Wake picks new college partner to replace St. Aug’s as host of leadership academies
Shaw University will replace St. Augustine’s University as the higher-education partner for Wake County’s two early college leadership academies, the school board voted unanimously Tuesday.
Students in the Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy and Wake Young Women’s Leadership Academy previously took tuition-free college courses at St. Aug’s. But the Wake school board voted in March to end its partnership with St. Aug’s at the close of last school year because of the school’s financial and accreditation struggles.
“I cannot be more excited to have Shaw University as our partner,” school board member Sam Hershey said. “They are everything that our families, our students and our staff are looking for. They are incredibly enthusiastic about this partnership and presenting opportunities for us to grow with them, particularly on the leadership side.”
The school district is on track for the Shaw academies in the 2025-26 academic year, thanks to a bill passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper that allows a new early college partner and the continuation of state funding under North Carolina’s Cooperative Innovative High Schools program.
For the upcoming school year, students will take early college courses at Wake Technical Community College while preparations continue for the 2025-26 year. The academies will follow the Wake Tech calendar for the 2024-25 school year, with students’ first day of class being Aug. 7.
How did the school district select Shaw University?
Administrators narrowed the list of contenders for the next partner down to N.C. State University and Shaw last month after meeting with administrators from the two schools, along with N.C. Wesleyan University, Wake Tech and William Peace University.
Seydric Williams, Northwestern Area Superintendent for the school system, said key contributors in the decision to select Shaw included courses offered on campus, leadership development opportunities, university amenities the students will have access to, academic support and proximity to the academy main campuses.
“It was an easier choice because we knew one option gave parents almost all of the things that they wanted,” Vice Chair Monika Johnson-Hostler said in a work session Tuesday.
Shaw provided audited financial statements for four fiscal years to the school board for review. Founded in 1865, Shaw is a private historically Black university in Raleigh. It touts its title as the South’s first historically Black institution of higher education.
Johnson-Hostler expressed excitement about selecting an HBCU to be the district’s university partner during Tuesday’s regular board meeting.
“It’s about the importance of that rich history being spread to all of our students,” she said.
In the work session Tuesday, Williams hinted that Shaw was on board with having Wake County staff teach on the university’s campus for early college courses — while N.C. State was not.
“One particular university said yes without a doubt,” he said. “The other one said only university courses.”
What are the next steps?
On Tuesday, the school board approved the 2024-25 calendar for the two academies in addition to selecting Shaw as the partner.
Next, staff will complete the paperwork to officially identify the university partner to the state Department of Public Instruction. They will then work with academy principals to plan for the 2025-26 school year.
In early October, Wake County staff will present an application to NCDPI that will outline the logistics and details of the partnership with Shaw.
