In an effort to improve its graduation and participation rates and end the stigma associated with the school, the Macon County Board of Education unanimously approved renaming Union Academy as Bartram Academy. The school also will have a new four-day class schedule with a fifth day for remediation.
“This is my passion project, I felt it was time for a change, a new direction and why wait,” new Union Academy principal Brian Moffitt said during the Aug. 21 school board meeting.
Moffitt made his case during a 40-minute pitch, which included new branding logos, changing the school mascot from the Badgers to the Explorers, and adapting to staffing shortages at the alternative school.
“We’re at this juncture where Union Academy has a negative stigma about it,” Moffitt said. “I don’t feel that students are proud to be at Union, whether by choice or whether they’re there by other reasons.”
After the meeting, Moffitt said the name change will be formally introduced this Thursday during open house, and the rebranding will take place as technologically possible in the coming days and weeks as school starts.
The name comes from 18th-century botanist William Bartram, who wrote about his experience exploring what is now Macon County.
As for changing the mascot, Moffitt said he is not a fan of the badgers, saying it even evolved into the honey badgers and invoked the “honey badger don’t care” meme.
“I think our staff is the complete opposite of that – we do care,” Moffitt said. “The badger concept will just go away; it will slowly die off.”
Moffitt presented logos and branding that included themes related to the exploring mantra.
“Our staff has bought into this idea,” Moffitt said.
Another reason for the change is the impending consolidation with FHS. Once the proposed new FHS is built, the plan is to move Union/Bartram Academy onto the FHS campus but keep the branding. Moffitt said that Union needs to stay at the current site along Union School Road.
“You can’t take a community name to Franklin High School…Union’s gotta stay in that area,” Moffitt said.
Board members expressed their full support and excitement for the plans. Melissa Evans, who said her daughter had a child while in high school at Nantahala years ago, said the change will help young and expectant mothers at Union/Bartram.
“It sounds exciting and you’re giving them some pride.” Evans said. “You’re taking the stigma away.”
Schedule changes
In response to staffing shortages, Union will move to a four-day A/B community college-style scheduling. Two core subjects will be taught for two days, while the other two core subjects will be taught on the other two days. The fifth day will be focused on remediation opportunities, plus give teachers and staff a chance to come down after dealing with the previous four days.
Moffitt said the school is currently down a math teacher and an English teacher, which means they don’t have any teachers for either of those departments. This would mean under the current schedule, Union would have two core teachers with eight classes and no planning periods.
“This necessitated some creative scheduling from us,” Moffitt said. “I would love to say everybody can give 100% all of the time, but if people actually did that, not many of us would be around.”
Some Union students work to support their families, Moffitt said, so this will allow them greater flexibility in scheduling.
Moffitt said through April of last school year, Union had 329 in-school suspensions (ISS) and 25 out-of-school suspensions and an attendance rate of 81%. As a result, Moffitt is changing ISS from all-day to one period.
“I want to get those kids back in class,” Moffitt said, adding that ISS will be enforced on that fifth day, so kids would have to give up that day off.
Board Chair Jim Breedlove said when he first looked at this plan, he was skeptical but noted it’s a standard alternative school plan in Haywood County.
The school recently got a $1 million-plus Innovative Partnership Grant from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction due to its low attendance and graduation rates, according to Moffitt. In 2021-22, Union’s graduation rate was 50.9% and last year was 60%, which Moffitt called “not acceptable.”
“We want to give them two words: hope and opportunity,” Moffitt said of his plan for Bartram Academy.
Moffitt said in speaking with former principal Diane Cotton, one of the stigmas of Union kids is that when they graduate, they are “fast-food ready.”
Moffitt admitted the instructional time is “significantly less,” but feels like those hours will now have more meaning.
“I don’t know how much worse we can get in trying something else,” Moffitt said.