Global Scholars Academy

Global Scholars Academy is the only school in the Global Scholars Academy district, a K–8 school in Durham, NC, serving 201 students where nearly all come from low-income households and chronic absenteeism runs high.

Because this is a single-school district, the analysis focuses on how Global Scholars Academy performs against state averages and on its own year-to-year trends. The school has been improving its overall standing, climbing from the 6th percentile of North Carolina schools in 2023–24 to the 13th percentile in 2025–26, though it still ranks in the bottom tier. Its biggest bright spots are in upper-grade math and science: 8th-grade science proficiency jumped to 90% in 2025–26 (state: 68.6%), and 8th-grade math reached 60%, above the state’s 53%. Fourth-grade math also edged past the state average at 64%. Overall math proficiency (53.1%) is much closer to the state (59.9%) than reading is.

The most serious concern is reading. In 2025–26, only 28.6% of students across tested grades were proficient in reading, compared to a 56.0% state average. The gaps are starkest in 5th grade (15% proficient) and 3rd grade (16.7%), and reading scores actually dropped sharply in several grades from the prior year. Science overall trails the state by about 3 points, and the school’s all-subject average of 44.3% remains well below the state’s 59.4%. These challenges are tied to high poverty (98.51% free/reduced lunch) and a 41.5% chronic absenteeism rate, but the strong gains in 8th-grade science and math suggest targeted efforts can pay off. For parents, the takeaway is a school with real strengths in middle-grade STEM, but a critical need for reading support in the early and middle grades.