Children's Village Academy, Kinston NC

Original Research by School Decision on Children's Village Academy

Children's Village Academy permanently closed at the end of June 2024 after the North Carolina State Board of Education declined to renew its charter. The school is no longer an enrollment option in Kinston.

The closure came after state officials identified misspent federal grant money, inflated enrollment numbers in an after-school program, open meeting and public records violations, and retaliation against employees. When the school ceased operations, its students were distributed across a dozen Lenoir County public schools, and the charter's records and assets transferred to the county system.

For context: Children's Village Academy had served kindergarten through eighth grade in Kinston and was one of North Carolina's early charter schools, founded decades ago. Its student body was very small, with about half the enrollment concentrated in the upper elementary and middle grades. Nearly all students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch, and the enrollment was overwhelmingly Black, with small populations of white and multiracial students; no Asian or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students were enrolled. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not publicly reported.

The school's most recent state test results, from 2023-24, showed low proficiency. In math and English language arts across grades three through eight, proficiency fell well below typical school and district benchmarks. Math proficiency was below one in five students. English language arts proficiency was roughly one in four students. Science results were stronger, with about half of tested students meeting proficiency, though the tested group in science was smaller. No comparison to other Lenoir County districts is meaningful, since the school was the county's only charter and is now closed.

In the surrounding Kinston area, home values are modest relative to North Carolina and national benchmarks. Rental costs are similarly moderate. The city itself is a small Eastern Carolina center with a downtown anchored by historic brick buildings, galleries, and an active arts district, though poverty and economic stress touch many neighborhoods. Major employment centers include Spirit AeroSystems, the NC Global TransPark's aerospace operations, and regional healthcare, paired with significant ongoing population loss in parts of the city. For any family that had been considering this school, it is simply no longer available; students now attend traditional Lenoir County public schools instead.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grades 3-819%

School 19% · district not reported

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

English language arts

Grades 3-825%

School 25% · district not reported

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Science

Grades 3-853%

School 53% · district not reported

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

This schoolDistrict average, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grades 3-8Lower-income24%Higher-income30%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grades 3-8Lower-income19%Higher-income20%1 pp gap