Summary:
Success Institute Charter is the only school in the Success Institute Charter School district, a K–8 charter elementary school in Statesville, North Carolina, serving just 90 students. Despite serving an overwhelmingly low-income population (95.6% free/reduced lunch), the school has a standout chronic absenteeism rate of only 11.0% — less than half the state's 24.2% — and it has improved from a 1-star to a 2-star state rating over three years, climbing from the 26th to the 34th percentile of North Carolina schools.
Academically, the school shows a sharply uneven profile. Its biggest strength is 4th grade reading, where 66.7% of students are proficient, a solid 9-point edge over the state average of 57.7%. Third grade reading is essentially average at 54.5% versus 55.6% statewide. However, mathematics is a persistent weakness at every grade level. In the latest 2025–2026 data, 3rd grade math proficiency is 40.0% (state: 66.4%), 4th grade math is 33.3% (state: 61.4%), and 7th grade math is just 18.2% (state: 56.2%). The math deficit grows with grade level, suggesting difficulties compound over time. Also concerning is the prior year's 5th grade reading proficiency of just 8.3% against a 52.9% state average, although with such a small student body a single cohort may only contain a few students, and that number warrants caution.
Parents considering this school should recognize an institution with strong attendance and improving overall performance, but also major academic gaps. While early-grade reading is a relative bright spot, the school struggles broadly in math and has shown a troubling, possibly cohort-driven dip in upper-elementary reading. The recent upward trend in state ranking from rank 1106 to 983, and the move from 1 to 2 stars, is encouraging, but proficiency levels still sit far below state averages in most tested subjects. Targeted math intervention and careful monitoring of reading by grade level would be high-impact priorities for this K–8 charter.
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