North Carolina
was one of 12 states to receive the Race to the Top grant.
The public school system in North Carolina is comprised of 2,279 schools, as of early 2011. This school system is attended by more than 1.3 million students in the K-12 system. Parents with children in North Carolina may want to know more about the public school system before deciding whether to enroll their child in private or public education.
Charter Schools
Charter schools are specialized educational institutions that give parents a choice as to the type of education they want their children to have. Charter schools offer more specialized education, targeted at groups such as the gifted, at-risk youth or those with affinity for an area like the arts. For example, the ArtSpace Charter in Swannanoa focuses on arts integration into all areas of education. The Clover Garden School in Burlington puts extremely high expectations on students for academic excellence. These schools are funded by public money and are open to all students, but there are limited spots available. In North Carolina, if more than one child is applying for a spot, a lottery is held.
School Report Cards
When parents are trying to make a decision about where to enroll their children, they often want to know where the top schools are, so that they provide the best educational opportunities to their children. North Carolina does not rank its schools. However, a website called the "Education First NC School Report Cards" is maintained by the North Carolina public school system. Here, you can search out the schools you are interested in and get a sense of factors like class size, student success rate, teacher education, licensing and training (see Resources).
Career & College: Ready, Set Go!
The "Race to the Top" federal grant was offered to the North Carolina public school system, and it responded with the "Career & College: Ready, Set, Go!" program. The goal of this program is to make sure that more students are graduating from high school, and that when they do they are better prepared for college and careers in the modern world. This program focuses on supporting educators and on implementing more effective standards and assessments.
Teacher Improvement
North Carolina public schools have embarked on a continuous program of teacher improvement and development. This is part of the Career & College initiative, but is a special area of focus for the State Board of Education. Some goals included in the teacher improvement program are to have much more widespread professional development resources and professionals available to teachers. By 2014, the program aims to have more Teach for America teachers working in low-performing districts, and it also wants to have a program in place to recruit and train graduates in North Carolina for working and teaching in those environments where Teach for America is not being used. This includes a three-year training strategy for teachers going into challenging work environments.
Tags: North Carolina, school system, public school, public school system, Career College