Number 10

NC School for the Deaf Receives National Accreditation from CEASD

"The North Carolina School for the Deaf (NCSD) has received notice that it will be recommended for prestigious accolade in April. On March 9, more than 200 NCSD faculty, students, staff and family members packed into the auditorium in the main building to hear the results of the accreditation process conducted by the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (CEASD)."

Receiving full CEASD accreditation is not an easy task, and takes a tremendous amount of dedication from everyone involved. We are so grateful, and proud of, our team at NCSD! Thank you for all you do to support North Carolina's students.

Read the full article here.

Number 9

Truitt Recognizes Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council at State Board Meeting

"State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt recognized her Student Advisory Council earlier this month during the March meeting of the State Board of Education. The Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council (SSAC) is a strong and diverse group comprised of 12 high school students from across the state’s eight education regions, with eight juniors and four seniors.

The two-year appointment to the SSAC provides student advisors the opportunity to meet twice per month to discuss education issues affecting students, advocate on behalf of their peers and ultimately advise decision makers in state public education."

Read the full news release here.

Number 8

EdNC Feature: Explore Promising Practices in Education Across North Carolina

"Earlier this year, the Department of Public Instruction launched a promising practices initiative, including an online dashboard spotlighting schools and districts across North Carolina. Educators can use this resource to identify and replicate promising practices, nominate a practice for inclusion, and build virtual professional learning networks.

Step one of the initiative was identifying the promising practices, which include for this year work-based learning, teacher housing, grow your own educator pipelines, authentic learning opportunities, principal leadership, literacy, summer programming, personalized learning, mental health, English Language Learners, and private-public partnerships for workforce development.

Read the full feature story here.

Number 7

North Carolina Personal Finance Challenge for Middle and High School Students

Teachers of grades 6-12 across North Carolina are invited to register their student teams to compete in the Personal Finance Challenge. The Personal Finance Challenge lets students demonstrate their knowledge of personal finance literacy in an online competition with other schools from across the state.

Learn more here.

Number 6

Friday Institute Professional Development Courses Now Offered On Demand

The Friday Institute is now offering all of their courses and modules on demand, allowing educators greater flexibility as they teach in-person or remotely this year.

Learn more the course offerings and new modules available here.

Number 5

Hunt Institute 2022 North Carolina Education Datathon

The Hunt Institute is hosting the first NC Education Datathon April 4-5. The event is intended for students to leverage technology and data to develop innovative solutions for addressing complex problems. This event will bring together teams from state agencies, universities, localities, and the private sector across North Carolina. Teams will work to develop applications, dashboards, and/or solutions to the problem and then present their projects to a panel of expert judges and conference attendees who vote for the best team. The two-day event will include keynote speakers, team work time, presentations, judging, and awarding of winners. 

Learn more here.

Number 4

From "English Learner" to "Multilingual Learner"

As part of its asset-based belief system, DPI will now begin using “Multilingual Learner” (ML) when referring to students who use other languages in addition to English. This shift in language takes an asset-based approach to: 1) avoid labeling students in terms of the language they do not yet know; 2) acknowledge that students’ first languages and cultures are a strength; and 3) reiterate the importance of literacy and proficiency in multiple languages.

In the field of K-12 education, various terms are used to describe MLs. For policy & legislation purposes, DPI will maintain the term “English Learners.” For all other purposes, DPI will begin to use the term “Multilingual Learner.”

View the full memo here.

Number 3

Inaugural Assistant Principal Accelerator Leadership Program

This week the Assistant Principal (AP) Accelerator Leadership Program had its inaugural kick off! 

Members of the AP Accelerator Leadership Program were selected earlier this year. The newly established AP Accelerator Program is a statewide leadership initiative to fast-track promising assistant principals for principal positions. 

Check out some photos of the event here.

Number 2

Eastern NC School of the Deaf Summer Enrichment Camp

The Eastern NC School of the Deaf is hosting a summer enrichment camp for deaf and hard of hearing K-12 students in eastern NC June 6-24. Activities include outdoor adventures, STEM projects, camping on campus and much more. 

Learn more about Operation Accelerate and register here.

Number 1

Industry-Supported Workforce Credentials List Published

"A new list of workforce credentials valued by industry and endorsed by a high-level state working group has been published on North Carolina’s career information portal, NCcareers.org. The centralized list will help both students and employees identify the higher priority credentials that employers use to screen workers for in-demand, high-wage careers.

The list was reviewed and endorsed by the N.C. Workforce Credentials Advisory Council, a working group that includes representatives from the Office of the Governor, the N.C. Community College System, N.C. Department of Public Instruction, N.C. Department of Commerce, N.C. Association of Workforce Development Boards, and myFutureNC. Employers and business groups also participate on the council."

Read the full article from the NC Chamber of Commerce here.