Curriculum Summary

Southern  Wake Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school that emphasizes personal responsibility, community service, and career-oriented experiences in order to prepare our students for the real world. SWA believes that the key to a student’s success is a cooperative environment that requires the participation of the student, parent, teacher, administration, and community. Our primary goal is to prepare our students to be life-long learners who understand their role in the community.

Unique Programs

SWA offers unique programs designed to meet the needs of our students, their parents, and our community.

• Advisory Program
• Portfolio Conference Program
• Job Shadow Program
• Community Service Program
• Internship Program

Advisory Program

Students at Southern Wake Academy meet weekly with their advisor who is one of our dedicated teachers. Our weekly advisory program is designed to assist students with academic and personal development outside of the regular classroom. During advisory, students work on the production of their portfolios, schedule job shadows and community service, prepare for required standardized test, consider college plans, or simply discuss their personal development with an adult role model. We believe the advisory program is essential to each student’s success as a citizen.

Portfolio Conference Program

Students at SWA develop, maintain, and present a portfolio of their best work quarterly. The portfolio presentation is designed to instill pride and increase organizational and public speaking skills. The portfolio presentation is evaluated by the advisor and attended by the parent. The portfolio program affords the student, their parents, and advisor the opportunity to assess the previous quarter’s progress. At the conference the attendees create an action plan for the next quarter with input from all representatives on what support is needed from the parents, teachers and advisors to aid the student in meeting his/her goals.

Job Shadow Program

Students are required to complete and document four job-shadow experiences per year. These experiences provide our students with “real world” insight and expose them to several possible career choices.

Community Service Program

Students are required to complete and document 30 community service hours per year. The community service program serves to educate our students about the importance of good citizenship in the community.

Internship Program

Students are required to complete one major career internship during their high school career. The internship program provides our students with a valuable, in- depth career experience prior to graduation.

NC Standard Course of Study

Our teachers are skilled in teaching the NC Standard Course of Study in all core courses using relevance and rigor as their guiding principles. CPCHS offers college preparatory courses in the three diploma programs.  Which follow:

• College/University Preparation
• College/Tech Preparation
• Career Preparation

To learn more about the North Carolina Standard Course of Study, visit http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/

SWA Support of Exceptional Children

Students, parents and families are encouraged to review the Handbook on Parent's Rights at http://www.ncpublicschools.or/ec/policy/resources/rights.  The SWA point of contact is our Director of Exceptional Children, Mr. John Buck.  He can be reached at john.buck@southernwakeacademy.org,his e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or at the school at (919) 567-9955.

Other SWA Advantages

• Small class sizes (13.8 students per class)
• Low student to staff ratio (9.6 students per staff member)
• Wireless internet access throughout the school ( 1 internet access computer for every 2.9 students)