Pine Springs Preparatory Academy’s elementary school campus in Holly Springs. Courtesy of EdNC.
EdNC recently published a feature article highlighting tremendous enrollment growth at Pine Springs Preparatory Academy (PSPA).
We share an article excerpt and link below.
Positioned strategically within Holly Springs’ booming biotechnology corridor, Pine Springs Preparatory Academy (PSPA) has experienced exponential enrollment growth since its launch in 2017. That year, the public charter school opened its doors to 509 students, said Bruce Friend, PSPA’s superintendent and chair of the state’s Charter Schools Review Board (CSRB).
During the current 2025-26 school year, however, PSPA is serving 5,568 students, a nearly 994% enrollment increase since the school’s inception. Final data from last year indicated PSPA enrolled 3,386 students — so 2,200 new students have enrolled this year alone.
How is such rapid growth possible at one school? PSPA offers families three distinct instructional formats: a traditional, in-person learning environment at two Holly Springs campuses; a blended model providing both virtual and in-person instruction; and a fully virtual statewide option leveraging a partnership with the online education provider K12. Each model is separate, but all three operate under the same charter.
“We’ve taken full advantage of current policies and statutes to allow us to serve as many families as possible,” said Gregg Sinders, PSPA’s board treasurer.
