First all girl charter school in NC to open in Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — North Carolina’s first single-gender public charter school, the Leadership Academy for Young Women, will open in Wilmington in August, 2016, following Thursday’s vote of by the North Carolina Board of Education to approve its charter.  The approval kicks off the school’s planning year, during which the campus will be identified and prepared, curriculum will be refined and enrollment will get underway. The school will open with 80 sixth grade girls in 2016, adding a similar-sized class each year, until reaching full enrollment in Fall, 2022, and its first high school graduating class in Spring, 2023.

“At the Leadership Academy for Young Women, we are developing a campus and curriculum that will prepare our students for today’s colleges and careers.  It’s a 21^st Century model with teaching methodologies and curriculum delivery that reflect the creative-thinking, group dynamic, problem-solving and multi-faceted nature of our society,” said Todd Godbey, president of Young Women Leading, Inc., the non-profit foundation which supports the schools opening and operations.

LAYW will offer a rigorous STEAM based academic curriculum, with college preparatory, healthy life skills and leadership classes enhancing the learning environment both in and out of school.  Open to girls of all academic abilities, Mr. Godbey says the school will take a ‘whole girl’ approach to education.  “We will create a learning environment that nurtures the emotional, physical and academic needs of each student, and develop a strong and supportive culture among our faculty, students, their families and the broader community,”  he said.

Wilmington’s LAYW is already cultivating its first class of sixth graders through its Summer Leadership Academy and quarterly Angela Uhl Wagner Learning Circle programs.  This year’s week long Summer Leadership Academy gets underway on Monday, June 15, with 23 girls participating in MarineQuest, which explores sea life and the dynamic nature of oceans, and 26 girls attending Engineering Expectations, which encourages problem-solving and creativity with an engineering approach.   Participating students were recommended by their teachers, school counselors or principals at several New Hanover County elementary schools.