These NC middle schools will benefit from $25 million grant to help rural areas
Fifteen rural North Carolina middle schools will be the beneficiaries of a $25 million grant to help raise math scores and test new ways of learning.
The State Board of Education on Thursday approved the 15 schools that will be in the Golden LEAF Schools Initiative, a five-year program that will provide additional funding and coaching. The program is funded by a $25 million grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation, a nonprofit group whose mission is to help spur economic development in rural communities.
“We’re proud to support the 15 schools selected today and we know this is only the beginning,” Scott Hamilton, president of the Golden LEAF Foundation, said at the state board meeting. “These schools will receive intensive support to implement research-based strategies and will strengthen academic achievement and set students on a path for long-term success.”
Only middle schools in rural Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties were eligible for the program. Tier 1 counties are the 40 most economically distressed counties in the state.
The state Department of Public Instruction recommended which schools to select from the applicants.
Helping low-performing schools
The schools are split into two groups. Ten low-performing schools are in the transformative schools cohort and five non-low performing schools are in the personalized competency-based education cohort.
The transformative schools are:
▪ Bertie Middle School in Bertie County
▪ Carver Middle School in Scotland County
▪ Contentnea-Savannah K-8 School in Lenoir County
▪ East Alexander Middle School in Alexander County
▪ East Rutherford Middle School in Rutherford County
▪ Harnett Central Middle School in Harnett County
▪ Northern Middle School in Person County
▪ Union Middle School in Sampson County
▪ Warren County Middle School in Warren County
▪ West Lee Middle School in Lee County
The 10 schools will get intensive coaching and a new math curriculum to help improve math performance. Math performance has lagged statewide in middle schools since the pandemic.
“This initiative is a response to the need we saw in middle school math data post-pandemic as well as the high number of low-performing middle schools in our state,” said Rachel Wright-Junio, director of the Golden LEAF Schools Initiative.
Personalizing education for students
The personalized competency-based education schools are:
▪ Dunn Middle School in Harnett County
▪ Hayesville Middle School in Clay County
▪ SanLee Middle School in Lee County
▪ Swain County Middle School in Swain County
▪ Waynesville Middle School in Haywood County
Wright-Junio said these five schools will focus on things such as how to personalize education for their students.
