GREENSBORO, NC – Guilford County Schools (GCS) will host the Carnegie Foundation Learning Leadership Network (Carnegie LLN) on October 10-12. The aim of this network of district leadership teams is to support, showcase, and study school districts that are creating engaging, equitable, and effective learning experiences for their secondary students. Network members convene over the course of the school year to imagine and learn together how school districts can be set up to enable student learning both within and outside of the school walls. For the past year, GCS Superintendent Dr. Whitney Oakley and key district leaders have joined Carnegie LLN educators from across the country to innovate and transform secondary schooling. 

Guilford County Schools was selected as the host for this fall’s site visit because of the innovative models housed in their Signature Career Academies and elementary school telehealth clinics. Carnegie LLN district teams will have the opportunity to conduct school site visits, learn from GCS district cabinet members about stakeholder engagement efforts in the development of the district’s Better Together strategic direction focus areas and priorities, and engage with a panel of local industry and community leaders, including Cone Health, Action Greensboro, Toyota and others. Network members will also share reflections, offer feedback, and apply what they’ve learned to their own system transformation work. 

“Guilford County Schools is honored to host the Carnegie Foundation Learning Leadership Network and to share our district’s progress as we work toward our Better Together Strategic Direction,” says Superintendent Dr. Whitney Oakley. “The pandemic provided us with an opportunity to reimagine what public education can and should be. My team and I are excited to learn more about what’s working in partner districts and to provide insight into what’s working in ours.” 

“We are thrilled to be visiting Guilford County Schools with the Learning Leadership Network,” said Dr. Tinkhani Ushe White, lead of the Carnegie Learning Leadership Network. “We are excited to participate in this dynamic learning experience to explore Guilford’s Career Academies model and learn from their thoughtful efforts to ensure their strategic plan is grounded in community voice and ambitious about preparing students for the future.”  

Carnegie Foundation President Dr. Tim Knowles added, “We are enormously grateful to our colleagues at Guilford County Schools for hosting the Carnegie Learning Leadership Network. Guilford is fiercely committed to ensuring all students are well-prepared for a broad range of postsecondary opportunities.  We look forward to learning with Guilford and bringing lessons to bear across the nation to ensure all young people lead purposeful, fulfilling lives.”

About the Carnegie Foundation

The mission of the Carnegie Foundation is to catalyze transformational change in education so that every student has the opportunity to live a healthy, dignified, and fulfilling life. Enacted by an act of Congress in 1906, the Foundation has a rich history of driving transformational change in the education sector, including the establishment of TIAA-CREF and the creation of the Education Testing Service, the GRE, and the Carnegie Classifications for Higher Education. The Foundation was also instrumental in the formation of the U.S. Department of Education and Pell Grants, and mostly recently in the use of networked improvement science to redress systemic inequities in educational opportunities and outcomes.

About Guilford County Schools 

Guilford County Schools, the third largest school district in North Carolina and among the largest of more than 14,000 in the United States, serves nearly 70,000 PK-12 students at 124 schools. With approximately 9,800 employees, GCS works in partnership with parents, businesses, colleges and the community to deliver an education that connects student interests and skills with the careers and economy of our future here and around the world. We provide educational choices to meet individual student needs in a culturally diverse citizenship and new opportunities to help our students grow. For more information, visit the district’s website at www.gcsnc.com.