The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) is a two-year, public residential high school located in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, that focuses on the intensive study of science, mathematics and technology. It accepts rising juniors from across North Carolina and enrolls them through senior year. Although NCSSM is a public school, enrollment is extremely selective, and applicants undergo a competitive review process for admission. NCSSM is a founding member of the National Consortium of Secondary Stem Schools (NCSSS) and a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina system. While not officially branded as such, many residents of North Carolina consider NCSSM to be a counterpart to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts due to their shared status as specialty residential high schools, with NCSSM focusing on science and math and the School of the Arts offering extended study in the arts.

History

Since its inception in 1980, NCSSM has been fully funded by the state, allowing students to attend without paying any tuition, room, board, or other student fees. This funding is supplemented by the NCSSM Foundation's private funding, which supports NCSSM's academic, residential, and outreach programs as well as providing funds for some capital improvements. In the past 25 years, the Foundation has raised in excess of $25 million in private support from corporations, foundations, alumni, parents and friends of NCSSM. A tuition fee was considered for the 2002–03 school year in the midst of a state budgetary crisis, but it was never implemented. In 2003, the NC Legislature approved a bill granting tuition costs for any university in the University of North Carolina System to all graduates of NCSSM, starting with the class of 2004, as an incentive to encourage NCSSM's talented students to stay in North Carolina. That bill was amended in 2005 to allow students to use additional tuition monies awarded to cover "costs of attendance." However, the tuition waiver was phased out in the Appropriations Act of 2009 in the North Carolina Senate in order to balance the budget. The bill states that "No new recipients shall be funded after June 30, 2009." The tuition grant was renewed retroactive for 2021 graduates in November 2021 in the Current Appropriations Act of 2021. SSM served as a model for 18 similar schools, many of which are now members of the National Consortium of Secondary STEM Schools (NCSSS). NCSSM has opened a second campus in

Morganton, North Carolina Morganton is a city in and the county seat of Burke County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 16,918 at the 2010 census. Morganton is approximately northwest of Charlotte. Morganton is one of the principal cities in the Hick ...

opening for the 2022-23 school year. This campus houses approximately 300 students.

Academics

NCSSM students are not given a class rank and are encouraged to strive for their best rather than competing against other students. Although students previously were not given grade point averages (GPAs), the school has since changed their ways to provide GPAs on transcripts and simplify the college application process. The school has done well in the national rankings for many years, including being listed as the 4th best public high school in the United States and the second best in North Carolina by Newsweek and being listed among The Washington Post's 2014 "top-performing schools with elite students.". In 2022,

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deemed NCSSM the best public high school in the United States. Teachers at NCSSM have also won awards, with music instructor Phillip Riggs winning the Grammy Music Educator Award in 2016.

Demographics

During the 2013–2014 school year, NCSSM housed approximately 680 students. There were 346 seniors enrolled in the class of 2013. Currently, there are more females than males due to the larger number of female dormitory spaces. Approximately 56% of students are

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, 26.6% are

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

, 8.1% are African American, 5.5% are Hispanic, and 0.3% are Native American. The student population of NCSSM is designed to be a demographic reflection of the population of North Carolina as a whole; additionally, a certain number of slots are reserved for each congressional district.

Academic achievement

In 2018 the average SAT score was 1439 of 1600, the second highest in North Carolina. In 2019 it was also second highest in NC, with 1437 of 1600.

External programs

NCSSM also offers a variety of external programs focused on educating teachers and students outside of the school across North Carolina. The school offers workshops for strengthening K–12 math and science education, focusing on "teaching the teacher." These workshops focus particularly in science and mathematics education.

Extracurricular activities

NCSSM has a large variety of clubs and varsity sports, ranging from arts, academic, and ethnic culture clubs to intramural and varsity athletic programs. Students at NCSSM regularly excel in club competitions, academic events, and sports.

Awards and recognition

The school is known to place upwards of ten students a year in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology. In 2006, Nicholas Tang and Sagar Indurkhya became national finalists in that year's Siemens Competition. NCSSM also regularly produces semifinalists in the

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and

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. In 2008, the NCSSM team won first place in the WorldQuest geography competition at the national level. In 2010, NCSSM won first place at the 2010 National DOE Science Bowl Competition,DOE National Science Bowl
and the students on the team met

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

. In 2015, the NCSSM Robotics Team, FIRST Robotics Team 900, The Zebracorns, came in 3rd place at the FIRST World Championship in Saint Louis. In 2019, Navami Jain was selected as a finalist in the Regeneron Science Talent Search competition

Athletics

The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics offers 21 varsity sports to its students, including baseball, volleyball, basketball, and wrestling. Visit: https://www.gounis.com/about/athletics In 2011, for the first time in this school's history, all of the NCSSM varsity sports in the fall season won regional championships. Men's cross-country and men's soccer were state champions, while women's tennis and women's volleyball were state runners-up and a member of the women's diving team placed second at the 1A/2A state meet. The NCSSM men's cross-country team has won three straight state championships. In the 2018–2019 season, NCSSM teams received nine Mid-State 2A conference titles. The school's athletes were awarded 98 All-Conference titles in the 2018–2019 season, at least one in every sport offered by the school.

Robotics

NCSSM has a FIRST Robotics Competition team
Team 900, The Zebracorns
Awards won by this team include *2014 North Carolina Regional Winners *2015 North Carolina Regional Winners *2015

FIRST Championship The FIRST Championship is a four-day robotics championship held annually in April at which FIRST student robotics teams compete. For several years, the event was held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, but moved to the Edward Jones Dome in ...

Curie Division Winners *2017 North Carolina District – Raleigh Event District Chairman's Award *2017 FIRST North Carolina State Championship Winners *2018 North Carolina District – Forsyth County Event District Chairman's Award They also presented at ROSCon 2018 in Madrid, Spain.

Notable alumni

Adam Falk Adam Frederick Falk is the President of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Earlier in his career, Falk was the President of Williams College, a university administrator at Johns Hopkins University, and a theoretical physicist. Early life Falk is a ...

'83, President of Williams College * Helen Moore '84, mathematician * Maya Ajmera '85, Founder and President of

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* Katharine Stewart '85, medical psychologist and Provost at

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

* Joe Britt '87, Co-founder of

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makers of the Sidekick, an early smartphone *

Erica D. Smith Erica Danette Smith (born November 24, 1969) is an American engineer and politician who represented District 3 in the North Carolina Senate from 2015 to 2021. She was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 United States Senate elec ...

'88, member of the North Carolina Senate *

Daniel P. Aldrich Daniel P. Aldrich (born 1974) is an academic in the fields of political science, public policy and Asian studies. He is currently professor of political science and public policy at Northeastern University and was a Fulbright Specialist in Trini ...

'92, academic in the fields of political science, public policy, and Asian studies * Matt Welsh '92, former Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University and author of several books *

Ralph Hise Ralph E. Hise, Jr. (born August 15, 1976) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represents District 47 in the North Carolina Senate. Hise joined the Senate in 2011 after winning election on November 2, 2010. He is from ...

'94, member of North Carolina Senate * Steven Schkolne '94, computer scientist and inventor of speedcabling *

Rhiannon Giddens Rhiannon Giddens (born February 21, 1977) is an American musician. She is a founding member of the country, blues and old-time music band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, where she is the lead singer, fiddle player, and banjo player. Giddens i ...

'95, member of the Grammy-winning

Carolina Chocolate Drops The Carolina Chocolate Drops were an old-time string band from Durham, North Carolina. Their 2010 album, ''Genuine Negro Jig,'' won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, and was number 9 in ''fRoots'' ...

Scott Jacobson Scott Jacobson (born 1977) is an American comedy writer and winner of four Emmys for contributions to ''The Daily Show'' with Jon StewartSerota, Maggie (2010)The Oy of Sex, ''New York Press'', September 22, 2010, retrieved 2010-10-17 and two Emmys ...

'95, comedy writer ('' Bob's Burgers'') and four-time Emmy winner * Christina Hammock Koch '97, NASA astronaut and Flight Engineer on ISS Expeditions 59, 60, and 61 *

B. Scott Brandon Scott Sessoms, best known as B. Scott (born March 21, 1981 in Franklin, Virginia) is an American television personality, radio show host and internet celebrity who is known for their YouTube videoblogs and their website, LoveBScott.com.Wo ...

'99, Internet Celebrity, TV personality and blogger * Chris Hardwick '02, competitive

speedcuber Speedcubing (also known as speedsolving, or cubing) is a competitive sport involving solving a variety of combination puzzles, the most famous being the 3x3x3 puzzle or Rubik's Cube, as quickly as possible. An individual who practices solving tw ...

NCSSM - Rubik's Cube Competition - Speedcubing.com
Retrieved December 8, 2020. *

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'09, Labor activist and

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leader

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:North Carolina School Of Science And Mathematics Boarding schools in North Carolina Gifted education Public high schools in North Carolina NCSSS schools Educational institutions established in 1980 Schools in Durham County, North Carolina University of North Carolina 1980 establishments in North Carolina Public boarding schools in the United States