Attendance is 

School attendance is the key to success and academic achievement. For students to consistently learn and grow, Classical Charter Schools of America takes student attendance very seriously.

In compliance with the North Carolina Compulsory Attendance Law, all absences require parental documentation explaining the reason for the absence. Ten or more unexcused absences may result in a meeting with school administrators. After 25 excused or unexcused absences, a student may be sent back to the public school system. This is not a suspension and disciplinary actions are not utilized.

School attendance is about actively engaging in the learning process, building character, and laying the foundation for future success. Parents, teachers, and students play a crucial role in recognizing the importance of school attendance and working together to ensure a positive learning environment for all.

Attendance details are found on pages 18-19 in the CCS-America Handbook

North Carolina General Statute: attendance

North Carolina General Statute: discipline policies

Let’s Go RBA! 

Congratulations to all four of The Roger Bacon Academy cheer teams for placing in the top five of their divisions at The Quest National Championship, held from March 6-8 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney World in Orlando, FL.

The RBA athletes and coaches consistently make us proud, embodying RBA values in their practice. While growing each year, the RBA cheer teams exemplify true character and dedication beyond CCS-America’s campuses.

Great job to all athletes and coaches! View pictures from their weekend in Orlando at the link below.

Pictures

Kindergarteners Master the Alphabet 

Throughout the school year, kindergarten students have met the Letterland characters, learning the sound, shape, and spelling of each letter. By using Letterland songs and strategies, kindergarteners have now covered all 44 sounds in the English language and their major recurring spelling patterns!

To mark this achievement, kindergarten students put on the annual Letterland Parade at each CCS-America campus. Dressed as their favorite Letterland characters, they paraded through campus to celebrate mastering the alphabet, cheered on by the rest of the school.

Congratulations, kindergarten students!

CCS-Leland

CCS-Southport

CCS-Whiteville

CCS-Wilmington

CCS-Leland Presents Finding Nemo, Jr.! 

The Classical Charter Schools of Leland Show Choir presented its first performance in the school’s new auditorium on March 1st and 2nd – “Finding Nemo, Jr.”!

Based on the beloved 2003 movie Finding Nemo, the Show Choir captivated the audience with a journey through the ocean, highlighting the values of family, friendship, courage, and determination. These values are also emphasized in the Character Education curriculum at CCS-America.

Congratulations to CCS-Leland Show Choir members and their Director, Mrs. Rexroad, for their outstanding performances!

Pictures

Elective Highlight: Science Olympiad 

Classical Charter Schools of America offers a variety of electives for middle school students, providing opportunities to learn new skills, collaborate with peers, and even engage in competitions. One such elective is Science Olympiad, where students participate in events requiring scientific knowledge, such as Anatomy and Physiology, Tower Building, Rocks and Minerals, and Forensics.

Throughout the year, students prepare for these events and then showcase their skills at the Wilmington Regional Tournament hosted at UNCW. This weekend, CCS-Leland, CCS-Southport, and CCS-Whiteville will be participating. Best of luck to all competitors!

If your student is interested in competing next year, elective registration will open this spring.

Learn more about Science Olympiad here

Students of the Month

CCS-America students are recognized monthly for displaying a specific character trait from our School Pledge that they not only say but also practice in their daily lives.

February’s character trait was Dependability. Dependable students do what they say they will do, even if it is difficult. Dependability is seen in the School Pledge as “I Pledge to be truthful in all my works.” Students apply these words to their everyday lives by being responsible decision-makers others can rely on.

Congratulations to all of these students who demonstrated exemplary dependability. Check them out on the links below!

CCS-Leland

CCS-Southport

CCS-Whiteville

CCS-Wilmington

What is FASTAR®? 

A month before the most famous auto race in America, the Indianapolis 500, CCS-America students will compete in a race of their own, a voluntary, extracurricular academic tournament known as FASTAR® (Fluent Academic Skills Tournament in Arithmetic and Reading). The goal of FASTAR® is to encourage students to improve their basic skills through practice in an exciting and rewarding tournament modeled after automobile racing. Research shows that practicing to the point of fluency – able to give fast, smooth, and nearly automatic responses – has several benefits: skills are retained longer, students are able to perform the skills for longer periods of time before tiring, comprehension may be improved, mastery of basic skills make it easier to succeed at more-complex tasks, and homework time may decrease.

FASTAR® racers will participate in tune-up sessions in advance and are encouraged to practice at home. Race days occur in April. The trophy winners from each campus will then meet at the Race of Champions on April 24th where the school with the most speed and accuracy will take home the overall trophy. Sign your student up by this Friday, February 23rd to participate!

Check out last year’s pictures below.

CCS-Leland

CCS-Southport

CCS-Whiteville

CCS-Wilmington

Beta Clubs Travel to State Convention 

Members of the CCS-Leland and CCS-Whiteville Beta Clubs traveled to Greensboro last month to participate in the North Carolina’s 32nd annual Junior Beta Convention.

The students competed with distinction in individual and team events in the Arts and Academics that relate to classes at CCS-America. Congratulations to all for impressive performances! We are so proud of how they represented CCS-America.

The mission of the Beta Club is to promote academic achievement, character, service, and leadership. Middle school students interested in these values are welcome to join the Beta Club in the 2024-2025 school year!

Event Winners

Learn more about Beta Club here

State Archery Tournament

Classical Charter Schools of America’s three middle school teams from Leland, Southport, and Whiteville participated in the National Archery Schools Program’s (NASP) North Carolina State Tournament in Winston-Salem this past weekend.

Our teams have been involved in NASP for fourteen years and have garnered nine State Championships, two second-place trophies, and numerous individual awards with two students placing in the top 10 in the middle school boy’s division this year – Colton Riley (Leland, 8th grade) ranked 6th in the State, and Ethan Stanley (Leland, 7th grade) placed 7th. All our team members should be commended for their hard work because the growth and popularity of the sport is making it increasingly more competitive each year.  

“Our middle school students have the opportunity to participate in our archery elective classes, and students are then selected for the competition archery teams,” explained Leland Head Coach LaFave. “We are thankful to all our coaches and administrators for supporting our student-athletes, and we are excited to continue to grow the archery programs on all our middle school campuses,” he added. 

CCS-Leland

CCS-Southport

CCS-Whiteville

Celebrating Frederick Douglass

“Once you learn to read, you are forever free.” -Frederick Douglass

Born into slavery in February 1818, it was illegal for Frederick Douglass to be taught how to read and write, but the wife of his master taught him the alphabet and how to read the Bible. After he learned, Douglass read everything he could and went on to become a champion of the abolitionist and women’s rights movements.

Each year, CCS-Wilmington, previously named after Frederick Douglass, celebrates his birthday and contribution to our country. Teachers read books about Douglass to students and they even get a special visit from Mr. Douglass himself!

Pictures

Learn more about Fredrick Douglass

2024 Handwriting Contest Winners 

National Handwriting Day is celebrated each year on January 23rd, the birthday of John Hancock. Hancock is best known for being the first and most prominent signatory to the Declaration of Independence. Because of this, a person’s signature is often referred to as his or her “John Hancock.”

As handwriting is an important aspect of CCS-America’s curriculum, the annual Handwriting Competition is held each year on National Handwriting Day. Students in all grades are given a phrase to copy and a prompt to answer in their neatest handwriting. Grades 4-8 are required to write in cursive. Entries are then judged on spacing, size, shape, slant, the use of proper capitalization, and content. First-place winners and honorable mentions receive cash prizes and classrooms that display overall handwriting excellence receive door medallions.

Check out the winners and honorable mentions at the links below! Great job to all CCS-America students for their hard work!

CCS-Leland

CCS-Southport

CCS-Whiteville

CCS-Wilmington

Support CCS-Wilmington 

CCS-Wilmington is partnering with Office Depot as their Title I School for the 2024 School Supply Drive!

After a successful School Supply Drive from April to December 2023, we are grateful to have support from Wilmington’s Office Depot again. During those nine months, Office Depot raised over $10,000 and provided students with book bags full of supplies.

Visit Office Depot at 3727 Oleander Drive in Wilmington and donate at the end of your purchase to support CCS-Wilmington students! Donations will go to CCS-Wilmington through December 2024.

Thank you Office Depot for your continuing support!

More Information

Pictures

Students of the Month 

CCS-America students are recognized monthly for displaying a specific character trait from our School Pledge that they not only say, but also practice in their daily lives.

January’s character trait was Honesty. Students who show honesty are truthful in what they say and how they conduct their everyday lives. Honesty is seen in the School Pledge as “I Pledge to be truthful in all my works.” Students apply these words by telling the truth, playing by the rules, and not exaggerating facts.

Congratulations to all of these students who demonstrated exemplary honesty. Check them out on the links below!

CCS-Leland

CCS-Southport

CCS-Whiteville

CCS-Wilmington

                                                                                                                                             Dean Lopez

Classical Charter Schools of Leland Receives National Award for the CLT8

Classical Charter Schools of Leland has earned its ranking in the Classic Learning Test’s (CLT) 2022-2023 CLT8 School Rankings as one of the top twenty schools in the entire country.

The CLT8 diagnostic test is given each year to middle-school students at hundreds of schools nationally to evaluate their reading, grammar, and mathematical skills. The award recognizes CCS-Leland’s student body for collectively receiving the highest score on the exam of any charter school during the 2022-2023 academic year.

“We’re extremely proud of our students and staff,” said Headmaster Laurie Benton, who noted that CCS-Leland was the only tuition-free, open-to-all charter school on the list of top performers. CCS-Leland is also a Title I school, with a large diverse enrollment of low-income and disadvantaged students. All of the other schools in the top twenty, she noted, are “private schools charging tuition.”

The CLT8, designed for 7th and 8th graders, is a cumulative diagnostic assessment offered by the Annapolis, MD based Classic Learning Test, providing a comprehensive measure of achievement and aptitude. Much of the content is drawn from classic literature and historical tests, which are central to the curriculum at CCS-Leland and the other Classical Charter Schools of America campuses.

Since its inception in 2016, Classic Learning Test has offered assessments steeped in more intellectually rich and rigorous content than other standardized tests. CLT’s suite of assessments now serves grades 3-12.

“Out of the hundreds of schools that take the CLT8 every year,” CCS-Leland’s ranking is “a remarkable achievement,” CLT officials said.

Dean of Classical Humanities Jessica Lopez adds, “The nationally high ranking that our 8th grade students achieved on the CLT8 is a testament to our 25 years of curriculum development. The high results are also a reflection of the superior training and standards provided by the Roger Bacon Academy to its educators. I offer my gratitude and accolades to our students and staff for this well-deserved outcome of our first time participating in the CLT8.”  

What is the CLT8?

The CCS-America Spelling Bee

The first annual CCS-America Spelling Bee kicked off in October, with students at each campus competing in the first of two mock Spelling Bees to narrow the field down to just five students in grades 1-8. These finalists from each campus competed last Friday, January 19th, at CCS-Leland to crown the overall winner in each grade. 

The journey to the final Spelling Bee showcased the academic talents of the participating students and celebrated their achievements in spelling. Congratulations to the winners!

1st grade: Cebastian Valdez from CCS-Whiteville

2nd grade: Brynlee Gooden from CCS-Whiteville

3rd grade: Benjamin Gomez from CCS-Southport

4th grade: Emma Evans from CCS-Southport

5th grade: Wyatt Midgett from CCS-Leland

6th grade: Benjamin Antosiak from CCS-Leland

7th grade: Jackson Boren from CCS-Whiteville

8th grade: Callum Brown from CCS-Southport

Pictures

Photo by Matt Born, StarNews

CCS-Wilmington Marches in the MLK Day Parade

Classical Charter Schools of Wilmington joined the Wilmington community on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the annual downtown Parade.

This year marked 10 years of CCS-Wilmington’s participation in the event to honor Dr. King. This parade serves as an opportunity to bring people together and pay tribute to the positive changes he brought to our country.

Dr. King was due to visit Wilmington on April 4, 1968, the day he was killed. He had postponed his trip to assist striking sanitation workers in Memphis, where he met his untimely death.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Parade

Celebrating Your Choice

National School Choice Week, which is being observed this year from Jan. 21-27, is here! As we celebrate your choice in your student’s education, here are some facts on the charter school movement:

 The charter school movement started in 1992 when Minnesota parents revolted against the state’s failing government-run schools. The legislature allowed privately operated groups to establish schools under a charter granted by the state.

 North Carolina passed its charter school law four years later in 1996.

 In 2024, 46 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam have charter school laws.

 There are over 3.7 million charter students in 7,996 charter schools nationwide.

 In North Carolina, 131,624 students are enrolled in 206 charter schools.

Since opening in 2000 with 53 students in a single location, CCS-America now serves over 2,000 students in four schools. Thank you for choosing CCS-America to educate your students and for being part of the movement!

More Charter Schools Data