Tag

Reaching All Minds Academy Archives - North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools

Coalition Highlights Charters’ Academic Growth

By News

The Coalition last week distributed a press release highlighting the top-10 charter schools for academic growth in 2024-25. The list was featured in a presentation to the Charter Schools Review Board (CSRB) by the Office of Charter Schools (OCS) earlier this month.

Notably, as the release emphasized, nearly all of the top-10 charter schools for student growth also serve high proportions of economically disadvantaged, non-white students, and they’re doing an amazing job.

As a case in point, the release included information about Reaching All Minds Academy–the No. 3 ranked charter school for academic growth–and that school’s exemplary work with its students.

The release included quotes from CSRB Chair Bruce Friend as well as Coalition Executive Director Dave Machado.

“If you’re a parent or a politician or a taxpayer, this is a big reason you back public charter schools,” said Friend.

“Of course there’s no guarantee students will grow – it’s a challenge for any school,” said Machado. “The charter schools that do record high student growth are clearly doing something right, and they’re often doing it under challenging circumstances. We should look to their example.”

Finally, the release cited two schools, Triangle Math and Science Academy and The Math and Science Academy of Apex, that ranked in the top-10 charter schools for growth and performance – “a remarkable achievement.”

Read the Coalition press release. Congratulations to these charter schools for their impressive academic growth!

Above: Shutterstock photo.

EdNC highlights innovation at four NC charter schools

By News

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.

Three Coalition member schools win 2025 Impact Awards from Building Hope

By News

We’re so pleased to share the news that three Coalition member schools have won 2025 Impact Awards from Building Hope! A nonprofit organization, Building Hope works with charter schools to provide facilities, financing, and operational services.

This year’s awardees include 12 charter schools in nine states–with four of the schools hailing from North Carolina. Three 2025 awardees are Coalition member schools: Northeast Academy for Aerospace and Advanced Technologies, Reaching All Minds Academy, and Sallie B. Howard School.

The awards, which include a total of $160,000 in grants, according to Building Hope, will be conferred at the organization’s Impact Summit taking place in Miami, Florida, on May 6-7, 2025.

According to Building Hope, here are the 2025 awardees:

Joseph Bruno Charter Leadership Award

Community Engagement Award 

Educational Innovation Award 

Student Empowerment Award

Building Hope’s 2025 Impact Award winners. Map graphic courtesy of Building Hope.

As Building Hope’s release noted:

“These inspiring educational models with passionate, dedicated leaders are beacons of hope for the future of education,” said Chief Impact Officer and Chair of the IMPACT Selection Committee Sherilyn Moore. “We are honored to shine a light on their amazing work to uplift students, families, and communities.”

Congratulations to these amazing schools! This is such an impressive showing from North Carolina’s charter school sector–and from our Coalition member schools. 

Read more about this year’s awards from Building Hope.