For families with school-aged children, proximity to strong schools is often a major factor in determining the neighborhood in which to live. Fortunately, in Asheville, we have a wide and diverse selection of fantastic public, private and charter schools. This guide, organized by age of children, provides an overview of the area’s educational institutions.

Public Elementary Schools in the Asheville Buncombe Area

The Asheville/ Buncombe area is unique in that it operates separate city and county school districts.  

Asheville City Schools system serves the most centrally-located neighborhoods. Their elementary school model is based on a magnet system where families can select their top 3 choices from the 5 differently-themed magnet schools. If there is more demand than availability, a lottery is used for placement. The city school system has a strong partnership with the Asheville City Schools Foundation.

Buncombe County School system operates neighborhood-based elementary schools where children attend the school based upon the district in which they live. Students in South Asheville feed into the TC Roberson School district. East Asheville and Fairview students attend A.C. Reynolds district elementary schools. Swannanoa and Black Mountain students attend Owen district schools. West Asheville students attend Enka or Erwin districts. North Asheville and Weaverville students attend North Buncombe School District.  

We recommend that you check the public school district indicated under the Location section of property listings.

Public Middle Schools in the Asheville Buncombe Area

Asheville Middle School has been the long-standing public middle school for students within the Asheville City Schools district.  New in the 2017-2018 school year is a STEAM-focused alternative middle school option called the Montford North Star Academy.  Both of these middle schools have excellent community partnerships in place.

Each of the separate Buncombe County school districts has one middle school, and some have intermediate schools that also serve their district's middle school age children.

Public High Schools in the Asheville Buncombe Area

Asheville High School is the sole high school within the Asheville City Schools district. It is located on a gorgeous historic campus near Mission Hospital.  SILSA operates as a school within a school and has a focus on inquiry and life sciences.  These schools have a long tradition of academic excellence and partner with Asheville Buncombe Technical Community College on college credit coursework.

Each of the separate Buncombe County school districts has one high school to serve young adults in that district. Additionally, there is the Martin L. Nesbitt, Jr. Discovery Academy - a STEM school with a focus on college and career readiness.

 

Charter Schools in the Asheville Buncombe Area

There are a handful of long-standing charter schools in Buncombe County.  Evergreen Community Charter School is in East Asheville and utilizes an Outward Bound expeditionary learning model to teach Kindergarten through eighth grade students. A newer charter school in West Buncombe, Franklin School of Innovation, offers the same model to fifth through twelfth grade students.

Francine Delany New School for Children, in the heart of West Asheville, serves children Kindergarten through eighth grade with a focus on social justice. ArtSpace Charter school in Swannanoa offers an arts-integrated curriculum to 400 elementary and middle school students.

Private Schools in the Asheville Buncombe Area

Rainbow Community School is a private, independent alternative education program for preschool through middle aged children. Located in West Asheville, if focuses on whole child education through seven domains.

Carolina Day School is a private school that serves children in grades Kindergarten through 12th grade.  It is located in south Asheville near Biltmore Forest and is focused on college preparation.

Asheville School is a nationally renowned day and boarding school serving college-bound high school students with a rigorous curriculum. It is located on a gorgeous historic campus in West Asheville.

Several private single-sex middle schools are available in our area. For girls, there is the new French Broad River Academy for Girls and Hanger Hall.  For boys, there is the adventurous French Broad River Academy for Boys.

Emmanuel Lutheran, Asheville Catholic School, Christ School and Asheville Christian Academy are all religious schools in this area serving a wide range of ages.

Post Secondary Schools in the Asheville Buncombe Area

Asheville Buncombe Technical Community College, located near downtown Asheville, serves our county for career and technical readiness courses.  

Part of the state university system, University of North Carolina at Asheville offers undergraduate and limited graduate level coursework and is the only dedicated liberal arts institution in the system.

Warren Wilson College is a private four year liberal arts college located in the beautiful Swannanoa River Valley.  It is known for its strong service learning components, creative writing and environmental studies programs.

Montreat College, in the stunning Montreat community just outside of Black Mountain, is a private Christian liberal arts college.  Mars Hill University, 15 miles north of Asheville in Marshall also offers a liberal arts course of study in a private setting.

Pairing a school with a neighborhood can be a difficult balance. We would love to help you make that choice by guiding you on our Neighborhood Familiarization Tour.

Please contact Mike Figura at Mike@MyMosaicRealty.com  or call him anytime at (828) 337-8190.

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