Thomas Academy
Lake Waccamaw · NC · Thomas Academy · Public charter · K-12 combined
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Ramsey Street High → Lenoir County Learning Academy → Pender Innovative Learning Academy → Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy → East Columbus Junior-Senior High → Career Readiness Academy at Mosley PLC → Shaw Academy → J. C. Roe Center →📋 At a glance
- ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 22% of US high schools
- 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 16% by test-taker volume
- 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 69% (Bottom 14% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Thomas Academy compares for families
What families should know about Thomas 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: Ramsey Street High, Lenoir County Learning Academy, Pender Innovative Learning Academy and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
For Parents
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Get an email when Thomas Academy's numbers change — new admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores. A few updates a year, no spam.
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Bottom 16% by test-taker volume
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 14% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate
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
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.
🏛️ Your state's public flagship
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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.
Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.
Chronic absenteeism
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
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 -17.3%/year, projecting from 2024's 62 students:
A small or specialty program — naive trend math doesn't capture the school's full picture. Read the trend as directional, not predictive.
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.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramsey Street High Fayetteville |
Public | 56.2 | 39 | — |
| Lenoir County Learning Academy Kinston |
Public | 79.9 | 51 | -10.5% |
| Pender Innovative Learning Academy Rocky Point |
Public | 35.2 | 23 | — |
| Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy Elizabethtown |
Public · charter | 21.4 | 126 | +68.0% |
| East Columbus Junior-Senior High Lake Waccamaw |
Public | 1.7 | 383 | -2.0% |
| Career Readiness Academy at Mosley PLC Wilmington |
Public | 36.0 | 115 | +22.3% |
| Shaw Academy Laurinburg |
Public | 62.9 | 113 | — |
| J. C. Roe Center Wilmington |
Public | 34.6 | 9 | — |