is known for their hardworking traits. Her daughter, Kelly Faulkner, was a former Franklin County Employee of The Quarter, and her sister, Ann Stone, was Employee of The Year at Franklin County Department of Social Services.

“I’ve observed the support she gives anyone who calls or comes to her with a question, and she is tremendous,” Jones said. “She gives them exactly what they need, and she is very friendly about it. She works closely with the data managers and provides them with great service, and she has excellent

rapport with DPI.” Jones, who has worked with FCS

since 1989 hopes Radford continues in the system for a long time to come. Radford has worked in her current posi-tion for three years.

Jones also said that Radford has per-haps the highest work ethic of anyone she’s met. Radford works from the min-ute she enters the office until the min-ute she leaves.

Jimmy Floyd, who has been the FCS Director of Maintenance for more than 10 years, is known for his friendly de-meanor.

Considering all of the buildings that

Radford, Floyd Named Employees of The Quarter

Jenny Radford (left) receives a big hug from Patty Jones

after learning about her award. Jimmy Floyd, pictured

above, gets a congratulations and plaque from Franklin

County Board of Education Chair Paige Sayles.

SEE AWARD PAGE 7

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need to be maintained and all of the current construction projects taking

place at FCS, that is quite an accom-plishment.

“I had no idea I was going to receive this award – I was shocked,” Floyd said. “It makes you feel appreciated. You take each task bit by bit, and I just try to realize that things have to get done.

“I have a wonderful staff. They are the backbone of this award. I know that they are going to get stuff done. They do all of the work, and I just try to make sure it gets done and looks nice at the same time.”

- Nathan Moreschi

Jenny Radford gets a warm greeting from Cen-

tral Office Employee Debbie Williams.

Jimmy Floyd (center) is thankful for his strong staff of employees, in-

cluding Brian Williams and Sharon Ferguson.

AWARD Continued from page 6

top five in the 39-member region. “We have done very well in the last

several years,” Transportation Direc-tor Scott Allen said. “We strive very hard to keep the buses in good shape. We take pride in safety.”

There are five bus mechanics who make sure the buses are safe and ready to roll out each morning. In-cluded in that group are John Shearin, Ronnie Hunt, Michael Allen, Fred Dunston and Ricky Stewart.

“These guys really work hard to make the buses safe,” Allen said. “It’s personal for them, and they know their jobs are on the line.”

Of the regional inspectors in North Carolina, the eastern inspector is known as the toughest, according to

Allen. The inspections are unan-nounced and take place at different times each year. The inspectors pull 10 buses at random for their detailed critique. Among the many items re-viewed are brakes, seats, tires, fluids and host of other important mechani-cal devices on buses.

Allen said that the number two ranking has fueled his staff to do even better in the future.

“We feel like we have done really well, and we are just a little away from being the top dog,” Allen said. “We would like to get there. I’m proud of these guys, and it’s great to work with them. It feels really good to be in the top five. I would think the parents would feel much more comfortable putting their children on a bus be-cause of it.”

- Nathan Moreschi

BUS Continued from page 1

The FCS Bus Fleet tested as one of the best of

the state in a recent inspection.

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The Dress Code

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Traditional Calendar

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Year-Round Calendar