Elizabeth City charter school joins network to ‘shape the future of high school education’

An innovative Elizabeth City charter school has been selected to join a national network convened by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to discover a “new architecture” for high school education, according to a June 18 press release.

The school, Northeast Academy for Aerospace and Advanced Technologies (NEAAAT), will be one of 24 school systems participating in the Future of High School Network, an initiative created by the Carnegie Foundation.

The network’s participants will “imagine and instantiate education without the constraints of the Carnegie Unit,” according to the press release announcing its launch. 

The Carnegie Unit refers to a credit-hour, the basic measurement of instructional time since its 1906 inception. A single Carnegie Unit in high school has generally meant about 120 hours of instruction spread across the school year in classes held four to five times per week for 40 to 60 minutes.

“The Future of High School Network is about understanding and growing new models for the American high school — that set ambitious goals for students, offer meaningful, rigorous and engaging learning experiences, and use improved tools to measure and accelerate student progress,” said Dr. Timothy Knowles, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

NEAAAT’s role in the network will allow the charter school to discover and champion models based on competency-based learning, as well as enhanced methods for tracking and fostering student progress, according to the press release.

“It’s a privilege to collaborate with schools across the country to drive educational innovation, with the goal of ensuring all students graduate prepared for success in the real world,” said NEAAAT CEO Dr. Andrew Harris. 

The decade-old charter school will also support the Carnegie Foundation’s National Research and Development Agenda, a roadmap to reshape high school education across the country.

NEAAT serves fifth-through-12th grade students from eight counties in the northeast: Pasquotank, Perquimans, Gates, Camden, Chowan, Hertford, Tyrrell, and Currituck.

At the high school level, NEAAT students take courses in aviation science, computer science, or health science to earn certifications. Eligible students can take classes at Elizabeth City State University, and 11th graders can apply to be dual-enrolled students at the College of The Albemarle.