South Academy of International Languages

South Academy of International Languages is one of the sizable K-5 schools in Charlotte, North Carolina, part of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, with 1,259 students on its rolls from grades K through 8. That puts it 170% bigger than the typical public school in North Carolina, which averages around 467 students.

South Academy of International Languages is one of 186 schools operated by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, a district that serves 145,014 students overall.

Looking at the student body, South Academy of International Languages reports that the largest single group is White at 33%, but no single group is in the majority. Beyond that, the school records 33% Hispanic, 18% Black, 9% multiracial, 6% Asian. By comparison, Mecklenburg County as a whole is about 45% White, so the school skews visibly less White than its surroundings.

On the resource side, South Academy of International Languages logs 85 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 14.8:1. The state averages about 14.9:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. An estimated 34% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is noticeably below Mecklenburg County's rate of about 71%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), South Academy of International Languages sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 68.4%; this one delivers 75.9%.

In the broader community, community-level numbers for Mecklenburg County indicate median household income runs about $87,005, 49% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Mecklenburg County runs 226 public schools (combined enrollment of about 170,407 students), of which South Academy of International Languages is one.

Harper Middle College High is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.7 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around South Academy of International Languages. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts South Academy of International Languages at 2nd of 6; the average score across the group is 46.2%.

South Academy of International Languages operates from an urban location.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at South Academy of International Languages has decreased 9%, going from 1,381 students in 2018 to 1,259 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment ticked up from 21% to 33% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 17.0:1 in 2018 to 14.8:1 today.

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