The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) is a two-year, public residential high school located in Durham, North Carolina, that focuses on the intensive study of science, mathematics and technology. It accepts rising juniors from across

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

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 The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sys ...

. 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 The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is an arts school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants high school, undergraduate, and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina School of the Arts by then-Governo ...

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 The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sys ...

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 The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for e ...

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 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, Niche 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

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

, 26.6% are Asian American, 8.1% are African American, 5.5% are

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

, 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 The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

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 Intel Science Talent Search and Intel Science and Engineering Fair. In 2008, the NCSSM team won first place in the

WorldQuest The World Affairs Councils of America is a network of 93 autonomous and nonpartisan councils across 40 states. History The World Affairs Councils of America was founded in 1918. It is the largest nonprofit international affairs organization in ...

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. 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 FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build robots capable of competing in that year's game that weig ...

team
Team 900, The Zebracorns
Awards won by this team include *2014 North Carolina Regional Winners *2015 North Carolina Regional Winners *2015 FIRST Championship 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 '83, President of

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

* Helen Moore '84, mathematician *

Maya Ajmera Maya Ajmera is the president and CEO of Society for Science and publisher of ''Science News''. Ajmera is the founder of The Global Fund for Children, a nonprofit organization that invests philanthropic capital in innovative community-based orga ...

'85, Founder and President of The Global Fund for Children * Katharine Stewart '85, medical psychologist and Provost at North Carolina State University * Joe Britt '87, Co-founder of Danger Inc. makers of the

Sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

, an early smartphone * Erica D. Smith '88, member of the

* Daniel P. Aldrich '92, academic in the fields of political science, public policy, and Asian studies *

Matt Welsh Matthew James Welsh (born 18 November 1976) is an Australian swimmer who is the former world champion in the backstroke and butterfly. He took two golds in 50-meter butterfly and 50-meter backstroke, during one hour, at the World Championships ...

'92, former Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and author of several books * Ralph Hise '94, member of

* Steven Schkolne '94, computer scientist and inventor of speedcabling * Rhiannon Giddens '95, member of the Grammy-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops * Scott Jacobson '95, comedy writer (''

Bob's Burgers ''Bob's Burgers'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard that premiered on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox on January 9, 2011. The show centers on the Belcher family—parents Bob Belcher, Bob and Linda Belcher, Linda and t ...

'') and four-time Emmy winner *

Christina Hammock Koch Christina Hammock Koch ( ; born January 29, 1979) is an American engineer and NASA astronaut of the class of 2013. She received Bachelor of Science degrees in electrical engineering and physics and a Master of Science in electrical engineering a ...

'97, NASA astronaut and Flight Engineer on ISS Expeditions 59, 60, and 61 * B. Scott '99, Internet Celebrity, TV personality and blogger *

Chris Hardwick Christopher Ryan Hardwick (born November 23, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, television and podcast host, writer, and producer. He hosts ''Talking Dead'', an hourlong aftershow on AMC affiliated with the network's zombie drama series '' The ...

'02, competitive speedcuberNCSSM - Rubik's Cube Competition - Speedcubing.com
Retrieved December 8, 2020. * Janneke Parrish '09, Labor activist and AppleToo 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