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Salem Academy Charter School

Salem · MA · Salem Academy Charter · Public charter · K-12 combined

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📚AP rigor: 80th percentile nationally 📖12 AP courses

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 12 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • 🔢 1 calculus classes · 1 physics · 5 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 80th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: 66th percentile by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 82% (Bottom 29% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

💡

How Salem Academy Charter School compares for families

Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 20% nationally with 12 AP courses.
  • LocallyMA students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+14 points).
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: New Liberty Innovation School, Salem Prep High School, Salem High and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

80th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
12
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Advanced math classes
4
1 calculus · 3 advanced
Lab science classes
6
1 physics · 5 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Dual-enrollment program

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

66th percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
128
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
49.0
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

Bottom 29% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
82%
Range: 80–84%
4-year cohort size
76
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
21.6%
Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
39.2%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
14.6%
Roughly average. The national post-COVID rate climbed to ~16% nationwide; this school is in the middle of the pack.
Students absent 15+ days
70
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the strongest early indicator of dropout, transfer-out, and family disengagement. A school's absenteeism trend forecasts its enrollment trend 1-3 years out. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
96:1
Below the ASCA 250:1 recommendation — strong capacity for college planning, course selection, and student supports.
Counselor FTE
5.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
50
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Grade 12 went from 64 in 2021 to 67 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+4.7%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -1.0%/year, projecting from 2024's 480 students:

2025
475
2027
465
2029
456

≈ 24 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue at risk

At $22,695 per student in district revenue, the 24 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $544,680/year in funding at risk.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Nearby high schools — the local competition

The closest high schools families here also consider, and where their enrollment is heading.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
New Liberty Innovation School
Salem
Public 0.4 34
Salem Prep High School
Salem
Public 0.4 23
Salem High
Salem
Public 1.4 942 +18.0%
Marblehead High
Marblehead
Public 2.0 861 -7.0%
Bishop Fenwick High School
Peabody
Private 2.1 466 -19.9%
Beverly School For The Deaf
Beverly
Private 2.7 158 +107.9%
Swampscott High
Swampscott
Public 3.1 700 +8.0%
Beverly High
Beverly
Public 3.3 1,206 -6.5%

For Parents

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