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Frequently Asked Questions

General

What is a North Carolina Public Charter School?

What is the Mission of Socrates Academy?

Is the Academy working in partnership with other entities?

Who is managing the Academy?

What is the tuition for the Socrates Academy?

What grade levels will be served by Socrates Academy?

How are applications be considered?

Are siblings given preference?

What is the curriculum?

Why Greek?

What is the Socratic Method?

Why Socrates Academy?

Answers

What is a North Carolina Public Charter School?
Charter schools are publicly funded schools operated according to the Charter Schools Act (1996). Charter schools are non-sectarian, non-discriminatory, and non-selective in their admissions practices, and they must comply with the reporting/testing requirements established by the North Carolina State Board of Education. Charter schools are charged with bringing new ideas, innovation, and high standards of accountability to North Carolina's public schools.

What is the Mission of Socrates Academy?
"To work in partnership with parents and community to encourage our students to reach their full potential by developing critical analytical thinking skills and becoming self-confident in a high achievement, multicultural, disciplined environment. Particular emphasis will be placed on developing proficiency in mathematics, reading and writing, both in English and Greek through the use of the Socratic Method."

Is the Academy working in partnership with other entities?
Socrates Academy has established strong partnerships with the UNC Charlotte College of Education, the Greek Ministry of National Education, the Hellenic American National Council, and the YMCA.

Who is managing the Academy?
Socrates Academy is managed by its Board of Directors via the authority vested by the NC State Board of Education, and is responsible for all aspects of the School's operations. An Advisory Board has also been created to identify, consider and discuss issues at the Academy, and provide advice and counsel to the Board of Directors. Several committees have also been established to help achieve the goals of the school.

What is the tuition for the Socrates Academy?
Like all public schools, there is no charge for attending Socrates Academy. There is an optional Before and After School Programs with tutoring and enrichment activities.

What grade levels will be served by Socrates Academy?
The Academy will add a grade each year so that by the year 2009 the Academy will be serving Grades K-5.

How are applications be considered?
The Academy sets an enrollment goal for each grade. If the number of applications exceeds the number of open seats, a random selection drawing, known as lottery, determines admissions. If the number of applications does not exceed the number of open seats, all applicants receive an acceptance letter for their respective grades. Applicants not accepted are placed on a waiting list in the order their names were drawn.  More details on the admissions page.

Are siblings given preference?
In order to accommodate parents who have more than one child eligible for academy enrollment, siblings of accepted students are given preference over students who don't have siblings.
 
What is the curriculum?
The Academy's bilingual, multicultural curriculum follows both the North Carolina Standard Course of Study (language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, physical education, art, and music) and the National Greek Curriculum Standards (language arts, mathematics, and Greek culture).

The curriculum is an innovative research-based curriculum, developed by the Socrates Academy Curriculum Committee, which is made up of several distinguished faculty from UNC Charlotte with expertise in various aspects of education, English and other languages, mathematics, and technology.  While part of each school day is taught in Greek, no prior knowledge of Greek is required.  However, due to the use of a partial language immersion curriculum (classes conducted in Greek for at least two hours every day), it is recommended that new students enter the Academy at the earliest grades possible in order to gain the greatest academic benefit. Families considering a new admission beyond 2nd grade are advised to discuss the likely challenges with the school principal.

Instruction relies on the Socratic Method to foster critical analytic thinking. The program is characterized by high academic quality and a special emphasis in mathematics, reading, writing, and character development.

Why Greek?
The Greek heritage belongs to humanity and not just to Greeks. It is the foundation of our western civilization for architecture, literature, fine arts, the sciences, our educational and political systems and much more. A large percentage of English words are directly derived from Greek, and thousands of terms used in mathematics, science, and technology are of Greek origin.
By embracing the world-class language, history and civilization of Greece, Socrates Academy students will be well prepared for higher education, and develop a competitive advantage in their professional endeavors.

What is the Socratic Method?

The Socratic Method is the oldest, and still the most powerful, teaching tactic for fostering critical thinking. It is also know as inquiry-based teaching.  In Socratic teaching we focus on giving students questions, not answers. We model an inquiring, probing mind by continually probing into the subject with questions. Questions are used to arouse curiosity and at the same time serve as a logical, incremental, step-wise guide that enables students to figure out about a complex topic or issue with their own thinking and insights.  See http://www.garlikov.com/Soc_Meth.html for an example of a lesson taught using the Socratic Method.

Why Socrates Academy?

  • High quality multicultural environment that challenges students to reach their potential
  • Safe and disciplined learning environment
  • Active engagement of parents and community
  • A curriculum that emphasizes analytical critical thinking by use of the Socratic Method
  • Emphasis on character values such as ethical behavior, responsibility, teamwork, compassion, sharing, and integrity
  • Suitable planned facilities conducive to learning
  • Small number of students and class size
The mission of the Socrates Academy is to work in partnership with parents and community to encourage our students to reach their full potential by developing critical, analytical thinking skills and becoming self-confident in a high achievement, multicultural, disciplined environment. Particular emphasis will be placed on developing proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics both in English and Greek through the use of the Socratic Method.
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