North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

Members of the Student 2 Student Clubs at Union Pines High and Pinecrest High (Moore County Schools) were in Washington D.C. this week to participate in the Military Child Education Coalition's annual Global Training Summit. Students, educators and community groups from 40 schools in 6 states and Italy gathered to connect, network, and collaborate on strategies to improve educational experiences for military connected students and their families.

The State Board of Education honored school and district superstars and welcomed new advisors at its monthly meeting Thursday morning. Welcome to new State Board Advisors for 2024-25: ⭐️Dr. Marvin Connelly, Jr., 2024 A. Craig Philips NC Superintendent of the Year, Cumberland County Schools ⭐️Beckie Spears, 2024 Wells Fargo NC Principal of the Year - Wilkesboro Elementary (Wilkes County Schools) ⭐️Heather Smith, 2024 Burroughs Wellcome Fund NC Teacher of the Year, Waynesville Middle (Haywood County Schools) ⭐️Ian House, State Board Student Advisor, Green Hope High, (Wake County Public School System) Congratulations to the 2024 Burroughs Wellcome Fund NC Regional Teachers of the Year: ⭐️Sandhills Region: Jennifer Blake, Carthage Elementary (Moore County Schools) ⭐️North Central Region: Rachel Brackney, SouthWest Edgecombe High (Edgecombe County Public Schools) ⭐️Charter School: Lee Haywood, Uwharrie Charter School, Asheboro, NC ⭐️Southwest Region: Sarah Lefebvre, Health Sciences Academy at Monroe Middle (Union County Public Schools) ⭐️Piedmont-Triad Region: Will Marrs, Davie County High (Davie County Schools) ⭐️Northwest Region: Erik Mortensen, Watauga High (Watauga County Schools) ⭐️Southeast Region: Nardi Routten, Creekside Elementary, (Craven County Schools) ⭐️Northeast Region: Anita Rubino-Thomas, Currituck County High (Currituck County Schools) Congratulations to the 2024 Wells Fargo NC Regional Principals of the Year: ⭐Sandhills Region - Erica Fenner-McAdoo, Howard Hall Elementary (Cumberland County Schools) ⭐️Charter School - Dr. Sarena Fuller, ArtSpace Charter School, Swannanoa, NC ⭐️Southeast Region - Christianne May, Castle Hayne Elementary (New Hanover County Schools) ⭐️Piedmont-Triad Region Dr. Nancy Martinez, Career Center High (Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools) ⭐️North Central Region - Winston Pierce, Farmington Woods Magnet Elementary, (Wake County Public School System) ⭐️Northeast Region - Sonya Rinehart, John A. Holmes High (Edenton Chowan Public Schools), ⭐️Western Region - Phil Rogers, R-S Central High (Rutherford County Schools) Concord Middle ⭐️Southwest Region - Dwight Thompson, Renaissance West STEAM Academy (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools) Finally, NCDPI’s 2024 summer interns were recognized and honored for their work with various agency offices: ⭐️Maggie Bass, Office of Operations ⭐️Alaka'i Bene, NC Healthy Schools ⭐️Haley Blizzard, Office of Learning & Research ⭐️Destiny Edwards, NC Virtual Public Schools ⭐️Emma Jung, State Board of Education ⭐️Ashlyn Kurtz, Office of Learning & Research ⭐️Jayla Lindsey, Center for Safer Schools ⭐️Dalton Locklear, Office of Learning & Research ⭐️Sophia Luna, Office of Learning & Research ⭐️Stephanie Pett, Office of Learning & Research ⭐️Maylon Rawls, Office of Digital Teaching & Learning ⭐️Neil Sharma, Office of Learning & Research ⭐️Ian Wheeler, Office of Digital Teaching & Learning ⭐️Emma Wical, Office of Government Affairs ⭐️Jada Wooten, Office of Charter Schools

For the third year in a row, North Carolina’s kindergarten through third grade students have outperformed the national average on end-of-year literacy assessments! The number of students who met or exceeded the benchmark for the DIBELS 8 (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment grew by 81,616 from the beginning of the 2023-24 school year to the end. Meanwhile, 53,808 fewer students scored well below benchmark. https://lnkd.in/egSiRXse

Join North Carolina’s arts education community Sept. 7 for the NC Comprehensive Arts Education Conference at Meredith College in Raleigh. Don't miss this important statewide professional development opportunity for Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts educators, district arts education leaders, teaching artists, arts integration specialists, and pre-service teachers. Learn more and sign up today - go.ncdpi.gov/CAEC-24Reg. Registration deadline is Aug. 30.

The State Board of Education holds its monthly beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday and 9 a.m. Thursday. Watch the meeting each day through our livestream on the NCDPI YouTube Channel - https://bit.ly/3acxWlh. Meeting agendas for each day are available at https://bit.ly/2yvytlm.

Attention leads, administrators and teachers for the Career and College Ready Graduate (CCRG) program. Webinar trainings are scheduled for August 22 to kick off the 2024-25 school year. Learn about program updates, review the platform and access student support resources. Select one of the links below to register. 🎓Leads and administrators - https://go.ncdpi.gov/2bqwx 🎓Teachers - https://go.ncdpi.gov/9bfvy

NCDPI is excited to announce that Dr. Leslie Locklear will serve as the agency's new American Indian Education Director. Locklear joins NCDPI with a wealth of experience, including her most recent role as the director of Educator Engagement and Student Success at UNC Pembroke. Dr. Locklear also co-advises the North Carolina Native Youth Organization, which supports the post-secondary planning and cultural leadership of high school American Indian students. Dr. Locklear is a member of the Lumbee, Waccamaw Siouan, and Coharie tribes. We are thrilled to welcome you to your new role!

Happy #NationalInternDay to our wonderful interns! We appreciate your enthusiasm and fresh perspectives. As an agency, we're thrilled to offer a program that provides college students meaningful work experiences and valuable career skills. Best of luck in your future endeavors. We hope that you will consider a career in state government after graduation!

Congratulations to Gracyn Dudding from Chicod School (Pitt County Schools) for placing third in the 2023-24 National School Bus Safety Poster contest for Division 1 (Grades K-2). The theme for this year's contest, sponsored by the National Association for Pupil Transportation, was "Driving Safely Into the Future." Check out all of the state-level winning posters for 2023-24 at https://lnkd.in/eCq4fMvM.

NEW: Literacy Instruction Standards for content areas including science, social studies, math, arts education and more are available at https://lnkd.in/extavHer. These standards serve as a framework for public school units to ensure the quality, equity and consistency of core literacy instruction statewide.