Original Research by School Decision on Union Day School
Union Day School is a charter district serving kindergarten through tenth grade in Union County, North Carolina. The district operates a single school and serves a student body of roughly seven hundred students.
The school's enrollment is notably diverse. White students make up just over half the student body, with Hispanic students representing a substantial share, followed by Black students and students of Asian descent. Students identifying as multiracial and Native American make up smaller portions. Data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility, English learner status, and special education enrollment were not available, so a reader cannot assess the proportion of students from lower-income households or with language or support needs.
State academic testing data were not provided, which reflects Union Day School's status as a charter school operating under a different reporting framework than traditional public districts. However, the school has publicly reported achievement gains. The district recently adopted a Science of Reading framework for literacy instruction, which it reports drove a meaningful increase in reading achievement. The school's overall Achievement Score has risen recently. These are concrete instructional changes that matter to families selecting a school.
Union Day School has undergone significant structural change. It began as a kindergarten-through-third-grade school at its founding and has grown by one grade annually, reaching kindergarten through twelfth grade in the current school year. The tenth grade is small; ninth and tenth grades together serve a much smaller enrollment than the elementary grades. The school's first high school diplomas were awarded in June of this year. For families, this means Union Day School now offers a complete K-12 pathway for the first time, eliminating the need to transfer to another high school.
A defining feature is the school's International Baccalaureate authorization. Union Day School is the only charter school in North Carolina certified as an IB World School. It offers the IB Middle Years Programme for grades six through ten and is authorized for the IB Diploma Programme in grades eleven and twelve. For families seeking a rigorous, internationally recognized curriculum framework, this is a material distinction.
Beginning in the 2026-27 school year, the school will implement a schoolwide screen time restriction policy, returning to pen-and-paper instruction. Publicly reported, this marks the first charter school in North Carolina to mandate a comprehensive schoolwide screen time restriction. For parents concerned about classroom device use and student attention span, this pedagogical shift is a central feature worth exploring directly with the school.
Chronic absenteeism at Union Day School sits in the bottom quartile among Union County's districts. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand whether this reflects the school's student population, school-level policies, or other factors. Per-pupil current spending falls in the middle range but on the lower half compared to other Union County districts. State testing data were unavailable, so overall proficiency and graduation rates cannot be reported here. A reader seeking those measures should request them directly from the school or the charter authorizing body.
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