Creating innovative schools means thinking outside the lines — sometimes literally beyond the boundaries of school districts and counties. NC New Schools/Breakthrough Learning works with clusters of school districts to develop regional schools. These schools are aligned with the workforce and economic development needs of the area and also engage higher education and private sector partners.
The benefits of these regional schools go beyond the students enrolled on the campus. By developing new regional models of professional development and resource sharing with cooperating school districts, regional schools also help spark innovation in each of the individual districts.
The new Northeast Academy of Aerospace and Advanced Technologies (NEAAAT) provides a powerful example of innovation as a school that serves multiple counties in Northeast North Carolina. Located on the campus of a historically black college, Elizabeth City State University, the school’s board went the extra mile to remove barriers so that all students have access including those with special needs.
Click here for a video about NEAAAT.
NEAAAT will also serve as a site for professional learning for teachers and administrators from the surrounding public school districts with a special emphasis in mathematics, science and connecting the curriculum to the needs of a changing economy. The school joins an emerging statewide network of university-sited STEM schools that form a peer-learning network among the public schools, titled the STEM Accelerator.
Teachers integrate STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education concepts across all content areas as they create new learning environments aimed at giving all students — especially first-generation college-going students — opportunities for success.
Other partner schools across the state have created their own regional partnerships to connect students with opportunities:
- Davidson Early College High School and Yadkin Valley Regional Career Academy (Valley Academy) serve students from both Davidson County Schools, Thomasville City Schools and Lexington City Schools.
- Mayland Early College serves students from Avery, Mitchell and Yancey counties.
- Roanoke Valley Early College serves students from Halifax and Northampton counties, as well as Weldon City Schools and Roanoke Rapids Graded School District.
- Tri-County Early College serves students from Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties.
