Press Releases

Eugenia Floyd, a fourth-grade teacher at Mary Scroggs Elementary School in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district, was named the 2021 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year during an awards luncheon today at the Umstead Hotel in Cary. Floyd was selected from a field of nine finalists representing the state’s eight education districts and charter schools.

North Carolina has long been home to a large population of active duty, guard, reserve and veteran armed service members. In recognition of the state’s rich military-history, the Department of Public Instruction is pleased to recognize hundreds of schools as part of its Purple Star Award Designation initiative which first launched in the 2019-20 school year.

The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards recently announced that North Carolina continues to lead the nation with teachers who hold national board certification, with 467 teachers earning this certification in 2019-20.

When schools across North Carolina sent children home a year ago Sunday due to COVID-19, educators were uncertain what lay ahead. They had no roadmap, no past experience and no preparation for a pandemic. But within days, they began finding new, if unfamiliar, ways to help students they could no longer see in person. They improvised by creating new methods for teaching and engaging students. Support staff hustled to organize meals and delivery strategies to keep students fed. School leaders went to extraordinary lengths so that students could continue learning and growing. 

Today State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt, Gov. Roy Cooper, Senate leader Phil Berger, House Speaker Tim Moore, Senate Democratic Leader Dan Blue and House Democratic Leader Robert Reives made a joint announcement on legislation to reopen schools across the state.

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 2021 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year. The winner will succeed the 2020 recipient, Kisha Clemons, principal of Shuford Elementary School (Newton-Conover City Schools).

Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt joins employers, educators, and state leaders in recognizing March 2021 as Students@Work℠ Month.

Four teams of high school Career and Technical Education students enrolled in Culinary Arts and Hospitality, Food and Nutrition, or Food Science and Technology courses will vie for the state title in the 2021 North Carolina Jr. Chef Competition.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt announced today that former NC Principal of the Year Tabari Wallace will join her team at the Department of Public Instruction as special advisor to the superintendent for principal engagement.

At a time when students everywhere are struggling with remote instruction, students at North Carolina’s Governor Morehead School (GMS), the state’s residential school for the blind and visually impaired, also faced the additional challenge of not having enough technology that fit their unique needs

SB 37 “In-Person Learning Choice for Families.”

Thousands of North Carolina parents with school-age children will soon begin receiving additional assistance to purchase food through the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer Program,

In today’s meeting of the State Board of Education, Superintendent Catherine Truitt presented her overarching vision and three key priorities to transform public education in North Carolina: literacy, testing and accountability, and human capital. Truitt said these three priorities will guide the Department of Public Instruction’s immediate efforts to address the effects of COVID-19, including learning loss, while also laying the groundwork to achieve her long-term vision: every student deserves a highly-qualified, excellent teacher in every classroom.

State Superintendent Catherine Truitt, State Board of Education Chairman Eric Davis and Vice-Chairman Alan Duncan today unveiled their joint budget priorities, which will be discussed in greater detail during this Thursday’s State Board meeting.  These joint budget priorities reflect Truitt’s vision for public education in the state while also aligning closely with the board’s strategic priorities. These budget requests are critical to North Carolina’s COVID recovery plan as well as casting a long-term vision for the future of education in the state. 

Maureen Stover, the 2020 Burroughs Wellcome North Carolina Teacher of the Year, has been selected as one of four finalists for the 2021 National Teacher of the Year. The finalists were announced today by the Council of Chief State School Officers, which facilitates the prestigious recognition program.

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.

Nearly 1 million North Carolina public school students were eligible last year to receive free or reduced-priced meals at school through the National School Lunch Program. Many of these students rely on the nutritious meals available through the school nutrition programs as their primary source of food during the school day.

N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt was officially sworn in as the state's elected leader of K-12 education during today's inauguration with Gov. Roy Cooper and the nine members of the Council of State.

North Carolina Superintendent Mark Johnson has announced that $60 million in grant funds from the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund will be awarded this year to school districts in Bladen, Carteret, Catawba, Cleveland, and Harnett counties. The grant awards will allow for construction of new school buildings in these economically distressed areas.