This week marks the six-month anniversary of the creation of FAST NC, the bipartisan initiative led by current and former education leaders to combine efforts and raise funds in response to Hurricane Florence. Dubbed “Florence: Aid to Students and Teachers of North Carolina (FAST NC),” the unprecedented effort has helped schools return to normal following the devastating storm.
Press Releases
The Apex High School culinary team from Wake County won first place in the second North Carolina Jr. Chef Competition, held Monday at the Piedmont Food & Agricultural Processing Center in Hillsborough. With their grilled chicken street tacos with mango salsa, team members Alyssa Townsend and Amanda Marrott took home a trophy and a ticket to Kentucky to represent North Carolina in the Southeast Jr. Chef Competition.
State Superintendent Mark Johnson announced Friday the appointment of David Stegall as the new deputy superintendent of innovation at the Department of Public Instruction. Stegall, who will begin his duties in June, brings with him more than 20 years' experience in education, most of it in North Carolina K-12 public schools.
March 14-16 marks the 6-month anniversary of Hurricane Florence in North Carolina, and State Superintendent Mark Johnson is using the half-year mark to remind all North Carolinians of the damage wrought by the storm and of the ongoing recovery efforts.
Elementary school students and their parents will team up to learn computer coding Tuesday evening at the Friday Institute for Education Innovation during an event to kick off North Carolina Family Code Nights, a program available to all elementary schools statewide to host their own “code night” this spring.
Nine schools across North Carolina were recently recognized at the N.C. Child Hunger Leaders Conference with N.C. School Breakfast Challenge Awards for using innovative strategies to increase participation in School Breakfast Programs and ensuring that their students start each day with a healthy breakfast. Breakfast Challenge Winners are the top three schools at each level - elementary, middle and high - that achieved the highest percentage increases in School Breakfast Program participation. The 2018 N.C. Breakfast Challenge winners achieved increases in School Breakfast Program participation in the range of 22 to 62 percent.
State Superintendent Mark Johnson joins Gov. Roy Cooper and North Carolina’s business community in recognizing March as Students@Work℠ Month. This statewide career-awareness effort offers students the chance to hear from guest speakers, take part in worksite visits or engage in virtual programs to begin exploring potential careers.
High school students from across North Carolina are putting on their chef’s hats to cook up creative school lunch recipes for the second N.C. Jr. Chef Competition. Eight finalist teams from Career and Technical Education food, nutrition, and culinary arts courses will meet in a cook-off April 1 at the Piedmont Food & Agriculture Processing Center in Hillsborough. Based on a review of all applications and recipes submitted, the following teams were selected for the cook-off phase of the competition:
Surrounded by hundreds of teachers, school and district leaders, business and community leaders, and lawmakers, State Superintendent Mark Johnson announced his “#NC2030” plan Tuesday, a detailed strategy that will ensure North Carolina’s public schools are the best place to learn and teach by 2030. Tactics of the comprehensive strategy include continuing to increase teacher compensation, eliminating high-stakes standardized testing through personalized learning, recruiting our best and brightest to the teaching profession, providing more local flexibility to school districts, encouraging all viable career pathways for students, and investing in school construction, pre-K and kindergarten-readiness programs, and better support for beginning teachers.
Eight outstanding public school principals have been selected as regional Wells Fargo North Carolina Principals of the Year and will now compete for the state title of 2019 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year. The winner will succeed the 2018 recipient, Tabari Wallace, principal of West Craven High (Craven County Schools).
North Carolina school bus drivers will get extra attention next week during School Bus Driver Appreciation Week, as schools and districts honor drivers for their important role with various events and celebrations. Nationally, February is Love the Bus month, intended to raise awareness and appreciation for the safe experience of riding the bus to and from school.
North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson announced several leadership additions for the Department of Public Instruction today.
Nine teachers from across North Carolina have been selected as the state's regional Teachers of the Year for their dedication, innovation and ability to inspire students to achieve.
State Superintendent Mark Johnson and North Carolina Community College System President Peter Hans have joined to proclaim the month of February "Career Pathways Month" in North Carolina. The proclamation acknowledges the many great career paths that are available to North Carolina's public school students. Superintendent Johnson and President Hans made the announcement at the North Wake College and Career Academy in Wake Forest.
Nearly 1 million North Carolina public school students last year were eligible to receive free or reduced-priced school meals through the National School Lunch Program. But only a little more than 100,000 of them received meals during the summer months through the state’s Summer Nutrition Programs.
<p>Under the five-year program, Advancing Charter Collaboration and Excellence for Student Success, or NC ACCESS, the Department of Public Instruction expects to award five-year grants of up to $600,000 to 10 schools this year and 40 additional schools during the next four years.</p>
Making good on the promise he made when he entered office, State Superintendent Mark Johnson today announced initiatives to reduce the testing currently required for students in North Carolina’s public schools. The steps come after getting feedback from parents and teachers. Recent surveys showed a high percentage feel that students are taking too many tests. These steps are in addition to changes that have already been taken over the last two years by Johnson.
State Superintendent Mark Johnson visited one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Florence today to announce major new corporate support for Florence Aid for Students and Teachers in NC (FAST NC). FAST NC is a bi-partisan initiative created last fall after so many North Carolina Schools were affected by the storm.
The academic gains North Carolina schools achieved last year are in the spotlight as communities across the state commend their schools and educators with presentations of award certificates from State Superintendent Mark Johnson.
With 557 North Carolina teachers earning their national certification this month, North Carolina continues to lead the nation with the most teachers holding the credential from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.