Education Week - February 17, 2021 - 17

teachers program that she hopes will bring graduates back
to the district to teach, and a micro-school that aims to
strengthen the ties between students and school.
The district's first micro-school, The North Phillips
School of Innovation, began in a high school with 30 8thand-9th-grade students.
Plagued by poor academic performance, high student
absenteeism, and frequent discipline problems, " the
outcomes were just really not good for kids in that area, "
said Erin Swanson, the director of innovation for the system.
" We needed to do some things dramatically different. "
The smaller learning environments in the micro-school
allowed for deeper connections with staff. After just
one year, the students reported feeling safer and more
supported in the school, and their reading and science test
scores improved.
The limited success with the micro-school led to
adjustments districtwide, using a provision in North
Carolina state law that grants schools more flexibility
in how they educate students. Across the district's
" Innovation Zone, " educators met with families to ask
what they needed, and what they heard surprised them.

a part of our school system, " Bridges said. " These are kids
who've grown up in Edgecombe County. They know the
poverty level. They know the concerns. And so there's no
surprise. There's no, 'I don't know how to deal with this,'
because they start as high school students working in our
schools. "
The first of the program's 18 participants have yet to
graduate college, but they are part of a broader push by the
district to remain connected with graduates.
'Still our kids'

When students head off to college, teachers and other
employees send them postcards and continue to provide
guidance and support through phone calls and texts. Many
staff see it as part of their mission to remind students that
returning home to serve is always an option.
Before the pandemic, Bridges would pack a bag full of
Edgecombe County T-shirts and other swag to hand out
to alumni when she traveled to homecoming at her alma
mater, the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.
" When you walk across the [stage at graduation], we're

" If I can advocate for a school system and I can advocate
for opportunities and exposure for our kids
to make it better, I feel compelled to do it. "
Parents and students wanted more personal connections
and learning that connected to their everyday lives. The
micro-school program was expanded last year to include
all 8th, 9th and 10th graders and this school year to all
5th- through 12th-grade students. The goal is to create
opportunities for smaller learning environments, where
students spend more time working with a cohort of peers,
teachers, and school staff.
After the coronavirus school closures, the district created
remote learning pods and internet cafes for middle and
high school students who lack internet access. In the
internet cafes, students visit the schools at scheduled times
to use the internet and other technology they may not have
at home. Roughly 1 in 5 students in Edgecombe County do
not have access to broadband internet, according to The
Center on Rural Innovation, a Vermont-based nonprofit
that maps broadband access in rural areas.
Both the learning pods and cafes may endure beyond the
pandemic.
With support from philanthropies, the district's scholarteachers program pays for dual high school-college
enrollment and up to $30,000 in college scholarships for
students who pledge to return to the district to teach for at
least three years. Students who don't return must repay the
money.
" Our goal is to keep you for 30 [years] and to make you

not turning you loose, " Bridges said. " Those are still our
kids. "
Seth Saeugling, co-founder of the Rural Opportunity
Institute, a nonprofit that aims to end generational trauma
and poverty in the county, said Bridges has " figured out
how to make positive things happen in a really complex
environment. "
" That's fueled by her willingness to respond from a place
of empathy, " Saeugling said.
That empathy extends to students and staff. When the
pandemic struck, Bridges wanted to find a way to connect
with all of the district's employees. Her staff created a card
design with her digital signature attached. But Bridges
wanted to sign each card individually for a more personal
touch.
" I was like 'Ma'am, it's like 800-something cards here, "
said Abbey Futrell, the district's assistant superintendent
for curriculum and instruction. " She was like 'Put them in a
box. I'm going to take them home.' "
She did. She signed them all, " Love, Dr. B. " n
Coverage of strategies for advancing the opportunities for students
most at need, including those from low-income families and
communities, is supported by a grant from the Walton Family
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Education Week - February 17, 2021

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