Turning Point Academy

Shelby · NC · Cleveland County Schools · Public · K-12 combined

📄 Shareable scorecard →

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 14% of US high schools
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 8% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 47% (Bottom 9% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

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How Turning Point Academy compares for families

What families should know about Turning Point Academy.

  • LocallyNC sits right at the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math — local school quality will set your kid apart.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Pinnacle Classical Academy, Webb Street School, North Shelby and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 8% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
5
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
4.1
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

Bottom 9% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
47%
Range: 45–49%
4-year cohort size
62
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
0%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
33.3%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

High-poverty school

Title I Schoolwide eligible

97.9%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

≥75% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. These schools qualify for the highest tier of federal Title I funding and typically receive extra wraparound services. Academic outcomes vary widely — check the state assessment + grad-rate tiles.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.

🏛️ Your state's public flagship

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

19%
admit rate
$8,994
in-state tuition/yr · $41,203 out-of-state
1370–1530
SAT 25–75 · ACT 30–34

The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $11,655/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.

See the full University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill profile → Estimate your odds with your scores →

Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
64.1%
Well above the national average (~16%). At this level, chronic absence becomes a leading driver of enrollment loss as families rotate to other schools.
Students absent 15+ days
91
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the most reliable early indicator that a student will leave a school — either by transferring out, dropping out, or matriculating to a charter or private alternative. At this level, today's absentees become next year's enrollment loss and the year-after's revenue loss. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
142:1
Below the ASCA 250:1 recommendation — strong capacity for college planning, course selection, and student supports.
Counselor FTE
1.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
18
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +25.0%/year, projecting from 2024's 142 students:

2025
177
2027
277
2029
433

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Most similar nearby high schools

The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Pinnacle Classical Academy
Shelby
Public · charter 3.9 284 +75.3%
Webb Street School
Gastonia
Public 18.9 97 +6.6%
North Shelby
Shelby
Public 2.3 42
Warlick Academy
Gastonia
Public 23.2 142 +89.3%
Gaston Early College of Medical Sciences
Dallas
Public 20.1 174 +120.3%
Rutherford Opportunity Center
Forest City
Public 17.8 69 -20.7%
Burke Middle College
Morganton
Public 30.8 130 +1.6%
Turning Point Academy
Charlotte
Public 33.6 144

For Parents

Researching colleges for your kid at Turning Point Academy?

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For School Admins looking at enrollment trends: request an Enrollment Trend Audit →