As we enter March and anticipate the final quarter of the year, we are thinking about the past and the future. Our young school has come a long way from its first year in 2015, when we had 252 students in Kindergarten through fourth grade. We had 11 homerooms, a room each for art and music, and a room almost as big as two classrooms for PE. We were renting space on the first floor of the building and could not use any parking except about 25 spaces on the north side of the building. We were not allowed to use any of the grounds except for special events with prior permission. We had three buses and acquired a van that year. For recess, the students had to walk through the traffic circle on the north side to get to the “playground,” and I use the term loosely. We now have almost 1,000 students in grades K-11, we own the building, have a beautiful playground and (almost) have a gym, and we have eight route buses, two activity buses, one thirty passenger bus, three vans, and a donated car to use for driver education.
Thinking of the future is exciting. We have been working this year to recover from COVID learning loss, stress, and isolation. We have seen an uptick in teacher and student morale this year and expect that trend to continue. We have started back with field trips, clubs, plays, concerts, dances, and athletics, and we look forward to those continuing to grow.
Our middle and high school students are starting on the pre-registration process for next year. The high school, which started (with our first ninth grade class) the year we were remote, is still in growth mode, but we are seeing many wonderful successes. We are excited about our first graduating class in June 2024!
In the years since high school started, we have had students taking AP World History, AP US History, AP Civics and Economics, AP Earth and Environmental Science, AP Statistics, AP Computer Science, and AP Calculus AB. We are making more AP courses available as we grow. This year, we had students eligible to take dual enrollment classes at Durham Tech, where they get both high school and college credit. (They must be juniors or seniors to qualify.) Some students have taken courses at NCVPS when there weren’t enough students to make a class here or we didn’t have a teacher, such as for Japanese I, II, and III. All these options will continue.
While we have struggled along with schools all around the nation with teacher shortages and the effects of the “great resignation,” we are seeing improvements there, too. We are optimistic about the future, but we want to do everything we can to improve and grow. Excelsior’s Board and Administration are working with Leaders Building Leaders to develop a Strategic Plan and we are working with Cognia (formerly AdvancED) on accreditation. We do want and need feedback from our families. We ask that you fill out the parent survey if you have not already.
CLICK HERE to begin the survey in English.
CLICK HERE to begin the survey in Spanish.
The deadline for the parent survey has been extended to March 6th.
We are thankful for all of our staff, students, and families! We look forward to growing with you!
