Original Research by School Decision on Shaw Academy
Shaw Academy is an alternative public school serving grades 6 through 12 in Laurinburg, North Carolina, and is part of Scotland County Schools. It enrolls a small group of students, most of whom face significant economic barriers. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly Black, with smaller shares of American Indian or Alaska Native, White, and multiracial students.
The school's testing profile shows extremely low proficiency on state assessments across subjects. In mathematics and English language arts, proficiency was reported in a very narrow range well below standard; in science, proficiency was similarly minimal. These results place Shaw among schools with the steepest academic challenges in its grade band. That said, the school serves a small cohort, and state testing results for alternative schools often reflect both the academic needs of their enrollees and the difficulty of measuring growth in settings designed to serve students not thriving in traditional settings.
The high concentration of students in grades 10 through 12 suggests Shaw's primary role is serving older adolescents, with only a handful in middle grades. This structure is typical of alternative programs designed to re-engage students who have fallen behind or disengaged from traditional high school pathways. State graduation rate data was not available, so parents should ask the school directly about its completion and graduation outcomes, including the pathways students take upon leaving.
Laurinburg itself is a mid-sized county seat with a mixed-use character: a historic downtown grid around Main Street hosting civic life and commerce, plus surrounding residential neighborhoods and industrial areas. The city is car-dependent, with limited public transit and most amenities requiring vehicle access. Housing values are modest by state standards, and the local economy centers on manufacturing, healthcare, and educational services, with new job growth announced from food processing and other sectors. The region is economically distressed by state designation.
The broader district context matters for Shaw's placement. Scotland County Schools is designated low-performing by the state, a multi-year status affecting more than half of its schools. More directly, in 2025 the state legislature repealed a decades-old mandatory school funding floor unique to Scotland County, giving commissioners full discretion over school appropriations. The district immediately faced a significant funding decrease, leading to cuts in supplies and athletic equipment. This is a structural shift that affects all schools in the system, including Shaw, and signals ongoing resource tightness going forward. Publicly reported data on Scotland County's persistent high tax rate underscores the fiscal strain on families in the area.
For a family considering Shaw, the primary question is whether the school's alternative structure, small size, and program design fit a student's specific needs. Parents should seek clarity from the school on its academic interventions, the credentials and focus of its staff, its graduation and post-secondary transition outcomes, and what happens upon completion. The school is part of a district facing both state-mandated improvement pressure and reduced local funding, conditions that shape resources available to any single school. Understanding Shaw's particular academic model, support services, and track record of student outcomes will be essential to evaluating fit.
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