The Exceptional Children Division of North Carolina Public Schools oversees special education schools in North Carolina. NC Public Schools is a subset of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. The mission of the EC Division is to ensure that "students with disabilities develop mentally, physically, emotionally and vocationally through the provision of an appropriate individualized education in the least restrictive environment." These are oversight agencies, not the schools themselves. Both public and private schools are required to develop individualized education programs for each exceptional child.
The policy governing special education in North Carolina is Policy NC1500 of the Department of Public Instruction, which is established principally to ensure compliance with federal law governing "free appropriate public education (FAPE)." This policy applies to private as well as public special education schools, and describes the minimum qualifications for teachers in special education schools. Every exceptional child in North Carolina is entitled by this policy to an individualized education program (IEP), described in that policy. The IEP is developed in coordination between teachers, parents and administrators.
All county and city school systems in North Carolina provide special education. In addition to the provision of IEPs, reviewed by parents and reviewable by the EC Department, exceptional children attending public schools have a legal right to access all standard course material. Exceptional children are also given standard end-of-grade testing when it is feasible. Vocational training is an entitlement for exceptional children in NC public schools.
There are 15 private special education high schools in North Carolina in 11 cities: Black Mountain, Clinton, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Indian Trail, Kinston, Marion, Newport, Raleigh and Winston-Salem. There are 24 private special education elementary schools in 16 cities: the aforementioned and Barium Springs, Dunn, Durham and Matthews. The Stone Mountain School (primary and secondary) in Black Mountain is an all-boys school, as is the Brian Johnson Education Center (primary only) in Marion. There are no all-girls schools. The Berean Baptist Academy (primary and secondary) in Fayetteville is the largest, with 401 students as of 2011 and a student-teacher ratio of 15/1. The smallest is the Village Academy Elementary School in Jacksonville, with only two students in 2011. These schools are highly specialized with varying prices. Private School Review provides links to each institution with a standardized fact sheet.