Best Private Schools in Charlotte – 2023

As parents, there are a multitude of considerations guiding your decision of which Charlotte-Area high school will be best for your child. Ultimately, your final selection will need to balance your teen’s academic, emotional, and social needs with financial and logistical considerations. However, College Transitions’ list of the Best Private Schools in Charlotte, NC will focus primarily on direct our area of expertise—college admissions. As such, we will highlight the job that each of the schools does at sending their graduates to the region/nation’s premier 4-year colleges and universities.

Please note that inclusion on our Best Private Schools in Charlotte list is a selective and criteria-based process. However, the order in which the schools appear is not representative of any further ranking; the numbering is solely intended to enhance the ease of navigating this resource. All of the schools profiled below have a history of sending a significant number of graduates to the top colleges in the country. For these institutions, College Transitions will provide you with—when available—each school’s:

• Location
• Tuition (9-12)
• Enrollment (9-12)
• Average SAT Score
• Average ACT Score
• Senior Class Size
• College Admissions Highlights
• Academic Highlights

Without further ado, let’s look the profiled high schools on our list of the best private schools in Charlotte.

1) Charlotte Country Day School

Location: 1440 Carmel Rd, Charlotte, NC 28226

Tuition (9-12): $26,865

Enrollment (seniors): 131

SAT Score: 1190-1435

ACT Score: 25-32

College Admissions Highlights:

In 2019-2022, students entered the following schools: Amherst, Boston College, Boston University, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Colby, Duke, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, UMich, Rice, Stanford, Williams, and Yale.

Academic Highlights:

• 73% of faculty hold advanced degrees.
• 7:1 student-to-faculty ratio.
• 64% of students scored a 4 or above on their AP exams.
• The Class of 2022 included 11 National Merit Finalists.
• 24 AP courses are offered.

2) Woodlawn School

Location: 135 Woodlawn School Loop, Mooresville, NC 28115

Tuition (9-12): $20,890

Enrollment (9-12): 51

Average SAT Score: 1330

ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

In recent years, Woodlawn has seen the following number of acceptances at prominent colleges: UNC Chapel Hill (16), Davidson (11), Sewanee (5), Wake Forest (4), Duke (3), Dartmouth (2), UVA (2), and Williams (2).

Academic Highlights:

• 6:1 student-to-faculty ratio.
• Students take 4 years of world language.
• 70% of students score 3 or above on AP exams.
• 100% of courses are honors/AP.
• 82% of faculty possess advanced degrees.

3) Charlotte Catholic High School

Location: 7702 Pineville-Matthews Rd, Charlotte, NC 28226

Tuition (9-12): $18,106 (non-Catholics); $12,651 for Catholics

Enrollment (seniors): 290

SAT Score: 1100-1300

ACT Score: 23-28

College Admissions Highlights:

In the last three years, students matriculated into Babson, the College of William & Mary, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, MIT, the University of Michigan, Vanderbilt, and Yale.

Academic Highlights:

• The Class of 2022 earned over $23 million in scholarship offers.
• Students in the 5th decile sport GPAs of 3.89-3.99.
• Last year, 335 students took 960 AP exams in 21 subjects.
• 77% of AP scores were 3 or above.

Best Private Schools in Charlotte (Continued)

4) Providence Day School

Location: 5800 Sardis Rd, Charlotte, NC 28270

Tuition (9-12): $29,620

Enrollment (seniors): 163

Mean SAT Score: 1296

Mean ACT Score: 27

College Admissions Highlights:

Between 2019-2022, students entered the following schools: Amherst, Boston College, Boston University, Bowdoin, Brown, Duke, Emory, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Middlebury, Northwestern, Pomona, Princeton, USNA, Wellesley, Wesleyan, and Yale.

Academic Highlights:

• 8:1 student-to-faculty ratio.
• 163 graduates were offered over $15 million in scholarships.
• The Class of 2022 included 9 National Merit Semifinalists and 11 Commended Students.
• 82% of Upper School faculty have advanced degrees.

5) Charlotte Christian School

Location: 7301 Sardis Rd, Charlotte, NC 28270

Tuition (9-12): $22,955

Enrollment (9-12): 415

Average SAT Score: Not Reported

Average ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

Over the past three years (Classes of 2020-2022), students have enrolled at Amherst, Duke, Emory, Georgia Tech, NYU, Rice, UNC Chapel Hill, USC, Vanderbilt, Villanova, UVA, and Yale.

Academic Highlights:

• There are 22 AP & college-level courses
• The mid-50% GPA is 3.2-4.0.
• One recent class included 58 AP Scholars.
• 78% of AP exam-takers scored a 3 or higher.
• 9:1 student-to-teacher ratio

6) Charlotte Latin School

Location: 9502 Providence Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277

Tuition (9-12): $29,350

Enrollment (seniors): 118

Average SAT Score: Not Reported

Average ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

Over the past three years, Charlotte Latin has sent students to Bates, Boston College, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Dartmouth, UGA, MIT, NYU, UNC Chapel Hill, Penn, UVA, and the College of William and Mary.

Academic Highlights:

• In a three-year period, they produced 25 National Merit Semifinalists.
• AP courses in 22 subjects are offered.
• The Class of 2021 gave more than 6,600 hours of community service.
• 100% went on to attend 4-year schools.

7) Covenant Day School

Location: 800 Fullwood Ln, Matthews, NC 28105

Tuition (9-12): $19,125

Enrollment (9-12): 350

Average SAT Score: 1257

Average ACT Score: 26

College Admissions Highlights:

In the last 4 years, students earned admission to the following schools: Bucknell, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, NYU, Pepperdine, Princeton, Stanford, US Military Academy, UMich, UCLA, the University of Wisconsin, and Vanderbilt.

Academic Highlights:

• 84% scored above a 3 on their AP exams.
• They have had 25 National Merit Finalists in the last 15 years.
• There are 38 high school teachers.
• AP course offerings include Latin, Physics, and Studio Art.

Best Private Schools in Charlotte (Continued)

8) Davidson Day School

Location: 750 Jetton St, Davidson, NC 28036

Tuition (9-12): $22,040

Enrollment (seniors): 32

Average SAT Score: Not Reported

Average ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

From 2016-2022, Davidson Day students were admitted to Bowdoin, Cal Poly, Colgate, Cornell, Davidson, Duke Georgetown, Harvard, Kenyon, Rhodes, Swarthmore, Tulane, UMiami, WashU, and Wake Forest.

Academic Highlights:

• 8:1 student-to-faculty ratio.
• Average class size of only 12 students.
• Median GPA was 4.01.
• Last two classes included 7 total National Merit Commended Scholars.

9) Gaston Day School

Location: 2001 Gaston Day School Rd, Gastonia, NC 28056

Tuition (9-12): Based on need– $5,315-$19,075

Enrollment (seniors): 50

Average SAT Score: Not Reported

Average ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

From 2018-2022, students have received acceptances from the likes of BU, Bryn Mawr, Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon, Colby, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Middlebury, NYU, Tufts, Notre Dame, and Wesleyan.

Academic Highlights:

• The average class size is 15 students.
• 100% college acceptance rate.
• 80% of AP exam-takers scored a 3 or higher.
• 10:1 student-to-teacher ratio

10) Cannon School

Location: 5801 Poplar Tent Rd, Concord, NC 28027

Tuition (9-12): $26,075

Enrollment (9-12): 435

Average SAT Score: Not Reported

Average ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

Between 2020-2022, students matriculated into Cornell, Duke, Georgia Tech, NC State, Northeastern, Stanford, UNC Chapel Hill, USC, UVA, Vanderbilt, Villanova, and Wake Forest.

Academic Highlights:

• The mid-50% unweighted GPA is 3.56-3.95
• 99% of graduates attend 4-year colleges
• 12 AP courses are offered.
• Has Signature Learning Experiences including: Portfolio Defense, Symposium, BIOREX, and Senior Capstones.

Best Private Schools in Charlotte – Additional Resources 

We hope you found our blog on private schools in Charlotte, NC to be helpful. All high school students and families may wish to explore further information regarding the college search and admissions process at our Dataverse, Blog, and List-Building Tool.