Hampton City Schools

7 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 12 HAMPTON CI T Y SCHOOLS in an area. We make certain that we eliminate all barriers to ensure young people have access to what they are desiring to pursue.” A Ford NGL Learning Community As a Ford Next Generation Learning (NGL) community, Hampton City Schools has been revolutionizing teaching and learning at the high school level, through their unique academic approach. “Our first inaugural class graduated from that model in 2021, and it has just continued to grow,” reports Goral. “We have been designated first in the nation as a K-12 NGL community. That’s not pushing the academies down to that middle or elementary school level. But it’s looking at third through eighth grade signature events, touch points, throughout our curriculum. We’ve rewritten over 200 curriculum, hiring our teachers to do that. We are putting those experiences in there so that students are more aware of their self, their community, and what is past elementary school or past middle school or what a high school will look like, because we do not have that traditional brick and mortar high school.” A Holistic Model Along with the intentional approach to curriculum and academics, the school system places emphasis on social-emotional learning to support the overall well-being of students and staff. This includes a deliberate focus on the whole child, providing resources and support for emotional well-being. Dr. Haynes suggests, “When we’re talking about the excellent things that are occurring in the school system, we know it’s not done by accident, we have been deliberate in our work. When we’re talking about young people getting what they need academically, we also want to look at the whole child and provide things in the curriculum around social emotional learning, and also provide resources and support to staff members as well.” Caggiano conveys that the value placed on innovation in the district is another reason for the ongoing success. He shares, “We’ve been a leader in a number of areas, to include technology integration, and transforming teaching and