This new $25 million grant will help rural NC middle schools. Here’s what it will do.
The Golden LEAF Foundation announced a new $25 million grant on Wednesday meant to help raise performance in rural North Carolina middle schools.
The Golden LEAF Schools Initiative is a 5-year program that will provide additional funding and coaching to support 20 middle schools in rural counties. In particular, the initiative will provide targeted assistance to improve math instruction in 10 low-performing middle schools.
“The grant is really a game change for North Carolina,” new State Superintendent Mo Green said at Wednesday’s State Board of Education meeting. “It is an important step toward achieving the vision that we have for North Carolina’s public schools, which is ensuring every child in North Carolina’s public schools achieves educational excellence.”
Green credited former State Superintendent Catherine Truitt for getting the work started on the initiative, which has been 18 months in the making.
The state board approved Thursday two contracts for the initiative and gave permission to request proposals from schools to apply for the program. The application period opens on Monday.
Helping low-performing schools in rural NC
The 20 middle schools will be split into two groups: the transformative schools cohort and the personalized competency-based education cohort.
Much of the focus Wednesday was on the transformative schools cohort, which will be 10 low-performing middle schools in rural Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties. Tier 1 counties are the 40 most economically distressed counties in the state.
There are around 90 low-performing middle schools eligible for this part of the program.
Deputy Superintendent Andrew Smith said that the grant will provide “world-class resources for some of the poorest areas in our state.” This includes intensive coaching and a new math curriculum to help improve math performance.
“This is every middle school math teacher’s dream,” said Heather Smith, a Haywood County middle school math teacher and an advisor to the state board.
Math performance has lagged in middle schools since the pandemic.
The principals at the low-performing schools would be eligible for retention and performance bonuses.
Innovative schools model
The second group also consists of schools in rural counties. But these will not be low-performing schools.
This group of schools would get coaching to pursue innovative education methods. Unlike their colleagues at the low-performing schools, these principals would not be eligible for bonuses from the program.
Both groups would have a focus on career development resources for students.
“This initiative represents our commitment to long-term economic advancement through developing the workforce of the future, which is why we’re honored that this initiative is called Golden LEAF Schools,” said Scott Hamilton, president and CEO of the Golden LEAF Foundation.
“We know the importance of developing a workforce in rural communities that meets the needs of local employees, and how critical is for that work to be started early in a student’s journey.”
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "This new $25 million grant will help rural NC middle schools. Here’s what it will do.."
