Founder
Mrs. Hilda Hicks
Hilda Hicks was the founder of Dillard Academy Charter School. She was a graduate of J. T. Barber High School in New Bern, NC, and Shaw University in Raleigh. One of the first thirteen Black claims representatives for the Social Security Administration in the southeastern region of the U.S., Mrs. Hicks completed a 30-year career as regional manager in 1996. In 1996 and 1997, she served as director of a federal jobs program that trained 34 low-income individuals as Certified Nursing Assistants and construction-industry interns.
In 1998, she opened Dillard Academy and served as its Chief Executive Officer for the next 28 years. She provided oversight to the school as it grew from a student population of 75 to a current population of over 250 students. In the community, Mrs. Hicks served as chair of the WAGES Foster Grandparent Program Advisory Council, chair of the Wayne County Council on Aging, chair of the Federal Women's Program, and chair of the Goldsboro Education Foundation. She chaired the Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Goldsboro City Board of Education before becoming chairperson of the merged Goldsboro/Wayne County School Board. She also served as a member of the Wayne County Public Library board of directors.
Mrs. Hicks passed away on June 10, 2024. We continue to fulfill her legacy of excellence at Dillard Academy.