Additional $4.3M grant expands principal preparation program
East Carolina University’s College of Education has received a $4.3 million grant to expand the PIRATE Leadership Academy (PLA).
The academy, established last year with a $3.7 million grant, prepares principals to lead schools across eastern North Carolina. The additional funding will increase the total grant amount to $8 million and allow ECU to prepare 100 principal fellows through June 2028.
ECU was one of six UNC System schools to receive grants from the North Carolina Principal Fellows Program.
“This new award builds on the PLA’s regional partnership with superintendents and administrators across 30 school districts in eastern North Carolina to recruit and identify ‘proven and experienced’ instructional leaders and teacher leaders who have a desire to lead and serve their communities as school principals,” said Dr. Hal Holloman, Department of Educational Leadership professor and leader of the program.
Each year, 20 principal fellows will be admitted into either the northeast or southeast cohort. The PLA partners with 30 school districts in eastern North Carolina, including 17 in the Northeast Regional Education Service Alliance (NERESA) and 13 in the Southeast Education Alliance (SEA).
“These 30 districts have a great need for a sustained principal preparation pipeline of highly effective and transformational school leaders,” Holloman said. “The program will utilize forecasting by partner school districts of their anticipated school administrator needs through 2030 to aid in determining which districts need principal fellows and in which years.”
Each fellow will receive funding equivalent to their salary for both years in the program as well as their tuition, fees and textbooks.
The PLA has a three-pronged focus on rural leadership, instructional leadership, and restorative and vitality leadership. The goal is to train and revitalize future principals who will understand the realities of teacher burnout and will promote restorative and vitalizing practices for themselves and others. These principals will be effective advocates for the success of all students, families and teachers.
“We are very proud of the work Dr. Hal Holloman and Dr. Karen Jones have completed in their first year of the Pirate Leadership Academy. It is very exciting that these two professors, along with Dr. Travis Lewis, secured an additional $4.3 million grant to expand the program,” said Dr. Marjorie Ringler, educational leadership department chair. “The leadership preparation is tailored to address the unique leadership opportunities that present themselves in rural districts. Principal fellows will be equipped to address social, emotional, poverty and equity aspects of educational leadership.”
To learn more about the program, contact Dr. Hal Holloman at hollomanh@ecu.edu.
The PIRATE Leadership Academy at East Carolina University will partner with 30 school districts across eastern North Carolina to prepare 100 principal fellows by June 2028. (Graphic by Kristen Martin)