A partnership between River City Community Development Corporation and the Rural School and Community Trust has been established for the express purpose of building the capacity of community development agencies while holding “study circles” to conduct a community-wide dialogue on education and the challenges to student achievement. The organizations involved in this effort are looking for citizens, businesses, community and faith-based organizations with an interest in public education in the Elizabeth City/Pasquotank & Perquimans County Schools.

The Elizabeth City-Pasquotank and Perquimans area are two communities involved in a program funded by the Rural Trust and the Kellogg Foundation aimed at helping to strengthen school-community connections across North Carolina. Based upon the belief that communities and schools can work together to solve educational challenges and ensure that every student succeeds, the study circle process engages the whole community in all its variety, bringing people together for public discussion and combining their ideas and resources to create and implement solutions.

A study circle is a group of 8 to 10 people from different backgrounds and viewpoints who meet several times to talk about an issue. The River City CDC has organized more than twelve study circles in both Pasquotank and Perquimans County.  Trained facilitators help the group focus on different views, ensure the discussion goes well, and take notes. The process will culminate with a community-wide education action forum that includes reports from each of the study circles.

An expected outcome of the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank and Perquimans area study circle process and community-wide forum is to create a vision of what education can look like when the community and school work together for student achievement.

“Perhaps the greatest ray of hope is the realization that schools alone can’t overcome the factors that put children at risk, and that there is a critical role for communities to play,” said Doris Terry Williams, Director of the Capacity Building Program of the Rural Trust. “The Study Circles approach is a powerful way for communities to begin exploring educational issues and the community’s roles, responsibilities, and opportunities to address and respond to the many challenges of ensuring that all students achieve.”  Other agencies participating are UHURU Community Development Corporation, Warren County Training School Alumni Association and RHEMA Ministries. 

For more information on participating in the study circles, either as a facilitator or circle member contact, River City Community Development Corporation at (252) 331-2925.