READY TO SERVE AND LEAD

Former DPS leader returns to district as deputy superintendent on a mission

r. Nicholas King is mission-driven as Durham Public School’s new deputy superintendent. On Oct. 13, he returned to Durham Public Schools to serve as the chief academic advisor for the district. In this role, he is ultimately responsible for the work being done to ensure student success. He had previously served as a teacher at Durham High (now Durham School of the Arts) and Riverside High schools, and was the first principal to open the Josephine D. Clement Early College. He has also served as principal at Glenn Elementary School.

King says his mission is to bring back the energy he was gifted as a young student who had potential but lacked motivation.

“I’m trying to be the person that I needed when I was a kid. I would have been quite satisfied to go along to get along. But there were educators who saw something in me and basically told me I wasn’t doing what I could do and held me to a higher expectation. They pushed me along and supported me and gave me the notion that I was worthy,” says King.

As a result, he matriculated to college with the express intention of becoming an educator.

“I wanted to be in a place where I could really help kids,” he says.

The universe responded accordingly.

King was part of the second cohort of North Carolina

Teaching Fellows, and began his career in CharlotteMecklenburg Schools at Independence High School, but transitioned to Durham High School during the winter break. He taught social studies there for two years and then at Riverside High for a year. His first principalship was in a Title I school where up to 95 percent of students qualified for free and reduced lunch.

“It creates real challenges for a school because while those students certainly come to school as capable as anyone else, they also come to schools with significant challenges and significant needs that have to be met. That’s an enormous challenge for principals,” says King.

When he served as principal at Glenn, King says he and his teachers and staff built a program of support for their students and set high expectations for students and professionals. The achievement gains over four years, he says, were incredible. The students benefited academically, socially, and emotionally with an appropriate amount of support and engagement from the community.

A self-professed “worker bee,” he says he was energized as an educator with DPS. He remembered Durham and its city-county school systems when he started college at North Carolina Central University. When he returned as a teacher, the 1992 merger had just taken place.

Now, 30 years later, the district is undergoing a student reassignment initiative that will serve all students by increasing and promoting access, equity, and diversity among the academic programs.

“I’m heartened by the fact that Dr. Mubenga and the school board have really had the courage to step out into this challenge. It presents us with an opportunity to really move this school district forward, to create space for more and more of our kids to have high-quality educational experiences. The lift that it requires to meet the needs is an incredible undertaking. I’m awful excited to see how this plays out,” says King.

But make no mistake, he says. He won’t be surprised by the positive outcome.

“The students in Durham are as capable as students any place on the planet. It’s already being played out,” says the new deputy superintendent. “We’re going to place the focus squarely on what we need to do to help kids achieve, and we’re going to put the accelerator all the way to the floor. There’s no question in my mind that we can do this.”

King says that this is his third time back in the Bull City. He says this is where he’s supposed to be because he believes in the district’s ability to serve students well.

“There are few places like Durham on the planet. It is the most vibrant, alive community that I’ve ever been a part of.”

King knows very well that the school system plays a major role in the vibrancy of a community so he’s up to the challenge of demonstrating that Durham Public Schools is truly a destination for parents seeking to enroll their children in a quality education system.

“The better I do my job, which is to increase student achievement, the more likely people will want to be a part of our school system. Nothing will make people take a good, thorough look at us than improving the quality of instruction and learning in our schools. People have lots of choices as to where and how they will educate their children. They will avail themselves. I appreciate that. My job is to make sure that parents make Durham their choice because they know we’ll educate their child,” says King. “There are so many incredible, unparalleled and unmatched educational opportunities and learning programs in Durham. We’re the game in town that they want to be a part of.”