Rowan-Salisbury School System

How Renewal Came to Be

In 2018, the Rowan-Salisbury Schools (RSS) team called state legislators with a bold request focused on local education control and flexibility. We imagined a district with charter-like flexibility that would empower our schools and leaders with more autonomy. Led by then superintendent Dr. Lynn Moody, RSS leaders wanted schools to have the power to truly innovate outside of outdated learning models and funding constraints, empowered by the right flexibility and resources.

The vision was clear: create an engaged learning environment so students enjoy learning and teachers enjoy teaching.

We inspired state policymakers with our data and experience-backed vision. They introduced legislation, which passed in less than a month. North Carolina’s Renewal district was born.

“Sometimes teachers go into the profession because they love the content, and forget that not everyone loves that content. Renewal was this amazing reminder to figure out how to make course materials real, fun and exciting for students.” Dr. Kelly Withers, RSS superintendent

The Renewal Journey Continues
Over the last few years, with our new flexibility, we’ve worked hard to transform learning in all RSS schools. Much like other districts across the country, we faced many challenges due to COVID-19—especially since our schools focus on exciting, unique opportunities for hands-on learning as part of Renewal. Our school leaders have had to adapt and shift at times, while always putting student and community safety first.

We’re excited to continue building on our work, bringing innovation to life in all of our classrooms across the district.

two students in with one holding a stuffed animal bear

How We Support Student Success

circular logo about renewal directional system with blue, green, and orange sections

Our vision for student success means ensuring each and every student who walks through our doors has a full, personalized experience. We want all learners to feel welcome, engaged and on track for a successful future.

Here’s what that experience looks like for Renewal students:

Renewal Directional System
Focusing on Academic Skills
Every learner masters the fundamentals of English, math, science and social studies
Supporting Unique Life Goals
All learners set—and we help to nurture—their unique goals based on their personal interests, career aspirations and passions, and individual skill sets
Cultivating Interpersonal Skills
We focus on strengthening important skills like creativity, leadership, teamwork, civility, work ethic, communication and problem solving

How We Empower Teachers
At RSS, we believe that our community deserves a school system with autonomy that empowers schools to create an engaged learning environment. Ensuring that teachers enjoy teaching is at the core of this approach. To do that, we empower educators by offering teacher-led flexibility.

Here’s what that flexibility looks like for all of our teachers:

Teachers are the leaders, designers and creators of instruction. They have the flexibility to create curricula that speak to each student’s passion and interest—with the possibility to be exempt from some standardized testing.
We receive state funding in one installment, rather than in multiple, restricted allotments. This budget flexibility means we can focus our funding on what will truly help students flourish. Our teachers can tie academic work into experiential learning outside the classroom. For example, we’ve taken students to New York City, to national parks and to the Outer Banks. At the Outer Banks, fourth graders learned about different career options like marine biology and incorporated science into the trip (and many of these students left the county for the very first time). Teachers incorporate trip-related literature, vocabulary, experiments and more into these excursions.
Since we’re preparing our students for the real world, we use our calendar flexibility to coordinate our programs with local colleges, businesses and nonprofits. We also have the opportunity to think differently about how we structure the time of day when students attend school. That means we can make sure that our school calendar and schedule meets the needs of students, parents, staff, community and the designed curriculum.
We have the flexibility to hire valuable instructors with specific industry expertise who can teach in their areas of strength, even without necessarily obtaining their teaching license. Our model also allows us to focus on the whole student with our hiring. For example, research shows that yoga can be highly beneficial to children with trauma histories, so some Rowan-Salisbury schools have hired yoga instructors to lead classes during the school day.

“These days, employers are looking for people who can solve problems, who can work in teams, who can be critical thinkers, designers, creators. That’s what we teach here through Renewal.”

Ben Butchart, RSS teacher