Humanities Dean Jessica Lopez; Whiteville Headmaster Kimberly Patrick, Founder Baker Mitchell Jr.; Leland Headmaster Laurie Benton; Math Dean Cause-Nance.
Classical Charter School of America’s tuition-free charter schools in Leland and Whiteville earned top honors for Classic Learning Test (CLT) ‘s year-end exam designed to assess eight graders high-school readiness.
CLT announced that the Leland school tied for first and the Whiteville school tied for third among more than 250 schools nationwide. Click here to see the rankings.
The two CCS-America schools are tuition-free public charter schools and are the only public charter schools in the top 20. All the other top-ranking schools are private schools charging from $6,200 to $36,000 in yearly tuition.
The CLT provides academic assessments that evaluate reading, grammar, writing, and mathematics for grades 3 through 12. The tests are designed to emphasize academic skills and promote critical and logical thinking.
The three-hour CLT8 is specifically designed to measure eighth-grade students’ readiness for high school. Much of the content on the exam is drawn from classical literature, classical mathematics, and historical texts, all of which are central in CCS-America’s classical curriculum for engaging its students.
More than 280 U.S. colleges and universities accept CLT scores as an alternative to the SAT and ACT admission tests, including all the schools in the Florida state university system. Regionally, some of the schools that accept the CLT test are the Honors College at Belmont Abbey College, High Point University, and Wingate University in North Carolina, and Anderson University, Bob Jones University, and the Lyceum Program at Clemson University in South Carolina.
“We couldn’t be prouder of our students and staff for their hard work, which has led to this confirmation of our curriculum’s effectiveness,” CCS-America founder Baker Mitchell, Jr. said. He noted that a majority of the students who took and excelled on the CLT8 were students who had attended the schools since the beginning of their education, allowing them to enjoy a substantial academic edge from CCS-America’s innovative and carefully sequenced classical curriculum.
Jessica Lopez, CCS-America’s Dean of Classical Humanities, added, “Last year, we were excited to see one of our schools, CCS-Leland, rank in the top 20 nationally in the 2022-23 CLT8. That was our first time participating in the exam. This year, we are thrilled to see both Leland and Whiteville students achieve such outstanding results. It is clear that the dedication to our unique classical curriculum and innovative methodologies by CCS-America’s deans, academic coaches, teachers, and especially our students has paid off tremendously.”
“Out of the hundreds of schools that take the CLT8 every year, CCS-Leland and CCS-Whiteville’s recognition in Classic Learning Test’s 2025 School Rankings is a remarkable achievement,” said CLT officials.
Classical Charter Schools of America is a non-profit organization founded in 1999 as a single school (then named Charter Day School) with 72 students in Leland. CCS-America now controls four schools—in Leland, Southport, Whiteville and Wilmington—serving more than 2,500 students. All four schools are classified as Title I schools, serving large numbers of low-income students and are managed by the Roger Bacon Academy (RBA).
All campuses are now accepting applications for the 2025-2026 school year in grades K through 8. Interested parents can visit EnrollRBA.com.
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