ONE Academy

ONE Academy is an extremely small public school in Siler City, North Carolina, that serves just 35 students across grades 6 through 12 as part of Chatham County Schools. That district is generally well regarded—ranking in the 75th percentile statewide—but ONE Academy itself ranks near the bottom of the state's high schools. The wide grade span and tiny enrollment suggest this is a specialized program rather than a traditional neighborhood high school.

Test scores and graduation rates illustrate the challenges students face. On recent state exams, only about 36% of students scored proficient in English II and 29% in Math III, while the district posted proficiency rates near 74% and 69%, respectively. Biology proficiency was just 14%. The graduation rate of 73.2% is about 19 points below the district average and well below nearby traditional schools such as Jordan-Matthews High, which graduates about 86% of its students. ONE Academy's most striking contrast, though, is with Chatham Early College, which shares the same campus and ranks among the best high schools in North Carolina, with near-perfect test scores. Also sharing the campus is Chatham County Schools Virtual Academy. These comparisons show that a single school ranking does not capture why ONE Academy exists.

What makes ONE Academy distinctive is how intensely it is resourced. The school spends more than $98,000 per student and maintains a student-teacher ratio around 7 to 1—sometimes closer to 1 to 1 in past years—far exceeding the staffing and spending levels of nearby traditional high schools. That pattern strongly suggests the school is designed as an alternative setting for students who have struggled academically or behaviorally in mainstream classrooms. In a school this small, percentages can swing dramatically: a single student can change the graduation rate by roughly three points. For parents reviewing these numbers, it is important to interpret them with that context in mind, and to understand that money and staffing alone cannot erase the deep obstacles these students bring with them.