SCIENCE OLYMPIAD

What is Science Olympiad?

Science Olympiad started in North Carolina in 1974, and has grown to be a program now managed by NC State University. The North Carolina Science Olympiad hosts over 30 tournaments across NC each year and serves over 15,000 annually. The organization aims to improve K-12 science education, foster student curiosity and achievement in STEM, preparing students for future careers. Science Olympiad competitions have been likened to an "academic track meet."

At Highcroft, Science Olympiad is a PTA-sponsored, competition-based club offered to 4th and 5th grade students. The selected students will meet weekly to prepare for upcoming regional competition in March 2026. 

There are 15 total events, in which students compete in various hands-on tasks covering disciplines like biology, chemistry, physics and engineering.

The maximum capacity of students selected for this club is 30. Highcroft will have 2 teams of students this year, each time comprised of 15 students. There may be an opportunity to include some students as alternates. This will be decided at the discretion of the Highcroft staff leading the club. Each team member will compete in 2 events.

Parent Involvement

High levels of parent involvement are required. Parents with children in Science Olympiad will be required to lead / coach one event and help students meet to practice and prepare. Parents are required to attend the weekly meetings and share their personal expertise and/or reach out to connections that could help students. 

Commitment Level

Club meetings will be held weekly. These meetings will allow students to ask questions, provide updates on their progress, fuel collaboration and ideas sharing, dive deeper into the Science Olympiad events and bring in outside resources / speakers as needed. The Bulk of the work and preparation will need to occur OUTSIDE of these weekly meetings. The students who are assigned to events will need to meet together OUTSIDE of the regularly weekly meetings. If you are building something for your event, it will need to be housed / stored somewhere outside of school. You are responsible for transporting the item to and from the Science Olympiad competition event.

Meetings

Once students are selected and teams are formed, a schedule of meeting dates will be provided. We anticipate that most meetings will take place on Thursday mornings from 8a-8:45a. The front office staff are aware of meeting dates and will let students in the building early.

Attendance at Science Olympiad meetings is required. Please be on time for meetings. When students are late, this takes away from time with their team.

If students miss more than 2 meetings, they will be asked to leave the Science Olympiad club.

Competition Date

We are scheduled to compete on Saturday, March 14th, 2026 at Seaforth High School. This is an all day event. More details about the competition will be shared with club participants in the future.

Cost

Dues for each student are $125. These dues are used to purchase supplies, registration costs, team t-shirts and coach conference fees. 

Scholarships are available for students in need. Please contact Angela Tew (atew1@wcpss.net) if you are in need of assistance.