New charter high school approved for Wake County with biotechnology focus

A charter school with a focus on life sciences curriculum has gotten approved from town leaders in Holly Springs.

Holly Springs Town council voted on Tuesday to approve using their recently acquired land in Holly Springs Business Park for construction of a high school.

Pine Springs Preparatory Academy currently serves about 1400 students from kindergarten through eighth grades.

Head of schools Bruce Friend told WRAL News he’s thrilled to bridge the gap between education and an industry that continues to set up shop in Holly Springs.

“What an exciting way to get students prepared and exposed to really good careers that exist right here in southern Wake County,” Friend said.

Holly Springs has becoming a booming town for life sciences companies such as FUJIFILM and CSL Seqirus, centrally located in Holly Springs Business Park.

In December, Biotech firm Amgen it planned to bring more than 350 jobs to Holly Springs as part of a $550 million manufacturing plant.

Amgen fist announced plans for the plant in 2021, and broke ground on the facility in 2022.

Leaders foresee having the proposed upper-level school on the prime property as a way to build a pipeline from classroom to career, while providing a rigorous education focused on life sciences.

“It’s so much more than just the manufacturing of just vaccine or medicines,” Friend said. It’s working in financial department to support that, it’s about learning about logistics, transportation of vaccines and can be very complicated.”

Holly Springs Mayor Sean Mayefskie provided a statement to WRAL News in response to creating a path for students interested in biotech careers:

We’ve worked hard to grow the life sciences in Holly Springs. The Pine Springs Preparatory upper-level school will be a great addition to our community with its focus on developing a future pipeline of talent that can work right here in Holly Springs at leading, global life sciences companies.”Holly Springs Mayor Sean Mayefskie

Pine Springs Prep Academy is only approved for grades K-8, so they will need to apply to the state to be approved to open a high school.

Friend said school leaders hope to break ground on the upper level school building in summer of 2025, pending approval from appropriate parties.