Chatham County Northeast High School

Please keep the childrens futures in mind. The current high school is very old and needs updating.

Keep the Chatham County Northeast High School project on the Capital Improvements Plan!

Here are a few reasons...

1 - a very dedicated group of residents worked very hard 3 yrs ago to convince the BOE to move forward. It was all based on extensive growth studies by NCSU that pinpointed the current location (give or take a few hundred feet) as prime. The board agreed and made it a priority.
2 - it makes sense given our counties growth projections even with the recession
3 - it's a win/win for all. Great for the kids/teachers, boon to housing values, attractive for developers, wise planning for the future and so on.
4 - costs are lower now than they would be if this was pushed out 5 or 10 years
5 - county already owns the land

I fought hard with that group several years ago to keep this alive. With all the hurdles we've faced since then, my two kids most likely won't benefit from this but that doesn't mean it's not a worthy cause to continue fighting for. This is for the greater good of us all. Our schools need us to fight for them.

I don't think we necessarily need a shiny new building in order to provide quality education for our children, and I am currently satisfied with my experience with Northwood HS. My concern is capacity, which when exceeded does do a disservice to our children and the teaching staff (as seen at North Chatham). One of the principal reasons given in the planning documents for delaying a new high school is that Northwood, which is only at 80% capacity today, is not expected to exceed capacity anytime soon - at least through 2020. In fact, the projection never exceeds 92% capacity. I don't know what information and method was used to develop the Northwood projection, but I am very skeptical. The projection that is presented is a point estimate, and does not include a range based on plausible alternative assumptions. I know that I do not make important personal decisions without some sense of the range of possible outcomes. I hope our civic leaders are basing decisions on good information.

When we moved to Chapel Hill in 2003, the Northeast High School was a planned and decidedly necessary new school for this growing area and one of the deciding points in our decision to relocate here from Cary. Our 2 oldest children, at the time in 2nd and 3rd grade) would attend. Since then, much to our great disappointment, we have seen the school delayed and pushed aside, despite the obvious need of the largest growing tax base in Chatham County. Our children now attend Northwoods, and, although the staff and administration are highly qualified and dedicated educators, evn they cannot make up for the impossible crowding and lack of technology and advancements in this old school. We currently have a 4th grader at North Chatham and it is our upmost desire to see her attend a new high school near our home that the residents of Chatham County deserve.

Please continue to move forward with the plans to build a new High School in North Eastern Chatham County. Northwood High is already overcrowded and we need for this school to be built. When re-locating to a new area, families always consider what school their children will be attending. If we cannot commit to the building of a new High School, this will eliminate families from wanting to move to this area.

A vibrant HS selection and option set is essential to the county's ability to provide growth opportunities as well as to attract productive and contributing resident citizens. Excellent public education is a right of citizenship, let's work to provide stellar PUBLIC education to citizens.

It shouldn't be a jail. It shouldn't even be a courthouse. Our top priority should be the education of the children of Chatham County. Let's keep Chatham County attractive to parents who are considering moving here by keeping the promise and building the new high school.

Build it...they will come (or are already here).

This new HS is needed to support the students in the NE portion of the county. With the opening of the new MS our young students are already facing unacceptable bus route durations. Please support your constituents in the NE and do not take this project out of the Capital Plan.

I have been part of the Chapel Hill Community for over 30 years and have seen tremendous change. It seems that we would be short sited if we removed the NEW High School from the capitol improvements budget based on today's economic times as these times will not be a part of our lives forever. Chatham County has GREAT promise (That is why Tanya and I moved our family to Chatham County) and the need for our commissioners and council members to make SMART decisions for our future is critical. As the Broker in Charge for Coldwell Banker -Howard Perry and Walston and a Builder in our community it is obvious to me that people from around the globe are settling in Chapel Hill and surrounding communities. It is also apparent to me that people from the Chapel Hill City limits are considering moving to Chatham County and are doing so as I write this text. That will not stop. Quality Schools are a must and are considered to be the foundation that communities are built on. (We need proper capacity to provide quality environments)
I grew up being a part of the #1 public school system on Long Island and graduated in 1979 with a graduating class head count of 1,648 students with over 22,000 in the school system. There is so much that we can learn from those school systems and people in our community before we make the wrong decision.
Please know that those same people that I grew up with (Many of them) want to move to North Carolina. (And Long Island is 1 small geographic area) Please make the right decision and manage our growth. Growth is coming whether we want it or not.

#4: Scott Mathias - Northwood Is Fine...Today. 

Scott, I think that you bring up a great point, and I'd like to hear more about it from you and others: Will signing this petition take money away from improving Northwood High School? If Northwood isn't going to reach capacity in the foreseeable future, why build a new school? I'm completely willing to sign the petition, but I want to make sure that I (and everyone else) signs the petition as knowledgeably as possible.

As a long time resident of Chatham County, I have seen the tremendous growth and overcrowding issues in the schools and primarily at Northwood High. A new High School in North Chatham is critical for Chatham County to be recognized as an area that places a serious emphasis on academics and quality of life for its residence.

This is 10 years overdue.

I am a resident of Northeast Chatham County and I strongly support the need for a High School in this part of the county. The population growth in this area has been dramatic and we need to have a first class high school to provide for our children.

children are the future and the schools that teach them play a vital role in their education. please do not delay the building of chatham county northeast high school.

Our county is grower larger, not smaller and our students need high priority in order to continue to make this county grow and develop to compete with surrounding counties.

The meeting will now be held at Horton Middle School at 6pm, January 18th. Please attend, as we need a large turnout to show our support!

This school is long overdue. Our tax dollars in the northern portion of the county have allowed funding of schools in Siler City and elsewhere.

Please do not scrap plans to build this high school. The northern part of the county is in desperate need of a high school in order to draw more families, more developments, and to provide better education to the children who live here.

Thank you.

As a real estate agent, one of the first qustions we are always asked is about the quality, and age of schools and how far students must travel to get to thier school. NE Chatham desparately needs to have a High School in this area. The Board has been promising it for over ten years. Please deliver on your promise as soon as possible.

One of the reasons we moved to northeast Chatham County in 1997 was because of the new high school that was promised to be built here. Our son ended up attending the crowded North Chatham and Northwood High Schools before going off to college out of state, and at 25 is now on his own career path in Florida. Hopefully, that promise of 14 years ago can be fulfilled for other young boys and girls here.

The county's educational system and its facilities are probably the single most important element in drawing people and businesses to the county.

Need the High School

Need the high school