With the National Education Association declaring union status in the late 1960s and the American Association of School Administrators spinning off to a separate organization, superintendents, principals and other central office administrators in North Carolina realized a new administrators’ organization could better represent their interests. Twenty-nine (29) of the state’s most influential central office administrators (mostly local superintendents) attended an all-day meeting in Moore County on January 30, 1976, to explore launching this new entity.

The North Carolina Association of School Administrators (NCASA) emerged from this group’s ongoing work on June 22, 1976, with membership open to all administrative and supervisory personnel at the school, school system and state levels, as well as to university professors of education administration.

NCASA was reshaped, effective July 1, 2005, as a true umbrella organization uniting 12 affiliates representing different facets of school administration. As part of this unification, the North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principals’ Association (NCPAPA) became NCASA’s affiliate for school-based administrators and replaced the organization’s former Principals’ and Assistant Principals’ Section. A new affiliate, the North Carolina School Superintendents’ Association (NCSSA), also was launched at the same time.

Today, NCSSA and NCPAPA remain as core affiliates funded through the NCASA budget and focusing on professional development and other needs of superintendents and principals in their work. Ten other groups of administrators unite with these core affiliates to guide the work of NCASA, whose mission is ensuring student success through visionary leadership.

A small and dedicated NCASA staff now provides more than 7,000 members support services through timely communications, effective and non-partisan advocacy, and high-quality professional development all aimed at helping NC school administrators.

LEAD | INSPIRE | ACHIEVE