FAQs

A charter school in North Carolina is a tuition-free public school that is independent from the local district school board. Each charter school is governed by an independent board and must follow a charter that is approved by the state board of education. Charter schools are allowed more freedom to be innovative with curriculum, calendar, and methods, but they are still held accountable by the state. In some ways, they are monitored more closely by the state and must meet certain academic and fiscal standards or they can be closed.

Each charter school in North Carolina is open to any student that lives in the state. Excelsior Classical Academy is a public school that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, creed,  gender, or gender identity.

Excelsior Classical Academy started with grades K–4 for the 2015–2016 school year. We added a grade a year and now have grades K-12.

Open enrollment for Excelsior starts December 1 and closes  February 10. The Lotterease program notifies parents of the results of the Lottery by email and/or text on or before February 15. New applications received after the lottery deadline are placed at the end of the wait-list in the order received.

Yes. Excelsior’s Founding Board and Director had the desire from the beginning to make sure anyone who wants to attend Excelsior has the opportunity and to ensure that the school represents the diversity of the Durham area, and that continues to this day. We provide buses, free lunch for those who qualify financially, and assistance with uniforms for those who qualify financially to remove impediments to enrollment. We have intentionally worked to have a diverse Board, staff, and student population.

Creating educational excellence and equity demands a strong foundation of knowledge for all children and a coherent plan for teaching what every child needs to know. Excelsior Classical Academy will use the Core Knowledge Sequence in kindergarten through eighth grade. The Core Knowledge Sequence is a content-rich, sequential curriculum that provides students with the background knowledge they need to comprehend what they read and to learn new material.

For more information about how the Core Knowledge Sequence promotes academic excellence, greater fairness, and higher literacy, visit http://www.coreknowledge.org/sequence 

No, they are not the same. As explained on the Core Knowledge website, “It is important to note that the terms ‘standards’ and ‘curriculum’ are often—and erroneously—used as synonyms for one another. Standards define what children should know and be able to do at the end of each grade. A curriculum, like the Core Knowledge Sequence, describes what children need to learn to meet those standards.” By faithful and rigorous implementation of the Core Knowledge Sequence, Excelsior Classical Academy will meet and exceed the North Carolina State Standards.

Classical education is rooted in the best of time-honored educational practices. The traditional liberal arts are Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric, Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy, and Music. Today a classical curriculum is based on the first three liberal arts, which together are called the Trivium. Students are taught the grammar, or basic knowledge, in each subject. Young students readily learn rhymes, stories, language, vocabulary, arithmetic, and facts. As knowledge grows, students want to know not just “what” but “why.” They learn logic, or dialectic, and critical thinking skills through reading ideas and arguments of others and by discussing and practicing. Mature students learn rhetoric to express their ideas eloquently and to persuade others. Throughout their study of the Trivium, students are trained in virtues and core values, such as citizenship, cooperation, courage, fairness, honesty, integrity, perseverance, respect, and responsibility.

For more information about Classical Curriculum, read Dorothy Sayers’ essay, The Lost Tools of Learning.

No. Excelsior Classical Academy’s calendar is still the state-mandated 185 days or 1025 instructional hours. The school days are just distributed a little differently. Excelsior’s calendar is a modified year-round calendar. Students start school a bit earlier than at traditional schools and have a fall break, a winter break, and a spring break, one to two and a half weeks long. This ensures there is less “brain drain” over the summer, prevents students and teachers from getting burned out over long stretches of school, and allows for enrichment and remediation activities during breaks.

Grammar School starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 3:30 a.m. Upper School starts and 8:25 and ends at 3:30. Students may be dropped of no earlier than 8 and must be picked up by 4 p.m.

Excelsior students in K–5 have a half-hour of Spanish daily. Students in 7 and 8 have Latin, as part of our classical curriculum. Students in Grammar School, grades K–5, have a rotation of five Specials classes, Art, Dance, Drama, Music, and PE. In Upper School, grades 6-12, students take electives.

Kindergartners generally have a morning meeting, a domain lesson, a read-aloud, a skills lesson, a half hour of Spanish, a couple of recess periods, a Special class, fun centers time, literacy centers time, journal time, and lunch in the classroom. For the first ten or twelve weeks, Kindergartners have a rest time in the afternoon.

Excelsior Classical Academy has bus routes with neighborhood stops. Please visit the Transportation page for more information.

Excelsior does have before- and after-school care. Before-school care starts at 7 am, and after-school care ends at 6 pm. Please visit Before and After School Care for more information. 

Excelsior has sports in Upper School (6-12). We have baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, volleyball, swimming, tennis, and golf. We also have some clubs, such as men’s volleyball, for sports that we don’t currently participate in or are not available in our conference. We will continue to add sports as we grow.

Excelsior Classical Academy purchases lunches to provide free lunch for those who qualify for either free or reduced-price lunch. Students who do not qualify and staff may also purchase lunches online from My Hot Lunchbox.

No. Excelsior Classical Academy is run by a local Board, not by a Charter Management Organization or an Education Management Organization.