School Profile

CHARLES D. OWEN HIGH SCHOOL

99 Lake Eden Road

Black Mountain, NC  28711

Telephone:  828-686-3852

Fax: 828-686-8442

Our Mission: 

Empowering Students to Dream; Preparing Them to Achieve. 

Our Vision: 

  Excellence: Fostering Ownership & Pride in Ourselves, Our School & Our Community.

Our Belief Statements

1. A collaborative and respectful culture promotes a productive community.

2. Quality teaching positively impacts student learning and growth. 

3. Positive relationships foster a sense of belongingness.

4. All students can learn and grow.

5. Parental involvement builds a stronger school community.

Our School:  Charles D. Owen High School is a public school accredited via the AdvancedEd process through affiliation with the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges as well as the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Approximately 685 students are enrolled in grades 9-12.  We employ 58 Certified Instructional staff, with 40% of them holding advanced degrees and 31% being National Board Certified Teachers. All of our faculty are instructing within their area of certification and have an average of 14.5 years of teaching experience. Owen High is a member of the 2-A Western Highlands Conference of the North Carolina High School Athletics Association (NCHSAA) and fields 19 different athletic teams.

Our Community:  The Charles D. Owen High School district is located in the Swannanoa Valley, 12 miles east of Asheville, NC.  The district includes one high school, one middle school, two elementary schools, one primary school, one charter school and one alternative high school. There are also two small independent colleges nearby (Montreat College and Warren Wilson College) along with the University of North Carolina at Asheville and Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College within easy access.  Approximately 13,000 people live in this rural community and earn their livelihood in professional, high technology, manufacturing, agricultural & tourism.  The Ingles Markets Distribution Center is the largest employer in the district. Approximately 50% of our students receive free or reduced lunch.    

Graduation Requirements (minimum):  

• 28 credits: 4 English, 4 Math, 3 Science, 4 Social Studies, 9 Electives, 1 Health & PE, and 4 Credit Concentrations related to student interests and post-secondary goals. 

Advanced Placement (AP) courses offered: 

World History Statistics English Language & Composition

Calculus AB US History English Literature & Composition

Government and Politics 

Biology (offered on alternate years to AP Chemistry) 

Chemistry (offered on alternate years to AP Biology) 

Advanced Placement (AP) courses offered through North Carolina Virtual Public Schools:

Calculus BC Computer Science Environmental Science US Government 

Human Geography Music Theory Physics I: Algebra-based Psychology

Career Technical Education programs offered:

Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources,  Architecture & Construction 

Arts, A/V Technology & Communications, Information Technology 

Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, Manufacturing

Health Science, Hospitality & Tourism

Marketing, Finance 

Human Services

Grading Scale and Quality Points:

In the spring of 2020, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction adopted the following grading policy to address the challenges presented by Covid-19.

Students in grades 9-11 and non-graduating seniors chose how each final course grade appeared on their transcript for the Spring semester of 2020.  If students could not be reached to make a choice, they were be permitted to do so within the first 20 days of school upon reopening.                                               

• Option 1:  Report the numeric grade, their highest grade representing either their learning as of March 13, 2020 or as improved through the semester as remote learning continued. Students received course credit. The numeric grade and quality points for each course were used to calculate GPA.

• Option 2: Report a PC19 or WC19. Students opting to receive a PC19 will receive course credit. PC19 or WC19 will not impact GPA. WC19 receives no course credit but students could take advantage of future credit recovery or repeating a course for credit.

North Carolina is on the following 10 point grading scale for courses chosen for credit

A: 100 – 90 = 4.0      B: 89 – 80 = 3.0      C: 79 – 70 = 2.0      D: 69 – 60 = 1.0      F: >59 = 0.0

Scholarships and Post-Secondary Plans: The class of 2023 earned over $769,500 in scholarships. This is a testament to our goals as a school and community: small student population with a focus on greatness.

For the class of 2023, 48%  reported to be attending a community or technical schools, 28% to a four-year university, whether it be public or independent and in state or out of state, 18% to employment, and 3 enlisted in the military.

Administrators:         Student Services Staff:

Principal: Dawn Rookey                 Last Names A-L Buck Tanner (Scholarships)

Asst. Principal:  Kim Mason                   Last Names M-Z Tiffany Kinnaird (504)

Asst. Principal:  Samantha McIntosh     Career Development Coordinator: Weston McKinney 

Asst. Principal:  Jan Greenhoe   Social Worker 9th-12th grade: Elisa Sanchez-Tarman