Governor's School of North Carolina

Governor's School Logo The Governor's School of North Carolina is a 5½-week summer residential program for gifted and talented high school students, integrating academic disciplines, the arts, and unique courses on each of two campuses. The curriculum focuses on the exploration of the most recent ideas and concepts in each discipline, and it does not involve credit, tests, or grades. Students are selected to attend through a competitive process after being nominated by their public school unit or non-public school.

Employment Opportunities Now Available

Vacancies and the employment application for the 2020 Governor's School are now posted on the Employment page.

Congratulations to the Students Who Completed the 2019 Session of Governor's School

The Office of the North Carolina Governor's School congratulates all students who completed Governor's School East at Meredith College and Governor's School West at High Point University in 2019. Public school units, non-public schools, parents, families and communities should be proud of these students' success.

Nomination Packet for the 2020 Governor's School

The Nomination Packet for the 2020 session is below. This includes all overview information about Governor’s School and sample forms. Individual fillable forms are available below for download. NOTE: The nomination period for Governor's School 2020 has closed. Contact the Office of the North Carolina Governor's School with specific questions.

2020 Nomination Packet

Individual Forms

DIRECTIONS: First download and save the form to your computer. Then open that saved version in a pdf-reading program (e.g., Adobe Acrobat Reader) to enable all features and to enter/save data. ALL FORMS MUST BE COMPLETED ELECTRONICALLY; handwritten forms will be returned.

Student Application Acrobat Reader version Chromebook version (for student use only)
Recommendation Form Acrobat Reader version Chromebook version (for use by those writing recommendations)
Student Eligibility Form Acrobat Reader version Chromebook version (for use only by school counselors)
Nomination Form Acrobat Reader version Chromebook version (for use only by the official Governor’s School Contact in a school system, charter school or private school)

Auditions

While academic selections are based only on the nominations, all students nominated in the visual/performing arts are invited to and must participate in auditions that complement their nomination materials. General audition information is always available on page 8 of the Nomination Packet. Invitations with specific reporting times, parking locations, etc., were emailed to students in January.

Audition Schedule

Each title is linked to audition discipline details.

Dance	Sat., Feb. 1 (afternoon only) – Statesville HS in Statesville OR Sat., Feb. 22 (afternoon only) – NEW LOCATION: Durham School of the Arts* in Durham NOTE: Dance students can attend either audition and do not have to declare which; however, they can attend only one, not both. FEBRUARY 19, 2020 – ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT AUDITIONS AND WEATHER The Office of the North Carolina Governor’s School is monitoring the upcoming weather event for the eastern part of the state. At this point, there are no widespread adjustments to the scheduled auditions in Instrumental Music and Dance at the Durham School of the Arts on Saturday, February 22. Students have been emailed invitations with specific reporting times and are expected to plan accordingly. However, if a student experiences local weather conditions that compromise safe morning travel, they may notify the Office (ncgovschool@dpi.nc.gov) that they need to arrive later in the day.
Choral Music	Sun., Feb. 9 – Meredith College in Raleigh; all auditions are complete.
Theater	Sun., Feb. 9 – Meredith College in Raleigh; all auditions are complete.
Visual Art	Sun., Feb. 9 – Meredith College in Raleigh; all auditions are complete.
Instrumental Music	Sat., Feb. 22 – NEW LOCATION: Durham School of the Arts* in Durham; each student will be assigned to either the morning or afternoon session. FEBRUARY 19, 2020 – ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT AUDITIONS AND WEATHER The Office of the North Carolina Governor’s School is monitoring the upcoming weather event for the eastern part of the state. At this point, there are no widespread adjustments to the scheduled auditions in Instrumental Music and Dance at the Durham School of the Arts on Saturday, February 22. Students have been emailed invitations with specific reporting times and are expected to plan accordingly. However, if a student experiences local weather conditions that compromise safe morning travel, they may notify the Office (ncgovschool@dpi.nc.gov) that they need to arrive later in the day.

Alternate Audition Option (NOW CLOSED)

If a nominee in performing/visual arts, except for Dance, could not attend a scheduled audition event for any reason (e.g., schedule conflict, travel issues, finances, etc.), the school could have requested permission to administer and video-record an audition at the school to privately upload to YouTube or Vimeo. The alternate audition is structured and rigorous, closely replicating the in-person audition experience and offering neither a selection advantage nor disadvantage. The Dance audition is an interactive class, so a recorded option was not feasible. To accommodate these students, two in-person options have been offered.

Contact Information

Sherry Thomas, Director
Exceptional Children Division

Tom Winton, Coordinator
Exceptional Children Division
919.807.3767 (p)

Tish Bynum, Special Assistant
Exceptional Children Division
919.807.3582 (p)

Governor's School of North Carolina
NC Dept. of Public Instruction
6356 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-6356