Education

The first of a series of public information sessions on the proposed Wake Schools student assignment plan will be held tonight. The sessions are designed to update people on the status of a new plan.

The presentations will be held at high schools throughout the county. Members of the student assignment task force will offer some details of the plan and discuss what it may mean for where kids will go to school next year.

Traditional calendar schools across North Carolina start today. It’s an especially anxious day at Walnut Creek Elementary in Wake County. That school is opening its doors for the first time – the first new elementary school to open in ten years with a large majority of students who are both high-poverty and low-achieving.

Thousands of students are returning to area universities. They will be greeted by a variety of changes brought on by budget cuts.

A large gift will make possible a the renovation of Duke University's rare books library. Duke Trustee David Rubenstein, a 1970 graduate of the university and co-founder of the Carlyle Group, is giving Duke $13.6 million. That's the largest ever donation to the libraries. Deborah Jakubs is a University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs. She says rare books document the development of scholarship and human creativity.