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Number 10
This Week is National School Lunch Week!
Step right up for a week of fun in our cafeterias! National School Lunch Week is coming Oct. 12–16, and this year’s theme is “Cafeteria Circus: Where Nutrition Takes Center Stage!”
Did you know? School lunches are carefully planned to meet nutrition standards and keep students energized throughout the day — and they often introduce kids to new foods and flavors!
To our amazing School Nutrition staff across the state: THANK YOU for nourishing our students with care and dedication every day.
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Number 9
EdNC: "Every Child, Every Community: Building a Life with Books"
"What if a child’s journey as a reader began not on the first day of kindergarten, but at birth, and the adults, organizations, schools, and communities surrounding that child shared responsibility for keeping books, language, and literacy within reach along the way?
Long before a child enters a kindergarten classroom, the foundation for reading is already being built. It happens when a parent opens a book with an infant. It happens through conversations, songs, stories, and the everyday interactions that introduce children to words, ideas, and experiences. It happens when families have access to books and when communities have the resources and support to help parents and caregivers understand the important role they play in their child’s early development.
Across North Carolina, that work is taking many forms. But running through those efforts is a shared idea that children need opportunities to experience books early, often, and beyond the classroom. For Dr. Laura Bilbro-Berry, literacy manager for Smart Start, the commitment can be captured in four words: “Every child, every community.”
North Carolina’s Smart Start network reaches all 100 counties through 75 local partnerships. Those communities vary in size, resources, priorities, and needs, but early literacy is one of Smart Start’s four priorities."
Read the full article here.
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Number 8
Keep North Carolina Beautiful Window of Opportunity (WOO) 2026-27 Grant Accepting Applications
Keep North Carolina Beautiful's Window of Opportunity (WOO) Grant Program provides financial support for student-centered outdoor learning, beautification, recycling and sustainability projects that foster environmental stewardship and hands-on educational experiences for students throughout North Carolina.
Grants range between $1,000 to $2,500 each.
Learn more and apply here. The deadline to apply is Dec. 18.
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Number 7
WWAY: "How North Carolina Schoolchildren Helped Save the Battleship North Carolina"
"The Battleship North Carolina was built for global combat, but one of its hardest fights came after its military service ended.
The ship was scheduled to be scrapped by the Navy after becoming obsolete. Instead, a statewide campaign — powered in large part by North Carolina schoolchildren — helped save it and bring it to Wilmington.
The anniversary of the ship’s arrival at its permanent berth on the Cape Fear River is being marked this week.
After years of service to the nation, the battleship was facing an uncertain future until supporters began raising more than $300,000 to pay for its tow and permanent berth. Organizers even enlisted President John F. Kennedy as an honorary admiral.
But the campaign’s driving force came from classrooms across North Carolina.
Among the students who took part was Edna Rivenbark, who was in fifth grade at the time. More than 700,000 children statewide participated in the 'Save Our Ship' campaign, collecting dimes to help preserve the battleship as a memorial to the 11,000 North Carolinians who died during World War II."
Read the full story here.
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Number 5
North Carolina Competency-Based Education (CBE) Innovation Grant Program Accepting Applications - Deadline to Apply Oct. 18
NCDPI is launching the North Carolina Competency-Based Education (CBE) Innovation Grant Program, a multi-year initiative to help schools reimagine teaching, learning and assessment. Ten North Carolina schools will each receive $330,000 to plan and implement competency-based education models focused on student mastery, personalized learning and innovative assessment.
The initiative focuses on four key areas: redesigning learning pathways, innovating assessment practices, building educator capacity and developing promising practices that can help expand competency-based education across North Carolina.
Participating schools will use $95,000 each applicable school year for CBE implementation training, with remaining funds available to support transition costs such as travel and CBE resources.
Learn more and review application materials here. Applications are due Oct. 18 by 5 p.m.
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Number 4
NCSEAA: "Select Colleges Waiving Application Fees Oct. 19-25"
"College Application Week (CAW) starts October 19th, offering students interested in college an opportunity to apply to select colleges and universities without costly application fees. CAW is being held this year only weeks after the early opening of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which most students can now complete in less than 15 minutes — granting access to financial aid that can make paying for college more manageable.
'October is when Countdown to College kicks off for students interested in college,' said Dan Harrision, Executive Director of the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA), the primary sponsor of College for North Carolina (CFNC). 'The ability to submit college applications for free, coupled with an improved and easy-to-complete FAFSA makes this the perfect time for students to apply.'
During College Application Week last year, more than 25,000 applicants submitted over 66,000 college applications through CFNC. Almost 51,000 additional applications were submitted via Common App.
A full list of colleges waiving application fees for most students can be found here."
Read the full press release from the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) here.
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Number 3
EdNC Perspective Piece from Guilford County Schools STEM Coordinator: "Don’t Throw Out What Works: Leveraging Cooperative Learning as a Scaffold for Science and Engineering Practices"
"A teacher recently asked me a question I hear often during professional learning sessions: If we’re supposed to focus on the Science and Engineering Practices now, what do I need to stop doing?
It’s an understandable question. When North Carolina adopted new science standards that elevate the Science and Engineering Practices, many educators felt the need to rethink their instruction. The shift challenges us to move beyond students simply learning about science and toward students actively doing science.
However, I don’t believe the answer is abandoning everything that came before. In fact, some of the most effective instructional strategies teachers already know may be exactly what we need to support this new vision of science learning. One of those strategies is cooperative learning.
For decades, teachers have used cooperative learning structures to increase engagement, promote communication, and encourage collaboration. Some educators may view these strategies as part of an older instructional toolbox, separate from the demands of modern science instruction. I would argue the opposite!
Cooperative learning is one of the best scaffolds we have for helping students engage in the Science and Engineering Practices. Think about what the practices require students to do. Students should be asking questions, investigating phenomena, analyzing data, and constructing explanations. None of these practices are designed to happen in isolation."
Read the full perspective piece from Guilford County Schools STEM Coordinator, Jennifer Redfearn, here.
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Number 2
NCDPI Celebrate the Good Blog: "New Hope Elementary School Educator Named Recipient of the 2026 English Language Development Recognition Award"
"Whether she is talking about language, culture, family partnerships or student perspectives, Audrey Vinson, an English language development specialist at New Hope Elementary School in Orange County, believes the attributes that make multilingual learners different are often the very things that help them succeed.
Vinson serves approximately 150 multilingual learners with a team of two other English Language Development specialists. She specifically works with kindergarten, first, fourth and fifth-grade students, pushing into classrooms to co-teach and working with small groups.
Vinson was recently recognized during the September 2026 State Board of Education (SBE) Meeting as the recipient of the 2026 English Learner Recognition Award (ERRA), which honors exceptional North Carolina public school ESL educators who advance the academic, linguistic and personal success of multilingual learners.
'Educators, like Audrey Vinson, advance NCDPI’s mission to become the best education system in the nation by 2030 through modeling excellent instructional leadership, strengthening colleagues’ practice through collaboration and developing partnerships with multilingual families,' said Dr. Stacy Daniel, NCDPI Section Chief for ELA and Languages. 'Her efforts and the work of all language educators are worthy of celebration and reflect the very purpose of this award and our state's strategic plan.'”
Read the full blog post here.
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Number 1
Pender County Schools' Dr. Brad Breedlove Named 2027 North Carolina Superintendent of the Year
"For the first time in Pender County Schools history, its superintendent has been named the best in North Carolina.
Dr. Brad Breedlove was named the Burroughs Wellcome Fund 2027 A. Craig Phillips North Carolina Superintendent of the Year Thursday during a ceremony at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro.
Breedlove earned the statewide honor after first being selected as the Region 2 — Southeast Superintendent of the Year and advancing alongside seven other regional winners from across North Carolina.
For Breedlove, though, the recognition quickly became less about an individual award and more about the people who make up Pender County Schools.
'This really makes me proud of Pender County Schools and what we’ve been able to accomplish,' Breedlove said. 'We have done a lot in the last four years as a school system, and it’s hard work. We are as good as the people that we have, and we have some fantastic people. I think receiving this award is a sign of that.'
That response came as no surprise to Pender County Board of Education Vice Chair Jennifer Hansen, who attended Thursday’s ceremony.
'Dr. Breedlove is an incredibly humble man, very smart, very dedicated, and really just has the best interests of our staff and students and all of Pender County Schools,' Hansen said."
Read the full press release from Pender County Schools here. Congratulations, Dr. Breedlove!
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