The top reported proficiency rate is 89% in Science. The lowest is 62% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on The Arts Based School
The Arts Based School is a charter serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Winston-Salem, operating across two campuses. The original north location sits downtown on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive; a second campus opened in the Happy Hill neighborhood beginning in 2022, initially with K-1 students and now serving the full K-8 pipeline. The expansion was designed to address a long historical waitlist by adding seats and recalibrating which neighborhoods can access seats through the school's lottery process. Enrollment sits at just over six hundred students across both sites.
The school's enrollment is roughly two-thirds white, with about a fifth of students identifying as Black, a small share as Hispanic, and the remainder distributed among other groups. No data on free-and-reduced-price lunch participation or special-education identification is publicly reported for this school. The enrollment also does not indicate the proportion of English learners, so a parent looking for detail on the composition of English-language support would need to contact the school directly.
On state testing in grades three through eight, students posted solid performance in reading and strong performance in science. Reading proficiency, measured on the End-of-Grade test, sat in the mid-range. Math proficiency was lower, with a majority of tested students reaching proficiency but a meaningful share falling below. Science results were notably strong, with proficiency well above the threshold across students tested at those grade levels. The school does not report average scale scores, so it is not possible to see how far above or below proficiency students landed on average. Trend data that would show whether results have moved year to year is not available, so a parent cannot see whether the school is on an upward trajectory or facing headwinds in any subject.
The school's charter status means it operates as a publicly funded independent school governed separately from the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools district. This confers flexibility in curriculum and staffing but also distinct accountability. The school's arts-focused mission is embedded in its name and charter authorization, though the specific scope and weight of arts integration in the daily K-8 program is not detailed in available data. A parent drawn to this school's approach would be wise to visit and speak with current families and teachers about what that mission looks like in practice across grade levels.
Winston-Salem itself has undergone substantial change over the past twenty years, reversing decades of population loss and adding residents and housing stock. The city's downtown and adjacent Innovation Quarter—a redeveloped tobacco-warehouse district—now anchor civic and mixed-use development, with eight distinct commercial and cultural neighborhoods within a walkable core. Fourth Street was recognized by the state planning association for its vitality. Beyond downtown, however, pedestrian infrastructure is sparse. The city launched a new pedestrian master plan in 2021 to address this gap citywide. Public transit is provided by the Winston-Salem Transit Authority via fixed-route bus service and paratransit, with a redesigned network that took effect in early 2025.
The region's economy is anchored by healthcare (Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and Novant Health are the two largest employers), Wake Forest University, the school district itself, and manufacturing including advanced operations by companies like John Deere and Collins Aerospace. Financial services, including Truist and Wells Fargo operations, and food production round out the employment base. The broader Winston-Salem area is in a period of active commercial and residential development, with over eighty economic-development projects reported active in early 2025. Major initiatives include Phase II expansion of the Innovation Quarter, conversion of the former R.J. Reynolds campus into a multi-tenant business park, and a large mixed-income housing development off New Hope Lane with move-ins targeted for late 2027. The median home price in the 27101 ZIP code where the north campus sits is below the state median, and rents have ticked modestly upward in recent months. The broader housing market has softened slightly year over year.
Housing data and economic benchmarks for the school's ZIP code show values below both state and national medians, suggesting the downtown and adjacent neighborhoods where this charter operates are more affordable than suburban alternatives in the region. This may reflect the ongoing transition of these areas from industrial to mixed-use, with opportunity for both established homeowners and new entrants. A family considering this school should factor in both the school's waitlist history and the neighborhood character around each campus when weighing fit and accessibility.
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