Summary:
Reaching All Minds Academy is a K-8 school in Durham, NC, serving 391 students while operating as its own single-school district, Reaching All Minds Academy. Although labeled as an elementary school, it serves students through 8th grade, and state ranking data shows the school hovering near the middle of North Carolina schools, with a 46th percentile rank and 2 stars in 2025-26, down from a 52nd percentile and 3 stars the previous year.
The school’s standout strength is elementary mathematics: grades 3-5 exceeded state proficiency in both 2024-25 and 2025-26, with 3rd grade math leading the way at +10.2 points above state in 2024-25. By contrast, reading is a persistent weakness, especially in 2025-26 when 3rd grade reading was 34% proficient versus 55.6% statewide, a gap of -21.6 points, and middle-grade reading also trailed by double digits. The most striking finding is the volatility of the 8th-grade cohort: in 2024-25, 8th graders surpassed state averages by wide margins (math +29.3, science +22.8), but the 2025-26 8th-grade class fell far short, especially in science, which dropped to 36.6% proficiency versus 68.6% statewide, a swing of over 50 points from the prior year. This suggests outcomes vary significantly by cohort rather than reflecting consistent schoolwide systems.
Chronic absenteeism is notably high, with 30.5% of students chronically absent in 2024-25 compared to 24.2% statewide — nearly one in three students. The student-teacher ratio is a positive structural resource at 10.9, but it has not fully translated into strong reading or middle-grade results. Overall, the school has real strengths in elementary math and shows it can produce excellent middle-school cohorts, yet reading proficiency, middle-grade consistency, and absenteeism remain significant challenges. For parents, the key takeaway is that Reaching All Minds Academy works well for many younger students in math, but families should carefully examine grade-level reading performance and ask how the school plans to support students beyond 5th grade while also addressing chronic absenteeism.
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