For Her, ‘It’s Not Just the Academics’

Profile: NORIS F. PRICE

As an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, Noris Price knows firsthand about the obstacles many students face. Her family settled in New York City when she was 10; her first language was Spanish.

“Learning a new culture, having limited resources … created a lot of challenges for me and my family,” says Price, superintendent of Baldwin County School District in Milledgeville, Ga., and a finalist for the 2022 National Superintendent of the Year Award.

Just as her mother, with a 6th-grade education, instilled the importance of education in her and her four siblings, Price’s top goal in leading a school system is ensuring success that provides postgraduation options, whether college or career. Eight years into her superintendency, she has pushed Baldwin County’s graduation rate upward by 20 percentage points to 90 percent pre-pandemic.

The district offers an array of options that include a Montessori school, early college learning at Georgia College & State University and a college/career academy. For dropouts, an evening school enables progress toward a regular high school diploma.

Joseph Peters, dean of education at Georgia College, says Price “does everything she can” to ensure every student succeeds. “And it’s not just the academics.”

Price sees the mission as caring for the whole student by removing any barriers, academic and nonacademic. Under her watch, the district has added a school-based health clinic, online academy and a laundry center for parents and expanded mental health counseling.

While pushing her schools forward, the superintendent draws on the support she felt as a youngster. Price recalls a high school counselor helping her plan college visits and complete financial aid applications, enabling her to be the first in her family to graduate from high school and college.

Janet Cavin, executive director of Communities In Schools, says Price’s life experiences make her expectations seem within reach for students because they realize she overcame stacked odds to achieve a great deal.

“When she describes her own experiences, and she’s open about it, it allows other people to capture a glimpse of what could happen for them,” Cavin adds. “That vulnerability that she has to [open up] has made … people warm up to her.”

The school district already had supportive programs in place pre-pandemic that became even more useful during the past two years. “You don’t know how valuable a resource you have (is) until you really need it,” Price says.

This was true of the in-school health clinic, where students and staff can access COVID-19 tests, basic health-care support, vaccines, telemedicine appointments (that include specialists) and prescriptions. The online academy had operated for a small group of students, and the district already established a 1:1 tech initiative. All of these contributed significantly to the shift to remote learning (for which 60 percent of families opted).

Baldwin County board member Wes Cummings says Price is always “very clear with her vision,” expressing herself well and making each stakeholder feel part of the process. This created trust among parents, community and schools during the pandemic, he says.

“You just have so much confidence in being in that battle with her,” Cummings adds.

Whether it’s high expectations or providing a support system, Price seeks the best for each of the close to 5,000 students in her district. Her career began in 1981 teaching at a diocesan elementary school in New York City.

“After all these years I’m still passionate, I’m still motivated, I’m still committed, and I still want to make a difference,” she says. “And the students inspire me each and every day.”