WakeEd Partnership

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.”

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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.

In 1982, Wake began the program — which still exists today — of a network of magnet schools with unique academic offerings to attract families to campuses that might otherwise be empty or almost exclusively minority. There are now over 50 magnet schools offering more than 30 different themes, such as world language, technology, arts and engineering.

“The merger created the system, the magnets made it work,” said Keith Poston, president of the WakeEd Partnership, in an interview with The News & Observer. “It created a unified county — not a unified school system but a county — that was committed to strong public schools.”

The WakeEd Partnership was formed by the business community in 1983 to help support the school district, including the newly formed magnet schools.

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Wake has magnet schools not seen in smaller systems. But is the district too big? Wake says its size allows it to pool resources to offer a network of more than 50 magnet schools across the county.

We’re growing at WakeEd Partnership — and we need your help spreading the word!

We’ve posted three new opportunities for people who want to make a difference for Wake County Public Schools students and educators:

📘 Programs Manager (Part-Time) – Help lead key WakeEd programs including Partners Read and the Pittard Scholarship Program.

💙 Fund Development Intern (Paid) – A great opportunity for a college student interested in nonprofit fundraising, communications, and community impact.

📦 Tools4Schools Volunteer Operations Lead – A new leadership volunteer role helping support our free teacher resource program serving Wake County teachers.

Know someone who would be a great fit? Please tag them, share this post, or send them our way.

View all openings and application details here: https://wakeed.org/jobs-and-internships/

Strong public schools. Stronger Wake County.

Proud to see WakeEd Partnership’s Tools4Schools highlighted in Biogens new Corporate Responsibility Report. We’re grateful for Biogen’s partnership and their employees’ hands-on support helping assemble supply kits for Wake County Public School System teachers. Strong partnerships like this make a real difference for educators and students across our community. 👏🍎
Check out their full; report here (we're on page 31!): https://www.biogen.com/responsibility/reporting-and-principles/esg-report.html

2025 Corporate Responsibility Report | Biogen In our Corporate Responsibility Report, gain insights into our sustainable practices, community engagement and corporate governance strategies. Discover our efforts towards access and health equity, social responsibility and ethical governance, as we strive for long-term value creation and positive....

Some of the most important school-year stats aren’t test scores.

They’re the ones that tell the story of confidence, consistency, literacy growth, and relationships.

Our Partners Read program supports four key components of the Science of Reading:
✔ Fluency
✔ Vocabulary
✔ Comprehension
✔ Language Development

And it does it with something equally powerful: community volunteers who show up in Wake County Public School System schools each week.



Want to learn more? https://wakeed.org/partnersread/

WCPSS community, meet Matin Maani of Apex Friendship Middle, your 2026 WCPSS Teacher of the Year! 🌷🌼💐

Mr. Maani is approaching the end of his fourth year teaching, with all four years spent teaching 7th grade social studies at Apex Friendship Middle. In addition to his classroom, Maani serves as co-chair of the Apex Friendship Middle Equity Committee, allowing him to facilitate professional development that provides Apex Friendship Middle staff with practical language and questions to uphold justice, love, and compassion when navigating challenging classroom discourse.

Maani received the honor during our 2025-26 Teacher of the Year Banquet, themed “Where Excellence Blooms,” tonight at the Raleigh Convention Center.

🔗 Learn more about Mr. Maani: https://bit.ly/4tMIqQY

🎉 Congratulations to Matin Maani of Apex Friendship Middle School, named the 2025–26 Wake County Public School System Teacher of the Year! 🍎✨

As a social studies teacher, Matin helps students make sense of the world around them while inspiring curiosity, critical thinking, and civic engagement.

Tonight we celebrate Matin—and all the outstanding educators across Wake County who show up every day to help students learn, grow, and thrive. Well deserved! 💙

It’s a special night as the Wake County Public School System prepares to announce the 2025-2026 Teacher of the Year! 🎉

DOUBLE your impact for Wake County classrooms! ✏️📚

Thanks to the 4 Others Foundation, every donation to will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $20,000 — and we’re working to meet the match by June 30.

That means your:
• $50 gift becomes $100
• $100 gift becomes $200
• $500 gift becomes $1,000

Your gift helps purchase essential school supplies so Wake County Public School System students and teachers start next school year prepared for success.

Donate and share this post to help local classrooms thrive: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/tools4schools/