>>>
>>>Why is the school so much smaller? I thought NC in general was gaining population.
>>
>>It is. We have too few schools. The 9th, 10th, and 11th grades are all too full and there are not a sufficient number of classes and teachers for all the students. When it comes to the 12th grade, that is the number of students still in school. This school got it's first new principle in years last year and he instituted new rules for graduation such as having to do a huge project if you miss too many days of school, making up time in class after school when you missed class, requiring all seniors attend full time even if they only needed one class to graduate, etc. Too many students were too lazy to do that and they actually dropped out or instead went on straight to a local college and skipped the 12th grade completely.
>
>Wow. Clearly the new principal is some sort of crazed sadist to make kids do their schoolwork and make up missed classes <g>, but how do they get into college without finishing high school? That's a level of open admissions I haven't heard of.

Here, you can take college courses while you are in highschool. You can also attend college if you pass the entrance exam. If you haven't taken the SAT or the ACT then you can take the college's own proficiency test.

Smith College and Wake Forest recently changed their enrollment requirements so that neither the ACT or SAT is required for admission.

http://theworldisyourcampus.wordpress.com/2008/05/27/smith-college-wake-forest-sat-act/

Then there is this:

http://communications.waketech.edu/news_releases/2008/20080822-NCSU-WakeTechPartnership.php

Wake Technical Community College partnered with NC State, and our local community college is partnered with UNC.

http://www.faytechcc.edu/HOS/HCC/

My daughter spends half a day in highschool and half a day in college. Her college courses count for her highschool requirements as well as college degree requirements.