The original CCS Charter granted to us by the State of North Carolina allowed us to house grades K-5. A CCS committee was formed to explore the feasibility of expanding beyond grade 5. After much research, road trips, and soul searching, this committee submitted a proposal and application to the NC Charter School Board asking for our charter to be expanded through grade 12. The Board voted and unanimously supported our proposal.

Is this final and official?

Yes! On February 3, 2006, the NC Department of Instruction approved our expansion proposal!
What is the timeframe for expansion and how will it phase the grades in?

The plan, as written in the original CCS Charter proposal, is for fifth grade to be added next year (2006-07). The following school year (2007-08), we will add 6th grade and will continue to grow one grade per year. This decision will be based on construction costs, staffing, and several other factors. Once we have grown to grade 8, we have permission to add one grade each year until the full K-12th range has been fulfilled. Again, the expansion into high school will depend upon many factors.

Where will the middle and high schools be located?

We are currently in discussions to lease and renovate the other half of our current building. We have a preliminary architectural drawing to renovate the other 26,000+ square feet of our current facility. Under this plan, CCS would occupy the entire building.

The high school will be located at another site to be determined later. The long-range goal is to develop a CCS ‘campus’ that would be home to all K-12 grades.

Will my child(ren) have to reapply to get into middle and high school at CCS? What about siblings?

Current CCS students will not have to reapply or enter a lottery. Sibling rules and the entry lottery will remain the same.

How will CCS pay for this?

That is literally the ‘million dollar question’! The middle and high school, like the elementary school, will be a NC charter school and will therefore receive State funds for operating costs. However, charter schools do not receive State funds for capital costs like buildings, construction, desks, chairs, phones, or computers. Therefore, fundraising efforts will be crucial to make this dream a reality.

Will middle and high school follow the “basic school” philosophies?

Yes. Focusing on community, curriculum, climate and character is just as important for grades 6-12 as it is for grades K-5. In middle and high school, our curriculum will grow to explore innovative approaches designed to help students reach the goal of becoming lifelong learners. We will implement a program in which students will continue to be intrinsically motivated to learn. Through a multidisciplinary, integrated curriculum with an inquiry-based approach, students will be allowed to discover answers for themselves, and therefore build their own knowledge base.

Will we have team sports/a football team?

Through our research we have found that other small private and Charter Schools have successfully implemented team sports into their schools. We would like to include team sports at CCS and will continue to investigate this possibility.

How many kids will we have at each grade level?

Class size will be kept relatively small so we can build upon relationships that students already have with one another and with adults in the school community. Therefore, each grade level from K-12 will have fewer than 100 students.

What about……..???????? What’s next?

There are many other questions related to the CCS expansion that we have yet to answer.

We are just at the beginning of a very long journey – now, the real work begins!

Middle and High School Information

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