Press Releases

A record-setting 232 elementary schools across North Carolina have been selected and approved by the State Board of Education to participate in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program for the 2022-23 school year. This is North Carolina’s largest number of schools ever to participate in a given school year. Every school that applied was selected and approved to participate.

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) is beginning a process to overhaul school performance grades and is seeking public input through a new survey. The state’s A-F performance grades were developed so communities could better understand the quality of North Carolina’s public schools, but a growing consensus has led many to believe that the current model does not accurately reflect all aspects of school quality because it puts too much weight on student achievement as determined by high-stakes testing.

Nine North Carolina school districts stretching from Hyde County in the east to Cherokee County in the west will share more than $300 million in new state lottery-funded grant awards for school construction, renovation projects, and other capital improvements.

Five North Carolina public schools were named National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2022 today by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. The five schools are among 297 schools nationwide recognized this year for their overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps.

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has been awarded a $1.1 million federal grant to develop an assessment system to support multilingual learners – also known as English language learners – in third through fifth grades.

North Carolina students improved their performance on state tests during the 2021-22 school year from the previous year’s COVID steep decline, and schools achieved growth almost on par with pre-pandemic levels, according to the state’s accountability report presented today to the State Board of Education.

North Carolina’s youngest students made strong gains in early literacy skills during the 2021-22 school year, outpacing the performance of students in other states where the same assessment is used to measure student progress throughout the year.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt announced a plan today which will be considered by the State Board of Education (SBE) next week, to address concerns of principals whose pay may have been reduced starting Jan. 1 because of an updated provision in the 2022 state budget.

Hundreds of principals from schools across North Carolina are joining a new statewide initiative aimed at building instructional leadership in the state’s highest-needs schools.

Nearly 12,000 students across North Carolina will benefit from $1.6 million in grants for robotics programs approved this month by the State Board of Education. In all, 18 school districts and one charter school statewide will share in the funding to support after-school programs aimed at developing student interest and proficiency in science and math through competitive robotics.

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), an education nonprofit that supports the use of technology to accelerate innovation in education, and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) today announced a partnership to provide more than 94,000 public school teachers in North Carolina with access to year-round professional learning and a network of global education experts by making ISTE membership available at no cost.

More than 900,000 North Carolina students rely on the nutritious meals and snacks served during the school year through the School Breakfast, School Lunch, and Afterschool Meals Programs. When school is out, Summer Nutrition Programs provide free, nutritious meals for children and adolescents ages 18 and younger. 

The NC Department of Public Instruction and the NC Collaboratory, a policy research center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, are leading a joint $6 million effort to spur research on the impact of COVID-19 on student learning and the evaluation of existing policies and programs aimed at overcoming those challenges.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt has announced the 48 members of her Parent Advisory Commission, drawn from 3,000 applicants who responded to her invitation earlier this year to apply for the new panel.

Digital teaching and learning in North Carolina is getting a boost from $1.15 million in grants to 13 school districts and charter schools during the 2022-23 school year to fund innovative improvement initiatives.

The “Spice Girls” North Carolina Jr. Chef Team from Apex High in Wake County won second place in the 2022 Southeast Jr. Chef Competition on Friday at Sullivan University in Louisville, Kentucky. Their recipe was a twist on a traditional Mexican street food: a masa shell topped with seasoned chicken, beans, pineapple salsa, cabbage, queso fresco and crema. The team competed with five other state teams in the regional cook-off. Each of the North Carolina student team members, Courtney McKinnon, Jissel Morales-Ledesma, Casey Murphy, and Kayla Ray, receive an $8,000 scholarship to attend Sullivan University.

Facing continuing challenges this school year related to the COVID-19 pandemic, North Carolina teachers showed high levels of concern on a number of issues with a record-setting response rate on the latest NC Teacher Working Conditions Survey presented today to the State Board of Education.

With support from Google, more than 500 teachers from public schools across North Carolina will receive free professional training from the Department of Public Instruction.

Dr. Patrick Greene, principal of Greene Central High School in Greene County, was named the 2022 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year at an awards luncheon today in Cary.

With two of three regional meetings concluded, the statewide initiative known as Portrait of a Graduate is nearing completion to clearly define the mindsets and durable skills North Carolina students should possess when they graduate from high school to ensure their readiness for civic life, career, or college.