Innovative schools win national honor
 For the second year running, innovative high schools that are partners with North Carolina New Schools are well represented among the state's recipients of the National Blue Ribbon award from the U.S. Department of Education.
All three North Carolina high schools recognized with the award - Greene Early College High School, The Middle College at NC A&T, and Rutherford Early College High School - are part of the state's early college initiative supported by NC New Schools.
The three schools were among six in all in North Carolina to be named 2013 National Blue Ribbon Schools and among 286 across the nation to receive the honor. High schools accounted for 53 of the awards nationwide.
The National Blue Ribbon Schools award honors public and private elementary, middle, and high schools where students perform at very high levels or where significant improvements are being made in students' levels of achievement.
"Excellence in education matters, and we should honor the schools that are leading the way to prepare students for success in college and careers," said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. "National Blue Ribbon schools represent examples of educational excellence, and their work reflects the belief that every child in America deserves a world-class education."
Two of the three North Carolina high schools to receive the award in 2012 are also partner schools with NC New Schools: Early/Middle College at Bennett in Greensboro and Robeson Early College High School.
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Program prepares new STEM teachers
After spending 12 years as a scientist studying plant and animal viruses, Patricia Eagle is now back in school, learning how to teach science to high school students.
Zack Willett spent more than six years applying his skills as a mechanical engineer in legal disputes before deciding to apply them in the classroom instead. 
Nicole Rice always wanted to teach, but detoured through a career as a hospital registrar before deciding to pursue her true interest: teaching science.
All three teachers-at-heart are taking an alternate route to the classroom through a program designed to prepare more teachers in math, science and technology by capitalizing on the seasoned skills, experience and motivation of mid-career professionals.
Eagle, Willett and Rice are among 16 members of the second cohort of teaching candidates to enroll in the NC STEM Teacher Education Program (NC STEP), an innovative cost-free certification initiative that blends intensive on-the-job preparation with online learning. The candidates spend several days each week during the year at high schools that are partners with North Carolina New Schools, a not-for-profit organization that focuses on strengthening the skills of educators so that students graduate well prepared for college and careers.
The first seven candidates to complete the program this past summer now are all employed in schools in several districts, including Wake, Durham and Guilford. A high percentage of teaching vacancies in North Carolina high schools are in math and science classrooms, according to data from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.
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Innovative schools rank high in report
 Early college high schools partnering with NC New Schools dominated the list of high performing schools in a new report on the state of public education in North Carolina. CarolinaCAN: The North Carolina Campaign for Achievement Now released its inaugural " State of North Carolina Public Education" report on its website last week. The online database assigns letter grades in categories of student achievement for North Carolina's public schools and school districts, looking at performance in reading and math among black, Latino, low-income and all students. Schools are also graded based on achievement gaps and graduation rates. In the accompanying "Top 10" report, CarolinaCAN ranked North Carolina's top public high schools according to best student performance by subgroup. Schools that are partners with NC New Schools represented nine of the 10 top schools on the low-income student performance list, 12 of 14 on the list for high performance among black students, and all 10 of the schools recognized for high performance among Latino students. On all three lists, the partner schools posted passing rates of nearly 95 percent or higher. Read more ... |
NC hosts conference on early college
 Educators and policy experts from as far away as Hawaii, Utah and California will be among several hundred participants in a national conference on early college high school Oct. 29-30 in the Research Triangle. North Carolina is home to nearly 80 of the innovative schools, which blend high school and college, the most of any state in the nation. Among keynote speakers at the event will be Freeman Hrabowski, III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Hrabowski has been profiled by CBS's 60 Minutes, US News & World Report, Time, The Washington Post and others for building a powerhouse college in math, science and engineering that in recent years has seen 41 percent of its bachelor's degrees awarded in those key fields. Other speakers include Stanley Litow, IBM's vice president of corporate citizenship and corporate affairs. Litow helped devise an innovative early college in New York City known as P-TECH, which engages companies, colleges, communities and schools to helps connect education to jobs. During the conference, school administrators and higher education partners will explore the policies and practices required to consistently graduate fragile learners and first generation college goers fully prepared for success beyond high school. The conference is co-hosted by Jobs for the Future and North Carolina New Schools.
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