WakeEd Partnership

A heartfelt thank you to the Cary Newcomers Club for their generous support of Tools4Schools! Through a $5,000 contribution and donations of much-needed school supplies, their members are helping stock our free teacher supply store and ensuring Wake County Public School System educators have the resources they need for their students and classrooms.

Partnerships like this make a real difference, helping teachers spend less out of their own pockets and focus more on what matters most—teaching and learning. Thank you, Cary Newcomers Club, for investing in our schools and community!

🎉 Congratulations to our 2026 Coach Bob Pittard Scholars!

WakeEd Partnership has awarded $350,000 in scholarships this year to 28 outstanding student-athletes from Apex High School and Green Hope High School n the Wake County Public School System.

This year's awards are especially meaningful as we launch our new four-year scholarship commitment, providing eligible recipients with support throughout their college careers.

We are proud to welcome four new Pittard Scholars:
🎓 Sarah George
🎓 Brianna Stewart
🎓 Malak Makhlof
🎓 Stuart Piqueras

Since 2018, the Pittard Scholarship Fund has awarded $1.67 million to help students pursue their dreams through higher education.

Congratulations to all of our scholars and their families!

Full press release here: https://wakeed.org/2026/06/03/wake-ed-partnership-awards-350000-in-scholarships-in-first-year-of-expanded-pittard-four-year-commitment/

One of the nation’s largest school systems was born nearly 50 years ago in an act that continues to shape the future of Raleigh and the Triangle. On July 1, 1976, Raleigh City Schools and the former Wake County school system faded into the history books. What replaced them is the unified Wake County Public School System that 50 years later is the biggest school system in North Carolina and the 14th largest nationally.

"To be able to integrate the school system — and to do so without tearing the community apart — took a lot of leadership, took a lot of vision,” said Keith Poston, president of the WakeEd Partnership, a business-backed school advocacy group, in an interview. “Wake County has grown and Wake County Schools have grown, and I don’t think those are separate.”

Read more at:

Wake and Raleigh schools merged 50 years ago. How the region still feels the impact The 1976 merger created what is now North Carolina’s largest school system and one of the biggest districts in the nation.