25 selected as Assistant Chief Accelerator for the Leadership Program

Below is a press release from North Carolina public schools

Twenty-five school principals from across North Carolina were selected into the inaugural cohort Accelerator Program for Assistant Director (AP)., a joint partnership between the North Carolina Association of Directors and Assistant Directors (NCPAPA), the Protein Foundation and the North Carolina Department of Public Education (NCDPI). The recently created AP Accelerator program is a nationwide leadership initiative funded by the NCDPI and the Protein Foundation to quickly track prospective assistant directors to senior positions.

Superintendents nominated more than 60 people across the state to participate in the program. After a rigorous selection process, the first cohort of 25 people was determined by the NCPAPA. Selected cohort members represent a range of diversity and experience; almost half of the participants are people of color, three out of four are women, and the participants have an average of three years of experience. Selected participants will join the AP Accelerator program and receive focused leadership development and training from proven practitioners in the field.

Civic Learning Superintendent Catherine Truitt stressed the importance and value of this focused professional development opportunity.

“The AP Accelerator program allows us to invest in school leaders and build a number of highly qualified and outstanding principals in our state,” Truit said. “As a teacher, I know that principals are great multipliers of excellence who create and sustain the school spirit, so we want to favor this group of professionals and ensure that they are supported and provided with professional development opportunities so that they continue to grow.”

Tabari Wallace, special adviser to the chief of staff on key issues, said he was confident the first cohort would complete the program with strong leadership skills.

“After a rigorous selection process, we are excited to accelerate the competencies, effective practices and ability of the 25 cohort members to change schools,” Wallace said. “This approach will begin to close the perceived gap between highly qualified and highly effective management.”

Working with NCPAPA and a team of highly effective and experienced teachers, the first cohort will participate in a concentrated curriculum focused on research-based competencies and practices related to successful school restructuring efforts. They will also receive intensive training and group mentoring to accelerate their willingness to manage and transform schools with high needs.

“We were extremely pleased with the caliber of the individuals nominated for the program. With only 25 seats available, the selection process was very complex, ”said Dr. Shirley Prince, NCPAPA Executive Director.

The NCPAPA will test and refine the curriculum with an inaugural cohort and add additional cohorts to add 100 candidates ready for principal each year to the pool of candidates for high-need schools.

Click here to view the list of inaugural cohorts of 2022-2023

The program is funded by several partners, including the Protein Foundation, the Northern Kingdom Department of Public Education, the Burroughs Greeting Foundation, the NC Center for Science, Mathematics, and Technology, and the School Leadership Development Alliance.

The Squirrel Foundation is a family foundation in Charlotte that supports public education by strengthening teachers and school leaders and ensuring that students reach or above grade by third grade. Now in its fourth generation of family leadership, The Belk Foundation serves as a public expression of the gratitude and commitment shown by the family that created the Belk Department Store. Since 2000, the Protein Foundation has invested more than $ 53 million in our community. More information is available at www.belkfoundation.org.

Burroughs Wellcome Fund is an independent private fund. Its mission is to serve and strengthen society by educating a diverse group of leaders in the life sciences to improve human health through education and foster discoveries within the most necessary limits.

The Center for Science, Mathematics, Technology (SMT) NC focuses on improving education as a means to provide all students in North Carolina with the knowledge and skills to have successful careers, be good citizens and develop the state’s economy. Acting as a broker, facilitator and catalyst for innovation and change in education, the SMT Center celebrates the excellence of education in North Carolina and beyond, supporting educators, engaging students and promoting the growing importance of having a workforce with STEM education.

NCASLD’s mission is to develop leadership capacity among aspiring and practicing school leaders through programs that meet research standards and national performance appraisal standards and competencies for highly effective school leadership. NCASLD works in collaboration with its subsidiaries, NCASA, NCSSA and NCPAPA, to help achieve NC’s educational goals with a focus on the well-being and needs of all children.

The North Carolina Association of Principals and Assistant Principals, which has existed since 1976, is the state’s primary organization and human rights organization for principals, assistant principals, and novice school principals.