State Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green visits Contentnea-Savannah K-8 to spotlight Golden LEAF investment
State Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green visited Contentnea-Savannah K-8 on Wednesday as district and school leaders highlighted how a major Golden LEAF grant is being used to strengthen instruction, expand career readiness and improve math outcomes for students.
Green toured the Lenoir County school alongside local and state education leaders and representatives from the Golden LEAF Foundation. The visit focused on the school’s participation in the Golden LEAF Schools Initiative, a partnership between the foundation and the N.C. Department of Public Instruction aimed at strengthening middle school math instruction and career development in rural schools. Golden LEAF has described the initiative as a $25 million investment over five years serving 15 rural North Carolina schools.
Heather Walston, principal of Contentnea-Savannah K-8, said the visit was a proud moment for the school.
“Today is such an exciting day for me and for our staff and students,” Walston said. “We are welcoming State Superintendent Mo Green and the Golden LEAF team.”
Walston said the school learned at the end of the last school year that it had been awarded a $1.8 million grant over five years. She said the funding supports several major priorities, including implementation of Marzano’s High Reliability Schools framework, stronger career readiness efforts, expanded math instruction and professional development for staff.
“The grant gives them an edge, and it will also give our students an edge as they go into high school and branch out into STEM-related careers,” Walston said.
She said the grant reaches beyond one grade band.
The Open Up math curriculum is being used in sixth through eighth grades, Walston said, while the High Reliability Schools framework benefits students across the full pre-K-8 campus.
Walston also said students understood the significance of the visit and the opportunity tied to the grant.
“Our middle school students are very much aware of the grant and what it means to Contentnea-Savannah,” she said.
Lenoir County Public Schools Superintendent Brent Williams said the district wanted to use the visit to showcase both the work happening inside the school and the broader partnership that made it possible.
“We’re really excited about DPI and Golden LEAF team coming today, and we’re really excited to show off Contentnea-Savannah K-8 School, what’s happening here with instruction,” Williams said.
Williams said grant funding helps the district build beyond basic classroom offerings.
“We provide basic opportunities for our students in the classrooms every day, but we want to go beyond that and provide the best educational opportunities that we can,” he said. “Grant money and that funding helps us to do that.”
Green said the initiative represents a major opportunity for rural schools that often face resource challenges.
“When you think about the fact that many of our rural communities may not have the resources necessary to educate all students at the levels that we want and expect, to have this incredible investment into our schools really will make a tremendous difference,” Green said.
He said the initiative is designed not only to improve instruction in the short term, but also to build evidence for future education investment across North Carolina.
“We believe that over the course of five years, as we see improvements at these schools, that will also speak to our General Assembly and encourage them to make more investments across the state as well,” Green said.
Green also tied the visit to the state’s broader public education goals. He pointed to North Carolina’s “Achieving Educational Excellence” strategic plan, which aims to make the state’s public schools the best in the nation by 2030. The plan, released by DPI and the State Board of Education, centers on academic achievement, character development and long-term student success.
Scott Hamilton, president and CEO of the Golden LEAF Foundation, said the foundation’s board saw middle grades math as a key area where targeted investment could make a lasting workforce impact.
“It is very clear that middle grades math is fundamental and foundational to a student’s success in high school and post-secondary and into the workforce,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton said Golden LEAF provided funding to DPI to develop and deploy the initiative, with participating schools selected through a competitive application process.
For Contentnea-Savannah K-8, Wednesday’s visit was both a recognition of work already underway and a signal that rural schools can compete for and secure major educational investments.
