The strongest point of feedback from participant groups is that the Wake County Public School System does an excellent job of focusing on the needs of most students most of the time. Student success is the first consideration in all decisions - as it should be.

Our community noted these themes as strengths:

• Our students possess a wide array of talents, capabilities, and skills that are demonstrated inside and outside of the classroom;

• Our schools’ first priority is equipping students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college and career;

• Individual and collective student successes are celebrated at the district, school, and classroom level;

• Staff focus on both academic performance and student well-being, creating an environment that promotes the growth of the whole child;

• Teachers provide rigorous curricula with innovative instruction that promotes student achievement and helps students see how what they are learning applies to the real world; and

• Technology is used effectively as a teaching tool.

Students credit our teachers, school administrators, and staff as the most important factor in their success. This celebration was echoed by families, community partners, and district staff.

WCPSS leads the nation in Nationally-Board Certified Teachers, and 34% of our teachers have advanced degrees.

Put simply: we cannot achieve our objectives without high-quality, well-supported staff  members.

Our community noted the importance of:

• Recruiting, developing, supporting, and retaining high-quality administrators, teachers, and staff for all job roles;

• Hiring with intentionality to ensure staff  in all roles reflect students’ diversity;

• Strong leadership at school and district levels;

• Supporting employees through professional learning, training, and competitive pay and benefits;

• The adaptability and innovation demonstrated by WCPSS

• teachers, staff, and leaders; and

• Effective communication among the district, schools, and communities.

Our community expressed appreciation for various strategies used to address disparities and to uplift cultural diversity in schools. The input revealed a feeling of pride that our Board and district leaders actively value equity and include an equity component in every Strategic Plan goal.

Our community praised the district for:

• Establishing a school board policy that commits to equitable actions and outcomes;

• Committing to diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Strategic Plan and the WCPSS equity framework;

• Using data to identify disparities along lines of race, ethnicity, gender, disability, and socioeconomic status;

• Identifying, critically reflecting, redesigning, and transforming systems in the pursuit of equitable outcomes; and

• Utilizing intentional hiring practices as we work toward ensuring staff in all types of roles reflect the diversity of our students.

The people of Wake County value strong public schools, and students and staff recognize that commitment. Our community appreciates that the district encourages collaboration with business alliances and external organizations to support students and families. Families and staff are partners with one another in educational decision-making processes. Schools diligently foster positive relationships and collaboration between schools and their communities.

Our community shared that:

• Focus on family and community engagement is a longstanding district priority;

• Non-profit, government, and faith-based partners believe that healthy public schools are essential for a thriving community and demonstrate that belief by sharing their time, talent, and resources with our students and staff;

• International business leaders choose our community in part because of our excellent public schools and give back in many ways to WCPSS; and

• Wake County frequently tops lists of the best places to live in the United States, with the high quality of our school district noted as one of the contributing factors.

Another key finding related to student achievement and growth is the wide variety of programming and enrichment opportunities offered across the district. Community members noted the range of options, extracurricular activities, and multiple pathways and choice opportunities for students.

In particular, they valued:

• The wide variety of award-winning magnet programs that offer innovative educational programming while exposing students to diverse people and new experiences;

• Career and college preparation opportunities offered through our Career and Technical Education (CTE) program;

• Clubs, sports teams, and co-curricular activities that help students pursue their passions, gain new skills, build confidence, network, and develop friendships; and

• Award-winning arts, CTE, and athletic programs.

Our community acknowledged and applauded efforts made to implement equitable practices in schools.

These efforts have resulted in progress among historically disadvantaged groups, notably in graduation rates.

However, our community made clear that much more needs to be done to close persistent gaps in student outcomes. In this, our community once again demonstrated that their priorities align with those in our Strategic Plan.

We are committed to strengthening and expanding our efforts in the following areas:

• Upgrading instructional resources to better support tiered instruction and behavior;

• Providing culturally responsive teaching and inclusive curriculum resources;

• Focusing on students’ mastery of skills over completion of coursework;

• Promoting more consistent high-quality instructional practices and effective schedules;

• Addressing the persistent achievement and opportunity gaps;

• Eliminating disproportionality in discipline referrals, suspensions, absences, and special education referrals;

• Creating excellent academic experiences for every student; and

• Ensuring all students have effective time management, goal setting, self-efficacy, attention to detail, organization, conflict resolution, problem-solving, and other skills for lifelong success.

Our community indicated that we must address school safety and security to effectively engage students academically and increase achievement.

We will provide a safe, inclusive learning environment that is responsive to all students and staff behavioral health needs and promotes a sense of belonging.

We are committed to strengthening and expanding our efforts in the following areas:

• Strengthening security through district and site-based safety planning;

• Consistently seeking feedback from a diverse group of students, administrators, teachers, staff, and families to inform key decisions;

• Increasing access to inclusive programming and support services to address the mental health and behavioral health needs of students;

• Promoting staff well-being and work/life balance;

• Upgrading facilities to promote physical security; and

• Increasing the ratio of specialized support staff to students across schools, including school counselors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses.

Our community celebrates the skill and dedication of our workforce. They identified the need to strengthen and expand our efforts to retain current employees and recruit the best and the brightest to join our district.

We are committed to strengthening and expanding our efforts in the following areas:

• Collecting feedback from all staff and using that data to improve employee satisfaction, engagement, and wellness;

• Strengthening hiring and onboarding processes;

• Expanding professional learning pathways;

• Conducting market analyses to assess salary competitiveness;

• Targeting efforts to ensure our schools with the highest needs are staffed with high-quality teachers, leaders, and support staff;

• Marketing the benefits of working in our district and the resources available to support employees; and

• Protecting instructional time and providing distinct planning days to ensure teachers have time to design lesson plans and analyze data within professional learning communities.

To achieve excellence and equity across our district, our community advised that we re-examine many facets of our organizational structure. 

Specifically, our community shared that schools with higher needs must be given additional resources, including more support from central services personnel and community partners.

Staff noted that our rapid growth as a district has resulted in inefficient structures that do not align with our present needs.

We are committed to strengthening and expanding our efforts in the following areas:

• Restructuring our resources to promote organizational efficiency, equity, and collaboration;

• Increasing support and coaching for schools designated as low-performing;

• Clearly and transparently monitoring instructional and non-instructional metrics for improvement;

• Improving internal and external accountability through the use of targeted data metrics;

• Providing timely and efficient operational services for every student, such as reliable transportation and well-maintained facilities;

• Evaluating and improving communications between schools and families as well as between central services departments and schools;

• Promoting family and community engagement and partnering with community supports to provide services for our marginalized communities specifically; and

• Expanding meaningful collaboration with students, families, and community partners to elevate the voices of those we serve.