Research Triangle High School

3106 North Carolina 54

School District

Research Triangle High
Grade

9-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:14
Type

charter

School Map for Research Triangle High School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on February 27, 2023

i just dot like this school at all.!!!!!
Submitted by parent on December 07, 2022

RTHS is a beautiful school but the new principal has turned the school into a very difficult place for teachers and students.Students and teachers have no say in what happens at the school, and there are constant changes being made without the knowledge of students and teachers.
Submitted by parent on January 03, 2022

We have been at the school for 5 years. The principal’s leadership was great back in 2017/2018. He lost key leaders and it turns out they were the reason the school was a gem. We can see a very real change toward authoritarian leadership. It’s a lesser version of Durham School of the Arts, basically. Even a prominent board member has move his son to another school. That says it all.
Submitted by parent on August 08, 2020

My daughter came in as a freshman and did well. It was a change as it was a new way of learning but they are aware of that and build the learning curve into the curriculum. I think the framework of their style of teaching allowed them to have a much easier transition when the COVID-19 Pandemic hit and forced schools to adapt.
Submitted by parent on November 24, 2019

Absolutely great high school! My daughter is thriving at RTHS! I love the Personalize Learning Program - just needed to give it a chance as it was completely new to me. Teachers are more then willing to assist kids as needed yet still allowing them to learn the material.
Submitted by parent on February 23, 2019

The teachers are supportive and the PLP system is an innovative way of learning.
Submitted by parent on February 22, 2019

I was skeptical at first sending my daughter to RTHS. After the first year I knew it was a good choice. Yes the PLP is challenging and extremely different way of learning BUT the teachers support the children. They will come in early to help your child or will stay after. Many times my daughter sought out help with different subjects and received the help. I don't understand all the negative reviews. Obviously their children are lying and not wanting to do the work. My daughter is a senior and has at least 7 college acceptances. The high school must be doing something right!
Submitted by parent on March 05, 2018

Absolutely terrible school. Do not send your child here.
Submitted by parent on August 09, 2017

My son is a rising junior here this year. His class was the first to implement the PLP (Personalized Learning Plan). As an educator myself, this is a great way for kids to learn, *if* the parents let the kids manage it themselves. "Helicopter parents" will not like this program. The PLP is teaching my son how to manage his time and to own his education. The teachers are all enthusiastic and well-credentialed. We have found the staff to be friendly and helpful. As far as the complaint about not closing school due to weather conditions, I can only imagine that RTHS has been that family's first charter experience. This is our 3rd charter (ES, MS, and HS) they have always made their own decisions about school closing.
Submitted by parent on July 15, 2017

This school is probably the worst charter school there is. The students are expected to learn by themselves and the teachers don't try to help them in any way. The staff themselves are very rude, they don't try to help you understand. The school started a new education system called PLP (Personalized Learning Program). This system basically has the teachers not doing anything while the students try to learn themselves and some children have trouble learning but they don't get the education that they deserve because the teachers don't teach at all. I would find a better school to go to, I tried RTP for one year and I was greatly disappointed.
Submitted by parent on June 09, 2017

As the end of the year is over, I'd like to say this charter school is the worst out of all. The education system for rising Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen is absolutely terrible. My child is constantly complaining of how his teachers teach, as they are expected to learn everything on their own. During inclement weather, the principal (Mr. Grunden) makes very poor decisions whether students have to come to school. Normally, most public schools in the area are closed due to inclement weather. However, parents are forced to drive on icy roads in order to get their student to class. You may want to rethink whether your child will get the education the school is "known" to have. Absolutely absurd.
Submitted by parent on June 08, 2017

I wanted to love RTHS. I really like their educational philosophy. However, the following things have kept that philosophy from being fruitful, at least with my student.1) Students are expected to self regulate the timing of the entire year's curriculum. And they aren't given any tools with which to do it. If your student isn't naturally good at time management, forget taking an honors class. Time management is a good skill to learn, however they aren't actually being taught the skill. They are just expected to work at their own pace, without any guidance as to how many assessments they need to have completed per quarter to stay on track for the end of the year. They had to send around emails toward the end of the year with the consequences for students who didn't complete all the assessments because so many were behind.Honors classes are simply doing extra assignments, as opposed to a completely separate class. If your student struggles with timing all the standard assignments, he likely won't have time to complete the honors assignments. If your student has ADHD, this is probably not the right school.2) Not only is there a strong political indoctrination woven into quite a few classes, I personally witnessed multiple administrators and teachers discussing on their personal Facebook pages the possibility of using students to march for a particular political party. I don't appreciate my student being referred to as a "body" to march in support of the school's political persuasion.3) I have 4 children in different public schools and RTHS is the least open to helping my child to succeed. For all their talk of personalized instruction...it's smoke and mirrors. Any concern I have had has been met with a "if you don't like it, there are plenty of other schools." They're always very polite with how they say it, but that's the bottom line. I agree very much with their educational philosophy, so it's not that we don't want the same things. But they're not very open to constructive criticism...even though they tell you that they are. And frankly, there is a strong feeling of snobbery at the school. The ladies at the front desk are rude. Any teacher I have tried to communicate with has been blatantly dismissive. There is zero parental communication...and I'm not normally the sort of person who gets super involved with my student, especially at this age.
Submitted by parent on June 07, 2017

I must say that the lack of clarity by the student Dean and the current Director are less than sufficient for a program such as this. Our child turned in one assignment for a science based project and despite the lack of guidance they wanted to press 'academic dishonesty'. He sited all references spent hours putting his project together but they still persisted. They pulled one sentence out of his presentation and said he didn't site the reference. Next, he was told by another teacher that once a student is tagged as 'academically dishonest' they teachers pay special attention to this student. Just shy of saying they are profiling them. This same terminology was represented 'in writing' by the Director himself. For a charter school.. only his math teacher was actually teaching.. The PLP is running the educational experience so I highly encourage you to find another school. It had a great reputation so we the family made the sacrifice but we're pulling our child out for their consistent inability to offer clarity combined with PLP educating.
Submitted by student on May 25, 2017

The school is ridiculous. Some of my teachers are purposefully removing projects and assignments just for students to pass their class.
Submitted by parent on May 14, 2017

Office is unhelpful and rude and teachers are not qualified!
Submitted by parent on May 07, 2017

Terrible education and learning habits for new students.
Submitted by student on April 28, 2017

The school was good when it first started, however, they implemented a new program known as the PLP (Personalized Learning Program). If you're looking for your student to actually learn and become successful, this school is not the right choice. Coming from a student perspective, who is doing pretty well in the PLP, can tell you that their new learning strategy is VERY stressful. It is known to pace yourself with your learning, however, it is hard to learn on your own. None of the teachers teach well, the focus areas (additional & challenge) are difficult to learn and pass. The teachers make you learn on your own and expect you to achieve your own honors credit without their assistance. However, the community is welcoming and excellent. If they had just removed the PLP, I'm sure this school would be successful. I do not recommend this school, you're better off going to a public school.
Submitted by parent on March 19, 2017

My son is in his junior year at RTHS. He has been taught, he has been challenged, and he has grown in such a well rounded way! We are so appreciative of the staff, teachers, parent volunteers and non parent volunteers! It is a great school and worth the drive from Raleigh!
Submitted by parent on September 15, 2016

Don't let the official statistics of this school fool you! It is a newly opened school with fantastic energetic teachers and great leadership. Everything is tailored to have your child succeed and enjoy learning. My son occasionally without any previous mentioning starts saying how awesome his school is. The cool things they learn in such an interesting way. This school is the definite way to learn and educate the youth.
Submitted by parent on September 11, 2016

Wonderful school. High number of rigorous AP courses, tons of clubs and activities, friendly environment for students.