Cox speaks to legislative committee
Feb 13, 2026 Rockingham County Schools opened its second Cooperative Innovative High School (CIHS) this school year, the CTE Innovative High School, which aims to prepare students to enter the workforce directly after high school.CIHS’s are small public high schools that are typically located on a university or community college campus, and many are early colleges, which focus on students’ earning college credit and degrees while still in high school.
Rockingham County already has an early college. The motivation to open the CTE Innovative High School came from listening to employers, said Charles Perkins, assistant superintendent of K-12 curriculum and instruction, in a presentation at Wednesday’s meeting.
“We had gotten a lot of feedback, and some of it not so nice feedback, from our economic development that we were not producing students and graduates that were meeting the workforce development demands in our county,” Perkins said.
In response, the district partnered with economic development entities and Rockingham Community College. The new high school welcomed its inaugural class of 38 students this school year.
Students have opportunities to earn college credit and workforce credentials, and participate in job shadowing and internships, as well as pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships.
Employers are involved every step of the way, local leaders said, both in the new high school and in the district as a whole. Students are exposed to a variety of local businesses and careers through events and course offerings throughout elementary, middle, and high school.
The goal is for students to “graduate, not only with degrees, but graduate into a job with an employer that has been investing them since very early,” said Rockingham Community College President Sylvia Cox.
The school offers CTE Innovative High School students three pathways, which are aligned to local high-demand industries: advanced manufacturing, construction trades, and health care.
The school is accepting applications for the 2026-27 school year for 80 incoming first-year students and 15 sophomore transfers.
Cox said the high school has used grant funding from the Golden LEAF Foundation to share personnel between the community college and high school, purchase equipment, and create accelerated credential pathways.
“They’ve given us the the ability to do the deep dive to see if we’re aligning with exactly where we need them to be, because education is great, but students need jobs that make them feel meaningful and connected to their community,” Cox said.
By Liz Bell, EducationNC early childhood reporter
Note: This excerpt is from a longer article that can be seen at https://www.ednc.org/legislators-consider-industry-aligned-education-efforts-and-promising-tutoring-models/.
