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NC charter school Archives - North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools

Nov 24
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EdNC highlights enrollment growth at Pine Springs Preparatory Academy

By News

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.
Mar 28
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Pine Lake Prep Student Wins Spectrum Scholar Award

By Awards, News

Ella Wilkinson, a senior at Pine Lake Prep, is a new recipient of the Spectrum High School Scholar Award. Ella plans to use the $1,000 award for college next year at Virginia Tech. A triple threat in sports (basketball, softball, and lacrosse), Ella hopes to study industrial design in college. Congratulations, Ella!

Spectrum describes Scholar Award eligibility this way:

Nominees must be high school seniors at public or private high schools in North Carolina. They must be involved in varsity athletics or have an excellent academic record, and be involved in extracurricular activities, such as band, newspaper, or yearbook, and be active in their local community, either through their school or volunteering on their own time.

Senator Vickie Sawyer presents PLP student Ella Wilkinson with the Spectrum High School Scholar Award. Photo/video credit: Spectrum News.

Here’s what Ella told Spectrum News, which featured her in a recent news story, about her future aspirations and plans:

I think every job needs to have a purpose, and so my purpose is helping others while incorporating other parts like the environment and just making sure that people are being able to get the products that they need … My friends would probably say I’m creative and definitely driven. I care a lot about what I do and like to do it well.

… When I leave Pine Lake, I hope that I can inspire others to kind of be able to do it… all sports, social life and getting good grades and focusing on school because that’s really important to me, and that’s what I have used to help me want to follow my dreams and creating my own sustainable products.

Pine Lake Prep is a public charter school (and Coalition member school) located in Mooresville, North Carolina. The school serves students in grades K-12, and is headed by Andrew Moceri, a member of the Coalition’s Board of Directors.