The top reported proficiency rate is 33% in Math. The lowest is 27% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Community School of Digital & Visual Art
Community School of Digital and Visual Art is a small charter school in Durham serving kindergarten through eighth grade with a focus on digital and visual arts. Located on West Cornwallis Road, it operates as a single school entity rather than as part of a larger district structure.
The school's student body is predominantly Black, with a substantial Hispanic population and very few white or Asian students. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing CSDVA among the economically lowest-resourced schools in Durham County. Enrollment is small, distributed across nine grade levels with the largest groups at the elementary and early middle grades.
State testing data for 2024-25 shows proficiency rates below what is typical for North Carolina schools. In mathematics, roughly one-third of tested students in grades three through eight achieved proficiency. In English language arts, the rate falls to about one-quarter of tested students. Science proficiency is also in the low twenties percentile. These results place the school substantially below the county median in academic achievement. The school does not have a graduation rate, as it does not serve high school grades. No data on average scale scores or participation rates was available.
The school's recent charter history carries weight for prospective families. After being voted for non-renewal in January 2025 due to missing annual audits, financial management concerns, and failure to meet state performance standards, the school appealed and won a three-year conditional charter renewal in April 2025. The school remains open through 2028, but only if it meets ongoing conditions. Those conditions include submitting annual governance, academic, and financial reports to the Charter Schools Review Board and providing monthly board meeting minutes to the state's Office of Charter Schools. Its financial audits have revealed ongoing declines in net position and working capital, partly traced to late per-pupil payments from Durham Public Schools. A parent may want to look into the school's current restructuring plan and compliance status directly with the school before enrolling.
The school operates in Durham, a mixed-use city with a strong downtown anchored by Duke University and the medical center. The area spans dense, walkable historic neighborhoods near downtown and Duke to suburban family communities. The broader Durham housing market shows home values somewhat above the state benchmark and rents rising modestly year-over-year. The region is on a sustained growth trajectory, with new mixed-use development, transit improvements, and housing diversity initiatives reshaping neighborhoods. Duke University, Duke Health, Durham Public Schools, and technology and biotech firms tied to nearby Research Triangle Park are the region's major employers.
The school's mission centers on digital and visual arts instruction, though no course catalog or program details were available in the data. Prospective families seeking schools with specialized arts focus, very small enrollment, or serving high-poverty populations may find value here, but the recent governance challenges and low proficiency results warrant direct conversation with school leadership about the current trajectory and support systems in place.
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