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Kristen Blair Archives - North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools

Sep 02
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EdNC highlights innovation at four NC charter schools

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A student from Reaching All Minds Academy on a school bus from the educational bus fleet. Photo credit: EdNC/Reaching All Minds Academy.

EdNC has a new article out on charter innovation, highlighting four North Carolina charter schools: Reaching All Minds Academy, Union Day School, Northeast Academy for Aerospace & Advanced Technologies, and Thomas Academy.

We share an article excerpt below, along with a recent video from Reaching All Minds about the school’s educational bus fleet program.

At Reaching All Minds Academy, a STEM-focused Durham charter school, students grow and study plants in a decommissioned school bus, which has been converted into a mobile greenhouse. The school’s “educational bus fleet” now also includes a podcast studio and library bus, highlighted in a recent school video.

More buses are coming. An aquaponics lab, in which plants and vegetables are fed through wastewater from a fish tank, is under development, as is additional classroom space, according to Thomas McKoy, the school’s principal.

“Innovation: That’s what we’re here to do,” McKoy said.

His school’s ingenious ideas are attracting national attention. In 2025, Reaching All Minds Academy (RAMA) received a 2025 national impact award from the nonprofit organization Building Hope, specifically for educational innovation.

“You see it happening nationwide, you see it happening locally within our state,” McKoy said. “I would just push or challenge the other charters to add that into their mission, to continue to innovate for our students in North Carolina.”

Read the rest of the EdNC article.

Watch the video from RAMA about the school’s educational bus fleet:

Two schools highlighted in the article (RAMA and NEAAAT) are Coalition member schools, while two are not.

Jul 30
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EdNC: Deep dive on charter enrollment and trends

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Pine Springs Preparatory Academy in Holly Springs, North Carolina. Photo courtesy of Bruce Friend/EdNC.

EdNC has published a new deep dive on charter enrollment and trends. The article addresses where charter enrollment growth is occurring in North Carolina right now–and it also shares how the state stacks up nationally for schools and students.

We include an article excerpt below.

As a new school year dawns, North Carolina’s charter sector is poised for robust, continued enrollment growth. Yet experts point to increasingly high hurdles for new charter schools, with facility acquisition and increased competition for students topping the list. Established, rather than new, charter schools are the primary drivers of enrollment growth now, as obstacles to opening and other K-12 changes reshape the sector.

“The challenges of getting open are vast,” said Ashley Baquero, the executive director at the state’s Office of Charter Schools (OCS). She is seeing more delays from schools in the charter pipeline, as they struggle to find and finance facilities and hit enrollment targets.

Meanwhile, established charter schools with facilities, funding, and reputational capital continue to expand.

“The data has shown that the schools that have been around a little bit longer tend to be the ones that are growing — where a lot of the new enrollments are coming in,” said Bruce Friend, chair of the state’s Charter Schools Review Board (CSRB).

During the 2024-25 school year, state charter enrollment increased to 153,480 students, according to the new annual charter schools report from OCS. This figure represents a 6.1% annual enrollment uptick and an overall increase of 8,845 students since 2023-24.

Charter demand continues to outpace supply: 77% of state charter schools reported waitlists last year, totaling 74,287 students.

Somewhat paradoxically, however, the number of charter schools in 2024-25 declined for the first time in 14 years, dropping to 208 schools from 211 the year before. This is the first school downturn since state lawmakers removed the cap on charter school growth in 2011.

Only two new charter schools opened last year: ALA Monroe and Riverside Leadership Academy. Together, they accounted for 6.5% of the total annual enrollment increase, based on final Average Daily Membership (ADM) figures.

See the rest of the article from EdNC.

Read more

May 12
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Sallie B. Howard School’s innovative study abroad program

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Pinegrove School in India. Photo courtesy of Sallie B. Howard School/EdNC.

As part of its National Charter Schools Week coverage, EdNC has published a new article highlighting Sallie B. Howard School‘s innovative, semester-long study abroad program.

Kristen Blair, the Coalition’s communications director, wrote the article following interviews with students and school leaders.

Here’s an excerpt below:

Just two years ago, Sallie B. Howard School of Arts & Science (SBHS), a charter school in Wilson, launched a pioneering study abroad program at India’s Pinegrove School. The semester-long experience, occurring amid the verdant Himalayan foothills of Himachal Pradesh in North India, has proved transformative for participating students.

High school juniors Blanca Orozco-Perez and Angela Sangabriel lived and studied at Pinegrove last fall, two of four SBHS students selected to go. Both returned to the U.S. having experienced seismic shifts in their self-perceptions, worldview, and habits.

Prior to studying abroad, Orozco-Perez was reticent and unsure of herself. “I wouldn’t talk to a lot of people,” she said. “I was very timid. I was very shy. I couldn’t express myself right.”

But study abroad in the East, with its immense cultural difference, stretched and emboldened her. Along the way, something remarkable happened: Her view of herself and her engagement with the world changed.

“I learned overall that you can’t hide yourself in a box and expect everything to come to you,” said Orozco-Perez. As she navigated new relationships, customs, and food, she became more expansive and expressive. Upon her return to Wilson, her mother remarked, “You talk a lot more!”

For Sangabriel, travel itself was a novelty. “I had never been outside of the country until then, so it was my first time on a plane,” she said.

A folk musician, Sangabriel was transfixed by the deeply evocative quality of Indian music. “I had my eyes on the beautiful way that Indian classical music expresses itself,” she said. “That was one of my … driving factors the second I heard about it.”

In her study abroad application, Sangabriel promised to learn at least two songs in Hindi. She did that and more, performing and singing solo before a crowd of over 1,000 people at Pinegrove. Musical immersion abroad helped her bridge language and culture.

“Music is really a universal language,” she said. “You don’t have to understand what someone is saying to be able to understand their emotions.”

Read the full article on EdNC.

Jan 02
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EdNC features the innovative work of Central Wake High School

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Asa Fleming, Dr. Robert Taylor, and Tom Hanley. Kristen Blair/EdNC.

EdNC has published a new feature story highlighting the innovative work of Central Wake High School in Raleigh. The alternative high school, which operates as a public charter school, focuses on dropout prevention and recovery. Central Wake partners with the school management company Accelerated Learning Solutions (now known as Second Mile Education).

The Coalition’s communications director, Kristen Blair, wrote the story following a school tour with Dr. Robert Taylor, the superintendent of Wake County Public Schools. During his visit, Taylor met with school leaders (school founder and board president Asa Fleming and executive principal Tom Hanley) along with two Central Wake students.

Here’s an excerpt below from the article:

When Tzara Albiter Acosta, 18, first arrived at Central Wake High School in Raleigh, her self-confidence was at a low ebb. “I thought, ‘This is just going to be another school,’” she said of the public charter school, which specializes in dropout prevention and recovery.

She, like other students at Central Wake, had tried a number of different educational experiences.

Middle school was fraught academically. “I failed so many classes,” said Albiter Acosta, who has Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Resignation had set in. “This is going to be the same thing,” she said.

Still, a realization had emerged about her earlier school experiences. “I wasn’t getting the things I needed,” she said.

Devon Wells, a 17-year-old Central Wake student who also has ADHD, had trouble completing assignments in different school settings. “The resources weren’t really there,” Wells said.

“They’ve tried everything,” said Tom Hanley, Central Wake’s executive principal, of the at-risk students who enroll at his school. Students’ lack of success across multiple school settings “feels like something,” he added. “That goes to their sense of pride and their sense of self-worth.”

At Central Wake, students receive wraparound supports and self-paced learning. Three descriptive pillars — flexible, personalized, supportive — buttress the school’s model. Everything coalesces in pursuit of this singular objective: high school graduation.

“The main goal is to get across the stage,” said Hanley.

Now the school’s approach is attracting attention from other education leaders.

Read the full article on EdNC.

Central Wake High School is a Coalition member school.

Feb 20
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Meet the 2024 N.C. Charter School Teacher of the Year

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The N.C. Department of Public Instruction has named Lee Haywood of Uwharrie Charter Academy (UCA) in Asheboro, North Carolina, the 2024 N.C. Charter School Teacher of the Year.  Haywood is also one of nine finalists for the overall N.C. Teacher of the Year honor, which will be awarded April 5.

Recently, Kristen Blair, the Coalition’s communications director, spoke with Haywood about her work as a middle school visual arts teacher, her passion for cultivating creativity in her students, and her goals this year as she represents the state’s charter schools.

 We share the full interview below.

This is your 19th year of teaching. What initially compelled you to pursue a career as an educator?

Lee Haywood: I always thought I would teach in some capacity but didn’t always know what route I wanted to go. I lived with a single mother growing up, and she was my rock. When I was in fourth grade, my mom was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of breast cancer and was given three months to live. She was such an incredibly smart lady. She decided—and this was very brave of her—to pull me out of school, to order a homeschool curriculum, and to teach me at home. Her goal was mainly to spend more time with me, with the time she had left.  

It was amazing. We both fell in love—my mom with teaching, and me with learning from her. Even though she was very sick for a little while, we tried to take advantage of every learning experience possible. She kept getting stronger and recovered quicker than anyone thought she would. We loved learning at home and kept doing it for the next three years. I loved being with her. It really lit a fire under me for teaching later on.

In middle school, I wanted to go back—to graduate from the high school that my older brother attended, and to play sports. I had an incredible high school art teacher named Mike Durham, who I watched promote his students in every possible way. So, I had a great, strong model at home and a teacher who inspired me.

I did lose my mom in 2021, but I got about 30 extra years with her that I never thought I would have, and she was able to meet all of her grandbabies.

Lee Haywood (second from left) is honored in December as the 2024 N.C. Charter School Teacher of the Year. Also pictured, left from right: Bobby Sample, Kristy Priest, and UCA Superintendent Sharon Castelli. Photo credit: Courier Tribune.

What drew you to teach at a public charter school—and to Uwharrie Charter School?  

Haywood: I have been in lots of different settings. I went to a traditional public school. My mom pulled me from a magnet school to homeschool me. I taught in a traditional public school for 10 years: I worked in Davidson County and taught in three schools—1,000+ kids a week—and loved every second of it.

But when I started to plan a family, the schedule wasn’t going to work. I wanted a school that was closer to home, and I was looking for something different. When Uwharrie Charter opened, they started with their high school, but in 2015, the middle school was starting to open. My sister-in-law was one of the first teachers hired at UCA for high school, and I had always heard about how much she loved it. My brother was announced as principal of the new middle school, and he kept saying, “Hey, I know you’re happy where you are, but take a look.”

I walked in for a tour. At that time, the middle school was going to be in an old furniture showroom, so it wasn’t really a traditional school setting. But there was something charming about walking into something that wasn’t a school. It was different. I walked in, and being an art teacher who loves to repurpose things, I saw everything that it could be. I came over and absolutely fell in love with middle school. I finally feel like I am living up to my true potential as a teacher here at UCA. 

Uwharrie Charter’s STEAM [science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics] program was really appealing to me. Every teacher here has a STEAM class on something they’re interested in, and the kids choose what they take. The first couple of years, I taught a “Diggin’ DaVinci” class about Leonardo DaVinci’s inventions. Now I teach a recycled art class called “Trash to Treasure,” and we explore environmental artists—ones that work with manmade objects, but also environmental artists who work straight from nature.

Could you tell us why you’re passionate about integrating art across content areas, and why art is so important for student learning?

Haywood: I think it just comes naturally in the art room. To me, it’s never separate. Today I was studying mandalas from India, and we were talking about fractions, dividing a circle into pieces.  I also think it’s important for creating that well-rounded student. CEOs cite creativity as the number one thing they look for in a new employee: They’re looking for creative problem solvers. If that’s so important now in our workplace, why aren’t we naturally integrating it into all of our classes—if we’re building a well-rounded student and worker of tomorrow? That’s the biggest reason it’s so important to me, but it happens in my class every day.  

 Several years ago, I had an idea to get together with other teachers and create an arts night. What we encouraged everyone in the building to do is start pulling out lessons that have any kind of art tie-in. So, we have a “Night at the Museum,” where art is featured in every class. We’ve had a trashin’ fashion show, flash mobs, and poetry slams to celebrate the arts.  

You established a partnership with a local nonprofit organization that takes donated materials to divert trash from landfills. How does this partnership impact your students’ growth as artists, and as members of their community?

Haywood: There is a store in Greensboro, inspired by The Scrap Exchange in Durham, called Reconsidered Goods. They take in and sort discarded materials, bringing them to the floor for sale. They also recycle things for artists to repurpose or upcycle in some way. We have taken several field trips, and have gone to them with ideas that we can focus on here at school. They have a make-and-take lab, where students work on a piece of art there. A lot of times we take it back and finish it here at school.

We’ve created identity trophies, where we took discarded trophies and attached things to them and thought about what our superpowers were. Most recently, we created junk animals out of different materials we found there.

Reconsidered Goods has been more than helpful with my STEAM class and my art students—helping them understand that nothing we throw away can’t be turned back into profit or into something meaningful, aesthetically pleasing, or helpful in some way.  

I have also taken some workshops with Bryant Holsenbeck, an environmental artist from Durham. Her work is really what catapulted me to want to do this STEAM work to begin with. I start the kids with looking at the trash islands that float in the oceans, and where they come together because of currents. They really do start to think about what they’re throwing away.  

In December, you were honored as North Carolina’s 2024 Charter School Teacher of the Year. What was that like, and what are your goals for this year?  

Haywood: It was an incredible day. I don’t like surprises much, and they pulled one off when I walked in the gym. I couldn’t help but think about my mom, of course—how proud she would be. My family was there. It was an overwhelming experience in the best possible way. You don’t hear what is said about you behind closed doors, so to hear some of the things that were said has been incredibly humbling. I’m very lucky because not everybody gets that chance.

I am super excited to represent charter schools and all of our public school students across North Carolina. The most important part of it all is going to be to listen. I know I have a lot to learn—listening to students, staff, administrators, and leaders to see what changes are needed, and then focusing on that.

A big part of my platform is arts. Eighty-five percent of superintendents say they don’t have enough funding for the arts (ArtNC). That’s definitely something I want to work on. Among the other regional finalists [for 2024 N.C. Teacher of the Year], we have a high school art teacher, a former art teacher, and a teacher with some graphic design background. I feel like it’s a great year to make a real change for the arts. That’s my goal.

What is your favorite charter school moment?

Haywood: It’s easy for me. I remember the first time I ever left my classroom during STEAM. Walking through the hall during that STEAM time, our school came alive. There was hammering going on down the hall; kids were painting in the hallways. We had a CrossFit STEAM, and they were flipping giant tractor tires through the gym. There was a teacher with a dog training class—and a radio broadcast, a news channel, and smells from our bakery.

It was such a beautiful moment. The school came alive with all of this hands-on learning. I’ll never forget that moment—hearing the sounds, and smelling the smells, and seeing the sights. It was like living in a small city. I believe in our STEAM program. That’s what our school is built on.

That was a great charter school moment for me.

Is there anything I didn’t ask that you believe is an important part of this conversation?

Haywood: I’m a teacher mentor and have been for a really long time. That’s part of my platform. I’m big on working with beginning teachers, because we have lost so many since the pandemic—and also the rejuvenation of veteran teachers, post pandemic, with professional development.  

 So, I’m passionate about professional development for all teachers, and learning to go in, all the way, if you’re going to commit to this profession. It’s an impossible job; we have so many hats. But it is so worth it! “Never be average” is written on my board. Don’t come in halfway. Our students deserve your absolute best, every single day.

 Read more about Lee Haywood in the Courier-Tribune.