by Marianna King
Carrboro Commons Writer

Carrboro High School, the newest addition to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools system, began the third week of its inaugural school year. While it boasts an environmentally sound “green” rating, new technology and a smaller student body, the new school faced a few challenges typical of any opening.

About 70 more students than anticipated showed up for class, bringing the enrollment to around 610. Principal Jeff Thomas anticipates continued progress and plans to address overcrowding issues throughout the next few weeks.

Principal Jeff Thomas is proud of the new Carrboro High School with its state-of-the-art green construction.
Jock Lauterer photo

“We had an incredibly smooth opening with lots of excited and enthusiastic students and we are looking forward to a great year,” said Thomas. “We have more students than anticipated, so there are challenges that we will be addressing.”

His plans include hiring a part-time health and physical education teacher to take over one section of P.E. and two sections of health that CHS’s Spanish teacher is teaching. Other teachers will be asked to take on additional sections for additional pay, as well.

School leaders say redistricting created preliminary angst from students who feared that leaving former high schools would mean severed ties with friends. After slow initial enrollment, the city school system opened CHS to applicant admission. In conjunction with a delayed rush on enrollment toward the end of summer, actual enrollment numbers were slightly off when classes began.

The few temporary hurdles do not come close to outweighing the school’s many benefits. One of only two North Carolina schools to earn the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) distinction, CHS sets the standard for environmental sustainability. Teachers and students are already enjoying advancements in classroom technology, as well.

“The technology is amazing,” said Jennifer Job, CHS English teacher and yearbook advisor. “We have document cameras, built in LCD projectors, and all the teachers have laptops. Also, the campus is completely wireless.”

While CHS continues to make leaps in the environmental and technological arenas, Thomas has placed special emphasis on maintaining the exceptional educational standards found in the other Chapel Hill-Carrboro city schools. All of the Advanced Placement classes and numerous clubs were available from the first day.

“Principal Thomas really wanted to take everything positive from the other Chapel Hill high schools and make sure they were in place when the kids began at Carrboro,” said Job. “He has great ideas but hasn’t been interested in reinventing just for the sake of doing things differently.”

Newly-minted Jaguar students whoop it up at the first home football game on Aug. 31.
Jock Lauterer photo

Thomas sees the clubs, arts programs, athletics and academics as ways for students to ground their sense of identity and take pride in their new school.

“The students seem to have adjusted well,” said Thomas. They seem to be happy and getting involved in school. We have a lot of programs we want our students involved in.”

Blake Ramsey, a sophomore at CHS, says that athletics and even the school’s fledgling arts program are helping foster community. Students have the opportunity to get involved in activities that might have seemed unattainable at a larger high school.

“Some of my friends are getting into the plays and others are thinking about sports. Everybody has a chance to do something at a new school,” said Ramsey. “It’s like building clubs and teams from the ground up.”

Rising seniors were exempt from redistricting, so CHS’s junior class will be its oldest for two years. Quickly embracing their role at the top of the high school hierarchy, the junior class is exhibiting leadership. Each freshman is assigned one of 47 JAG’s (Junior Advisory Guide) who helps them with the transition from middle school to high school. The juniors have even begun planning the quintessential high school event: prom.

Aside from the technology and efficiency that might be expected of any new school, CHS has one more endowment that sets it apart. The unique sense of tight-knit community that permeates Carrboro has already enveloped the school.

“The community has been incredibly welcoming to the high school,” said Job. “I took tickets at the last football game and talked to at least 10 people that just live in the community and came to watch the kids play. That was their tie to the school—Carrboro.”

Thomas notes that the interest of the community extends beyond athletics.

“Involvement from the fire department, the police department and the town of Carrboro has been great,” said Thomas. “They’ve been responsive and have helped us work through issues with traffic flow and the design. They’ve made sure the roadway in front of our school is safe.”

Gauging student involvement and enthusiasm was, perhaps, the pivotal question that could not be answered prior to CHS’s opening. While some of the upperclassmen still sport T-shirts from their former high school, Jaguar pride is quickly becoming rampant.

For more information, go to Carrboro High School’s Web site at www.chccs.k12.nc.us/chs.