Philip D. Brown

RIchmond County Daily Journal

The Richmond County Board of Education will decide Tuesday whether to rename Chalk Road Elementary School.

Richmond County Schools Spokeswoman Ashley Simmons said the matter will be heard by the board after some in the community brought their desire to rename the school to the attention of RCS administrators.

“We’ve heard several suggestions, and have met with people in the community of East Rockingham,” she said Monday. “The board will look at all of those suggestions at the meeting.”

She said two of the suggestions which have been made are to keep the name Rohanen, or to name the institution the East Rockingham Elementary School.

The new school is set to open in 2010, and will take on the students who formerly would have attended Rohanen Primary, Ashley Chapel and Cordova elementary schools.

The school board is also scheduled to vote on a proposal to enact a Teacher Support Program to provide new RCS teachers with an experienced mentor.

“These mentors would either be teachers who are currently employed by the school system, or have retired from it,” Simmons said. “They would work with our new teachers to provide guidance and instructional resources, as well as to model effective teaching practices.”

Simmons explained this program is not new, however shortfalls in the state budget prompted the schools to look at how to offer mentor services to teachers in the most cost-effective way.

This proposal would have retired teachers working with high school teachers in their first or second year of teaching, while those in their third year would have a current teacher.

In kindergarten through eighth grade, last year’s RCS Teacher of the Year Martha Anderson will work in a full-time capacity to offer this service to all of the district’s teachers.

Anderson has already departed her Washington Street fourth grade classroom to take the position as a full-time mentor, Simmons said.

The board will hear updates on a program to provide professional development for instructors and administrators called Curriculum Connections, middle school-level exceptional children’s initiatives and federal programs.

A closed session is scheduled during the meeting as well.