Gray Stone Day School News Service 

MISENHEIMER — College counselor Sarah Ince works in overdrive to support her students. Whether it is assisting with financial aid applications, or meeting one-on-one with students to guide them in every step as they look for postsecondary match and fit, Ince works with each student to set an intention for their future. 

While many schools offer college preparatory curriculum, Gray Stone Day School has invested beyond the classroom and provides a full-time college counselor as part of the administrative staff. School counselors are the unsung heroes of the public and charter school environments; they have more than a full-time job.

One of the myriad things assigned to school counselors is career and college counseling. The college counseling piece is a full-time job in itself. Helen Nance and Gray Stone’s Leadership recognized this, and in the founding of Gray Stone more than 20 years ago made the investment to hire a full-time college counselor in addition to a traditional school counselor. Ince has been the college counselor at the school since the fall of 2014. She brings 25 years of college admission and college counseling experience to students and their families. She works to help students put the academic pieces in place and families find financial resources to make college attendance a reality. 

A hallmark of Gray Stone’s success in their mission to make college accessible and affordable for their students, is their college matriculation rate. Historically 90 percent of Gray Stone students have gone on to four- year colleges and universities the fall after high school graduation. The remaining 10 percent have selected to enroll in their local community college. One or two students a year will typically choose to serve their country and enlist in the military. Those statistics have changed some since COVID given families’ desire to keep their children closer to home and in response to the narrative gaining popularity that earning a college is not the value it used to be.

Still, this past June, Gray Stone graduated 89 students, 88 of which went on to 2- and 4-year colleges and 1 student who enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Ince and the Gray Stone family value college access and put their time and energy into ensuring that all Gray Stone students and families know that there are options after high school graduation. 

Another Hallmark of Gray Stone’s College preparatory mission is the success its students have gaining admission to our state’s flagship universities. Since the graduating class of 2015, the acceptance rate of Gray Stone graduates to UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State University has been over 50 percent. Top academic achievers have enrolled at Stanford, Cornell, Georgia Tech Honors College and West Point among other institutions.

Ince spends the time she isn’t working one-on-one with students and families, traveling to colleges and universities across the country developing relationships with admissions professionals and learning about what new and distinctive programs exist for college-bound students. Last summer, she spent time on campuses in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and always continuing outreach to N.C. colleges and universities. She is looking forward to visiting University of Wisconsin Madison, University of Chicago and Northwestern in August as part of the STARS Network, a group of elite colleges and universities with a new initiative to reach rural communities and provide access to their institutions. 

Additionally, the class of 2024 earned more than $3.72 million in scholarships and grants from their enrolling institutions. Need-based financial aid is also a key piece of making further education possible. Ince works with families on filing the FAFSA and learning all she can about funding sources for her students. She spent two days at the end of June attending the North Carolina Financial Aid Summit with her peers from across the state.