Rural Communities Leading the Future of Career-Connected Learning

We’re excited to announce the 2026 cohort of the Rural Career-Connected Collaborative—a 15-month program that launched in January 2026 to support a national cohort of rural school communities as they lead the way in innovating towards the next chapter of their career-connected learning models in ways that reflect their community’s strengths, aspirations and future trends.

Community-based, by design

This Collaborative is grounded in community-based design. Students, families, educators, local employers, and community partners work together to create innovations in career-connected learning that reflect their rich places, the dreams of their young people as well as the demands of an evolving world—no one-size-fits-all blueprint.

In addition to the community design journey, Superintendents will serve as the “chief architect” of this work and participate in a six-month Superintendent Fellowship designed to build enabling conditions and align policy, people, and resources for lasting impact.

Meet the communities:

• Bunker Hill Community Unit 8 School District (Illinois)
• Edgecombe County Public Schools (North Carolina) 
• Floyd County Schools (Virginia)
• Lyndonville Central School District (New York)
• Montgomery County Schools (North Carolina)
• Northeast Academy for Aerospace & Advanced Technologies (North Carolina)
• Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union (Vermont)
• Sampson County Schools (North Carolina)
• Turner County School District (Georgia)

Stay connected

Applications for the 2026 cohort are now closed, but you can join our email list to hear about future opportunities—or reach out to explore other ways to partner with Transcend.