A bright future awaits students at Sallie B. Howard School

The K-12 charter school, named after actress and Wilson native Sallie Baldwin Howard, offers a performing-arts-based curriculum to culturally diverse and economically disadvantaged students. The heart of the nine-acre campus is an old textile mill, in which the school offers spacious classrooms, a large auditorium, cafeteria, gym, art studios, and computer labs.

“Our mission is to reach every student and provide the best education, and technology plays an important role in that,” says Sandeep Aggarwal, assistant director of Sallie B. Howard School. “A Juniper network provides a foundation for learning and collaboration.”

“When I select technology for Sallie B. Howard, I want to reflect the best technology,” says Granville Rouse, president of Surazal Systems, which provides IT strategy and managed services to the school. 

“We are proud to have been chosen as a National Blue Ribbon School in 2021 by the US Department of Education, which recognizes outstanding schools,” says Aggarwal. “Our success in closing the achievement gap is due to our curriculum, intentional use of technology, and the culture we’ve created that goes beyond developing students’ reading and math skills and encourages students to discover their talents.”

Technology is woven into the fabric of instruction at Sallie B. Howard. Students have their own Chromebooks or notebooks, and every classroom has a smartboard. High school students can also participate in a study abroad program and explore career pathways in performing arts and biotech.

“We come from a rural community, but our intention is to provide the best we can to our children without them having to leave North Carolina,” says Aggarwal. “With technology, we can make the world real and palpable to them.”