Wake's "Renaissance" Schools Improving

Wake County School officials are praising students and staff at 4 of the district’s elementary schools for demonstrating higher proficiency on test scores.

Dave DeWitt: The four “Renaissance Schools” are Barwell, Brentwood, Creech Road, and Wilburn. They’re located in different parts of the county, but all serve a predominately low-income population.

The schools have been remade under the federal Race to the Top program. They received millions of dollars for technology and higher pay for teachers and principals. To get the money, many teachers and principals who had been at the schools were fired.

Based on preliminary test scores from last year, student performance on standardized test scores has improved. Barwell Elementary saw the greatest gains. Superintendent Tony Tata says a majority of students there grew a full year, academically.

Two of the four schools operate on a year-round calendar with students returning to classes yesterday.