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Iredell-Statesville Schools (I-SS) announced the 2024 graduation ceremonies for 11 schools. The ceremonies will begin on Friday, May 10th with the early college high schools and conclude on Saturday, May 25th with four of the five traditional high schools.

 

Friday, May 10th
- Collaborative College for Technology and Leadership at 2:00 p.m.
- Crossroads Arts and Science Early College at 4:00 p.m.
- Agriculture and Science Early College at 5:00 p.m.

Thursday, May 23rd
- Career Academy and Technical School at 2:00 p.m.
- Virtual I-SS Academy at 2:00 p.m.

Friday, May 24th
- Northview Academy at 2:00 p.m.
- West Iredell High School at 7:00 pm.

Saturday, May 25th
- Lake Norman High School at 8:00 a.m.
- North Iredell High School at 8:00 a.m.
- Statesville High School at 8:00 a.m.
- South Iredell High School at 9:00 a.m.
 

On March 2, 2023, Hope Gillespie, a bus driver at Celeste Henkel Elementary School, began her morning bus route as usual. She had no idea what she was about to encounter. At approximately 6:16 a.m. a driver passed her stopped school bus, nearly hitting two of her students who were trying to board the school bus, and never looked back. Reflecting on this incident, Ms. Gillespie said she felt gratified with the efforts to find this individual.

“I was truly amazed at how concerned, determined, and quickly the community came together to find this individual,” explained Gillespie. “I truly felt gratified.”

Ms. Gillespie is just one of 276 bus drivers in Iredell-Statesville Schools who drive thousands of miles a day transporting our students to and from our school campuses. She was selected in May as the 2023-2024 Iredell-Statesville Schools Bus Driver of the Year. With 22 years of experience, Ms. Gillespie has served at Celeste Henkel Elementary, N.B. Mills Elementary, and South Iredell High Schools as a teacher assistant, tutor, school nutrition assistant, and summer school bus driver.

As a bus driver, she begins her day very early.

“A typical work day for me starts at 4:00 a.m. with prayer. I’m on the bus by 6:00 a.m. to start my bus route. My work day ends at 2:00 p.m. if I don’t have to sub on a PM bus route,” stated Gillespie.

In getting to know Ms. Gillespie a little better, she continued to express the importance of relationships. She first recalled a student that she was having trouble with on the bus. 

“I had this young man on my bus and boy did we bump heads. One day, we talked and found out that we both had been through some similar situations. We both had been adopted. I ran into that young man not long ago and he introduced me to his fiance as his second mom. He really touched my heart,” said Gillespie.

The relationships that Ms. Gillespie has built go beyond her students. For her, her co-workers are her family.

Gillespie elaborated, “The most valuable thing I have learned while being an I-SS employee is that you don’t have to be blood, to be family.”

February is Love the Bus Month. Help celebrate our bus drivers like Hope Gillespie this month.

 

The Iredell-Statesville Schools District Spelling Bee was held on Thursday, February 1, 2024, at the Unity Center. This annual event allows each elementary and middle school's champion the opportunity to compete for the district title. After 10 rounds of competition, Harini Jayakumar, a 6th-grade student at The Brawley School, completed the correct spelling of her championship word "fugue" to claim the top spot as the Iredell-Statesville Schools Spelling Bee Champion.

In addition, the bee included two tiebreaker rounds to determine the first and second runners-up.  Aadya Acharya, 5th grader at Coddle Creek Elementary School was named the first runner-up and Tyce Ray, 5th grader at Cool Spring Elementary School took the second runner-up place.

Harini will continue her journey by representing the district at the regional competition held at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina on March 17, 2024. 

 

We're celebrating our transportation personnel this week during School Bus Driver Appreciation Week: February 12th-16th. Show your appreciation to our awesome transportation staff. Thank you for always keeping our students safe.