While continuing the “Find Your Fit, Build Your Future” initiative, State Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green visited award-winning Lincoln Heights Environmental Connections Magnet Elementary School on March 9.
“Every child learns differently and every family has different priorities,” Green said in a DPI release announcing the initiative. “Our job is to make sure families know about what is available and help them find the right fit. This is what public education is all about.”
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Lincoln Heights sits on the far southern end of the Wake County Public Schools System, making it one of the few magnet programs that is not centrally located. In the school vision statement, the school focuses on student well-being and academic experiences so students learn to be “good stewards” of the environment.
All content areas at Lincoln Heights are taught through the lens of environmental and life sciences. The school offers access to several environmental and scientific equipment, including microscopes, temperature and pressure sensors, indoor tower gardens, outdoor trail cameras, telescopes, weather instruments, and more. Students have several hands-on learning opportunities and regularly spend time outdoors, according to the school’s website.
“We learn how to grow our students into environmentally aware citizens and children that have a heart for caring for others, may it be through donating to our emergency food bank or supporting the environment through our composting,” Kelly Wilson, Lincoln Heights’ principal, said. “It’s just a unique place, learning to love the outdoors and respect the outdoors.”
Each quarter, students get to select an expedition elective. Expeditions offer daily instruction on a student’s interests with hands-on opportunities and time to investigate their topics and observations.
Expeditions offered include:
- Coastal Ecology
- Green Thumb
- African Safari
- Pets Galore
- Coral Reef Community
- Farm to Table
- 3,2,1 Blast Off!
- “Who Me? A Scientist?”
- Take Me to a National Park
- Weather Watchers
- Exploring Seeds, Leaves and Plants
Allison Fentz, a fifth grade student at Lincoln Heights Magnet, said a highlight for her is being an expedition helper. Expedition helpers get to assist students in kindergarten through third grade with their quarterly projects, Fentz explained.
Fentz also explained what she liked about the school’s environmental focus.
“My favorite part about the school is that we get to learn underneath the pavilion during math time. And a couple of minutes ago, we got to go outside, and we would take nature items and build a digestive system and put it on a piece of paper,” Fentz told Green during his visit.
Lincoln Heights Magnet Elementary holds specials, also referred to as extension classes, daily for 40 minutes. One of those specials is an environmental inquiry (EI) class. The project-based course is another opportunity for students to explore real-world problems and challenges.
Students have the EI course twice a week as a part of their extension rotation between media, art, music, and physical education. The school currently has two designated EI teachers. The four broad themes of EI courses include: Living Things, Earth Science and Solar System, Weather & Climate, and Environmental and Community Connections.
Srihan Raivalasa, a fourth grade student, told Green that a highlight for him was learning about national parks during an EI class.
For Raivalasa, the environmental-focused experience is special to him because his first year of school as a kindergartner was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. After that, he said they never went outside at his previous school aside from recess and dismissal.
Another example of a school initiative Wilson described to Green is the food sharing program. If students have unopened food items that they do not eat during lunch, they can put them in a refrigerator in the front office for other students to take and eat later or to be donated. Wilson said this is a way to teach students to be mindful of food waste.
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Wilson told EdNC about the progress the school has made in recent years.
At the 2025 Magnet Schools of America Conference in Tennessee, Lincoln Heights was recognized as the top elementary magnet school in America by receiving the Elementary Magnet School Merit Award of Excellence.
“I attribute that to the staff, the families, the students, and the focus on integration of this magnet theme,” Wilson said.
Ashlie Thompson, the southern area superintendent of WCPSS, said the magnet theme began to be incorporated into Lincoln Heights in 2018. Prior to that, it was considered a low-performing school.
“Achievement has improved significantly, and I would attribute that to a large degree to the engagement the magnet program brings,” Thompson said.
Families interested in enrolling their student at Lincoln Heights or other magnets within WCPSS can learn more about the application process here.
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