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EdNC Archives - North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools

Aug 19
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RISE Charter School launches scratch cooking pilot

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Former Raleigh mayor Mary Ann Baldwin with RISE students. Photos courtesy of RISE Charter School.

A Raleigh charter school has given school lunch a powerful make-over. Just in time for the 2026-27 school year, RISE Charter School has launched an innovative scratch cooking pilot featuring abundant fresh, healthy food that is prepared onsite. The initiative is a collaboration between the RISE team, Food Paradigm, Overflowing Hands, Chef Dean Ogan of Rocky Top Catering, and others.

RISE formerly partnered with Wake County Public Schools for catered meals. Now students have the option to dine on scratch-cooked meals for breakfast and lunch daily.

Last week, former Raleigh mayor Mary Ann Baldwin visited RISE to see the school’s program in action.

School leaders said the program grew out of a desire to live up to RISE’s high standards in an area that is central to student learning.

Here’s an excerpt from EdNC’s May article previewing the program:

For RISE leaders, the pilot offers a chance to deliver on core commitments while meeting community need.

“Food is one of the most consistent parts of a child’s day, and we saw a gap between the level of excellence we expect in our classrooms and what we were offering in our meals,” [RISE’s executive director Dawn] Arthur said.

Kwan Graham, RISE’s board chair, said the pilot fulfills the school’s goal of “meeting the whole child.”

RISE students sometimes lack access to fresh fruit and vegetables, or even whole meals, she added. “If you are hungry, if you are unhealthy, you cannot learn,” she said.

Read EdNC’s May coverage of the pilot here.

 

Feb 03
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National School Choice Week 2026 Recap

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National School Choice Week (NSCW) 2026 ended on Saturday, Jan. 31. It was a busy week of celebrating school choice and public charter schools! We have a quick recap for you below.

Coalition content in the news:

Other news

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction announced its new “Find Your Fit, Build Your Future” initiative with a virtual press conference on Wednesday. It’s a “six-week public awareness initiative designed to help families discover the options available in North Carolina’s public schools.”

DPI’s press release and press conference highlighted the state’s magnet, early college, charter, CTE (career and technical education) programs, and more.

Read more about DPI’s initiative from Carolina Journal, EdNC, and WCTI.

View a press release about National School Choice Week from the U.S. Department of Education.

Graphic courtesy of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Dec 12
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Charter Review Board closes Monroe Charter, approves two applicants, denies two more

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The Charter Schools Review Board (CSRB) met on Monday and Tuesday for its December meeting. The CSRB took a number of actions, closing Monroe Charter Academy immediately for operating illegally; approving two charter applicants and denying two others; and interviewing schools in the 2026 charter renewal cohort. Here’s a recap below.

Monroe Charter Academy’s closure

The CSRB voted to terminate Monroe Charter Academy’s charter, effective immediately, citing reasons outlined in N.C. General Statute 115C-218.95. The school received CSRB approval last month to relocate from Union County to Mecklenburg County but had not secured a valid educational certificate of occupancy for its new facility. Monroe Charter began operating remotely before Thanksgiving and had exceeded the number of remote instruction days allowed by state statute.

Learn more in EdNC’s deep dive coverage of the CSRB meeting.

Charter applicants

The CSRB has finished interviews for charter applicants in the 2025 application cycle. Seventeen charter schools submitted applications in this cycle. Five withdrew and 12 moved forward with interviews, according to the Office of Charter Schools (OCS).

This month, the CSRB approved Somerset Preparatory Academy NC and Celeste Beauty Academy. Both schools will now enter the Ready to Open (RTO) process. The CSRB denied applications for Cape View Leadership Academy and Myrtis Simpson Walker Academy.

View the OCS presentation on charter applicants.

Renewal presentations

The CSRB continued to hear presentations this month for schools in the 2026 charter renewal cohort. Thirteen schools clearly meet statutory criteria for automatic 10-year renewals, while OCS is recommending two more for 10-year renewals. Those two schools came before the CSRB this month, as did seven other charter schools (in addition to Monroe Charter, outlined above).

See the OCS presentation on renewals.

Voting on renewals will take place in February and March, according to OCS.

Amendment

Finally, the CSRB also approved an enrollment reduction request from Centerpoint Classical Academy. The school is currently in the RTO process and plans to open in August 2026.

RTO (Ready to Open) changes

Ashley Logue, director of OCS, said this week that she would take another month to collect and compile feedback on potential changes to the RTO process. She plans to hold a public session in January to share more about the RTO process, and she will solicit feedback on ways to improve it.

The CSRB meets next on January 12-13, 2026.

Above photo: Shutterstock.

Nov 24
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EdNC highlights enrollment growth at Pine Springs Preparatory Academy

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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.

Read the full article from EdNC.
Sep 04
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Spotlight on instructional practice at Henderson Collegiate

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Taro Shigenobu, the high school principal at Henderson Collegiate, with Carice Sanchez. Photo credit: Mebane Rash/EdNC.

Mebane Rash, CEO and editor-in-chief of EdNC, has written a new spotlight article on Henderson Collegiate, a K-12 public charter school operating in rural Henderson, NC. Every teacher, Rash explained, has an instructional coach, providing what she described as “in-real-time professional development.”

Founded by Eric and Carice Sanchez, Henderson Collegiate opened in 2010 and now serves more than 1,300 students.

The school’s innovative approach to student learning and teaching serves as “a blueprint for instructional practice, continuous improvement, and leadership in North Carolina and beyond,” Rash noted.

Results have been consistent–and impressive.

Here’s an excerpt from the EdNC article:

Since its founding, the school has exceeded growth goals every year and earned an A or B every year since the introduction of the state’s school grading system.

When U.S. News & World Report released its 2025-26 list of best high schools in North Carolina, Henderson Collegiate ranked #24 (top 3.5%).

According to the school, 86% of the students served are economically disadvantaged and 96% are students of color. Of the 154 people on staff, there is an 89% retention rate and 62% are people of color.

The achievement that is celebrated the most at this school? Each year in May, on senior signing day, students reveal their college of choice, celebrating 100% college acceptance. At the celebration, students and their loved ones pledge for the students to stay enrolled full-time at an accredited college, reach out for help when needed, and stay in touch with Henderson Collegiate.

At the celebration, the school welcomes back alumni who are recent college graduates to showcase “the full journey of our Pride.” The mission, says the school, “isn’t just to get students to college — but through college and into lives of impact.”

The article also highlights the work of founder and chief academic officer Carice Sanchez:

Early in 2025, education leaders from across the United States and countries including the United Kingdom, Chile, India, and Singapore visited North Carolina to observe, study, and evaluate the leadership of Carice Sanchez, including school culture, team culture, observations, data-driven instruction, and ongoing professional development.

The cohort of leaders who visited North Carolina is part of the Relay Graduate School of Education’s Leverage Leadership Institute (LLI) Fellowship, which according to the website, “is for high-performing principals and principal managers who serve in traditional school districts and charter management organizations from all over the world.”

LLI looks for leaders “who are in the top 10% of schools in their local district or state, and have led student outcomes to double-digit gains.”

Sanchez was named a “Platinum Leader in the Field.” Just eight of 200+ leaders have earned the distinction.

Read more from EdNC.

Congratulations to Henderson Collegiate on this well-deserved recognition!

Sep 02
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EdNC highlights innovation at four NC charter schools

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A student from Reaching All Minds Academy on a school bus from the educational bus fleet. Photo credit: EdNC/Reaching All Minds Academy.

EdNC has a new article out on charter innovation, highlighting four North Carolina charter schools: Reaching All Minds Academy, Union Day School, Northeast Academy for Aerospace & Advanced Technologies, and Thomas Academy.

We share an article excerpt below, along with a recent video from Reaching All Minds about the school’s educational bus fleet program.

At Reaching All Minds Academy, a STEM-focused Durham charter school, students grow and study plants in a decommissioned school bus, which has been converted into a mobile greenhouse. The school’s “educational bus fleet” now also includes a podcast studio and library bus, highlighted in a recent school video.

More buses are coming. An aquaponics lab, in which plants and vegetables are fed through wastewater from a fish tank, is under development, as is additional classroom space, according to Thomas McKoy, the school’s principal.

“Innovation: That’s what we’re here to do,” McKoy said.

His school’s ingenious ideas are attracting national attention. In 2025, Reaching All Minds Academy (RAMA) received a 2025 national impact award from the nonprofit organization Building Hope, specifically for educational innovation.

“You see it happening nationwide, you see it happening locally within our state,” McKoy said. “I would just push or challenge the other charters to add that into their mission, to continue to innovate for our students in North Carolina.”

Read the rest of the EdNC article.

Watch the video from RAMA about the school’s educational bus fleet:

Two schools highlighted in the article (RAMA and NEAAAT) are Coalition member schools, while two are not.

Jul 30
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EdNC: Deep dive on charter enrollment and trends

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Pine Springs Preparatory Academy in Holly Springs, North Carolina. Photo courtesy of Bruce Friend/EdNC.

EdNC has published a new deep dive on charter enrollment and trends. The article addresses where charter enrollment growth is occurring in North Carolina right now–and it also shares how the state stacks up nationally for schools and students.

We include an article excerpt below.

As a new school year dawns, North Carolina’s charter sector is poised for robust, continued enrollment growth. Yet experts point to increasingly high hurdles for new charter schools, with facility acquisition and increased competition for students topping the list. Established, rather than new, charter schools are the primary drivers of enrollment growth now, as obstacles to opening and other K-12 changes reshape the sector.

“The challenges of getting open are vast,” said Ashley Baquero, the executive director at the state’s Office of Charter Schools (OCS). She is seeing more delays from schools in the charter pipeline, as they struggle to find and finance facilities and hit enrollment targets.

Meanwhile, established charter schools with facilities, funding, and reputational capital continue to expand.

“The data has shown that the schools that have been around a little bit longer tend to be the ones that are growing — where a lot of the new enrollments are coming in,” said Bruce Friend, chair of the state’s Charter Schools Review Board (CSRB).

During the 2024-25 school year, state charter enrollment increased to 153,480 students, according to the new annual charter schools report from OCS. This figure represents a 6.1% annual enrollment uptick and an overall increase of 8,845 students since 2023-24.

Charter demand continues to outpace supply: 77% of state charter schools reported waitlists last year, totaling 74,287 students.

Somewhat paradoxically, however, the number of charter schools in 2024-25 declined for the first time in 14 years, dropping to 208 schools from 211 the year before. This is the first school downturn since state lawmakers removed the cap on charter school growth in 2011.

Only two new charter schools opened last year: ALA Monroe and Riverside Leadership Academy. Together, they accounted for 6.5% of the total annual enrollment increase, based on final Average Daily Membership (ADM) figures.

See the rest of the article from EdNC.

Read more

Jun 05
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EdNC: New market share analysis for K-12 education

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EdNC has a new article out this week from UNC researchers examining trends in K-12 market share over the past decade. We found it to be pretty interesting, and we think you will, too. It reaffirms a refrain we have heard before: Parents are increasingly seeking out options for their children outside traditional district public schools.

In fact, charter schools’ share of the K-12 market grew by 4% between 2015 and 2024, researchers found.

There are several reasons for the overall shift in market share, according to researchers (Joanne Brosh of UNC’s School of Education and Lisa Carlson of Carolina Demography). In addition to demographic changes, state policies and “external factors” are also reshaping the contours of the K-12 education market, the researchers note.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

In North Carolina, market share for district public schools (and the alternative educational options) exhibits substantial year to year variation. For example, district public school market share fell sharply from 84% in 2015 to 79% in 2016, only to rebound to 82% in 2017.

… The overall trend, however, is clear: In 2015, 84% of school-age students in North Carolina were served by district public schools while in 2024, districts served 76% — an 8-point decrease in 10 years. Despite fluctuation, there is a consistent overall decrease in enrollment in North Carolina district public schools relative to alternative educational options.

… Between 2015 and 2024, market share grew by 4% for charter schools, 1% for private schools, and 3% for homeschools (Figure 2). While these alternative school options experienced year-to-year fluctuations, they also reflect a broader upward trend.

Read the full article from EdNC.

Here are two graphics from the article.

The first (Figure 1) shows the percentage of the state’s K-12 population enrolled in district public schools between 2015 and 2024.

Declining K-12 market share in district public schools between 2015 and 2024. Source: Joanne Brosh and Lisa Carlson, “Trends in school market share in North Carolina,” EdNC, June 2, 2025.

The second graphic (Figure 2) captures trend lines in market share in other school sectors between 2015 and 2024. The charter trend line is in blue, private school is in orange, and homeschool is in gray.

K-12 market share in alternative school models. Source: Brosh and Carlson, EdNC.

Above: Shutterstock photo.

May 12
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Sallie B. Howard School’s innovative study abroad program

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Pinegrove School in India. Photo courtesy of Sallie B. Howard School/EdNC.

As part of its National Charter Schools Week coverage, EdNC has published a new article highlighting Sallie B. Howard School‘s innovative, semester-long study abroad program.

Kristen Blair, the Coalition’s communications director, wrote the article following interviews with students and school leaders.

Here’s an excerpt below:

Just two years ago, Sallie B. Howard School of Arts & Science (SBHS), a charter school in Wilson, launched a pioneering study abroad program at India’s Pinegrove School. The semester-long experience, occurring amid the verdant Himalayan foothills of Himachal Pradesh in North India, has proved transformative for participating students.

High school juniors Blanca Orozco-Perez and Angela Sangabriel lived and studied at Pinegrove last fall, two of four SBHS students selected to go. Both returned to the U.S. having experienced seismic shifts in their self-perceptions, worldview, and habits.

Prior to studying abroad, Orozco-Perez was reticent and unsure of herself. “I wouldn’t talk to a lot of people,” she said. “I was very timid. I was very shy. I couldn’t express myself right.”

But study abroad in the East, with its immense cultural difference, stretched and emboldened her. Along the way, something remarkable happened: Her view of herself and her engagement with the world changed.

“I learned overall that you can’t hide yourself in a box and expect everything to come to you,” said Orozco-Perez. As she navigated new relationships, customs, and food, she became more expansive and expressive. Upon her return to Wilson, her mother remarked, “You talk a lot more!”

For Sangabriel, travel itself was a novelty. “I had never been outside of the country until then, so it was my first time on a plane,” she said.

A folk musician, Sangabriel was transfixed by the deeply evocative quality of Indian music. “I had my eyes on the beautiful way that Indian classical music expresses itself,” she said. “That was one of my … driving factors the second I heard about it.”

In her study abroad application, Sangabriel promised to learn at least two songs in Hindi. She did that and more, performing and singing solo before a crowd of over 1,000 people at Pinegrove. Musical immersion abroad helped her bridge language and culture.

“Music is really a universal language,” she said. “You don’t have to understand what someone is saying to be able to understand their emotions.”

Read the full article on EdNC.

Jan 02
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EdNC features the innovative work of Central Wake High School

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Asa Fleming, Dr. Robert Taylor, and Tom Hanley. Kristen Blair/EdNC.

EdNC has published a new feature story highlighting the innovative work of Central Wake High School in Raleigh. The alternative high school, which operates as a public charter school, focuses on dropout prevention and recovery. Central Wake partners with the school management company Accelerated Learning Solutions (now known as Second Mile Education).

The Coalition’s communications director, Kristen Blair, wrote the story following a school tour with Dr. Robert Taylor, the superintendent of Wake County Public Schools. During his visit, Taylor met with school leaders (school founder and board president Asa Fleming and executive principal Tom Hanley) along with two Central Wake students.

Here’s an excerpt below from the article:

When Tzara Albiter Acosta, 18, first arrived at Central Wake High School in Raleigh, her self-confidence was at a low ebb. “I thought, ‘This is just going to be another school,’” she said of the public charter school, which specializes in dropout prevention and recovery.

She, like other students at Central Wake, had tried a number of different educational experiences.

Middle school was fraught academically. “I failed so many classes,” said Albiter Acosta, who has Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Resignation had set in. “This is going to be the same thing,” she said.

Still, a realization had emerged about her earlier school experiences. “I wasn’t getting the things I needed,” she said.

Devon Wells, a 17-year-old Central Wake student who also has ADHD, had trouble completing assignments in different school settings. “The resources weren’t really there,” Wells said.

“They’ve tried everything,” said Tom Hanley, Central Wake’s executive principal, of the at-risk students who enroll at his school. Students’ lack of success across multiple school settings “feels like something,” he added. “That goes to their sense of pride and their sense of self-worth.”

At Central Wake, students receive wraparound supports and self-paced learning. Three descriptive pillars — flexible, personalized, supportive — buttress the school’s model. Everything coalesces in pursuit of this singular objective: high school graduation.

“The main goal is to get across the stage,” said Hanley.

Now the school’s approach is attracting attention from other education leaders.

Read the full article on EdNC.

Central Wake High School is a Coalition member school.