Wilmington Academy of Arts and Sciences (WAAS) is a private school in Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...

 that focuses on education for academically gifted students in grades 4-8.

History

Wilmington Academy of Arts and Sciences was established in 1997 and was founded by Patti
Deffendal. Wilmington Academy of Arts and Sciences is the first school in Wilmington, North
Carolina to concentrate on advanced academics. At WAAS (Wilmington Academy of Arts and Sciences)
there is a 4-5th grade classroom and there are 6-8th grades. WAAS concentrates on Science, Mathematics, Language
Arts, Social Studies, Spanish, and Explorations.

Alumni

Notable people that went to WAAS is Sam
Spaulding who attends Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 and was a finalist on the college Jeopardy. Out of
the six high schools in Wilmington, North Carolina, three have either Valedictorians
or Salutorians that are former WAAS students.

Teachers

Teachers are at the heart of the WAAS community, which until last year had no director (lacked leadership). Therefore the teachers had to step up and make sure everything was in order.

Past Teachers

Past teachers include Dawn Hodges, who, in addition to being the Language Arts teacher, was also the de facto head of the school for many years.

Leadership

For a long time, WAAS did not have a director/principal; the school was run by teachers alone. The closest thing it had to a director was Jennifer Maraveiyas, whose exact title is as of now unknown. She helped everything in order. Then in 2010, Kate Tayloe was hired as the director of the then-struggling school. She has made many changes, including changing the school mascot from a lion to an owl. The school was also run by the parents and at that time it was much more advanced. Right now WAAS has the same curriculum as any other school.

Extra Curriclulars

WAAS offers many extracurricular activities. The clubs and groups are run by parents and teachers.

• Chess club: run by Mr. Opper
• Yoga: run by Mrs. Spanos
• Running Club: set up by Mrs. White
• Press: run by Ms. Leinbach
• Girls Tennis: allowed by Echo Farms Country Club
• Boys Tennis
• Math Counts: run by Mrs. Ragan
• Student Government Association(SGA): run by Mrs. Ovacz
• Art club: run by Mrs. Voynow
• Rock Band
• Boys Basketball
• Girls Basketball
• Science Olympiad: run by Mrs.Kinney
• Eighth Grade Advisory Team- Mrs.Tayloe's advisers

Current Teachers

• Director: currently vacant
• Social Studies Teacher: Seffie Ovacz
• Math Teacher: Katie Ragan
• Science Teacher: Robin Kinney
• Language Arts Teacher: Teresa Spanos
• Spanish Teacher: Bonnie Laserna
• Explorations/P.E. Teacher: Sandy Errante
• 4/5 Teacher: Lauren Leinbach