Seaforth High School is set to become Chatham County’s fourth public high school currently in operation. The addition is the first since the creation of Northwood High School in 1970. The school is set to be completed on April 6, 2021, opening its doors to students at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. According to Chatham County Schools (CCS), school construction is 98% as of Jan. 27. Construction has been ongoing for the past two years amounting to a project that costs $74.8 million.
Seaforth will only accommodate freshman and sophomore students in its first year. This gradual shift will allow Seaforth’s culture to develop and the population at Northwood High School to slowly decrease.
Northwood is currently overpopulated and home to approximately 1500 students. The main purpose behind Seaforth’s creation was to combat the overpopulation in an increasingly expanding county. Seaforth is initially supposed to accommodate 1200 students, later adding additional resources to hold 1400 students.
Seaforth is currently wrapping up construction on their 75-acre site. The school is located on Seaforth Road. The school and road are both named after the original Seaforth community, a populated area in the county without census designation or federal recognition.
This location has been a controversial one, especially in regards to districting. Seaforth’s attendance zone was approved Aug. 10, 2020, districting the eastern part of the county to the new school. High-income communities like Briar Chapel, The Preserve and Legacy are now all districted to Seaforth High School. Northwood will now only serve students from the central part of the county, including Pittsboro.
When Seaforth opens its doors next year, staff members will include both new hires and teachers transferring from other county schools.
One of the only positions currently filled at the school is Tripp Clayton who is set to become the first principal of Seaforth on Feb. 15. Clayton is currently principal of Jordan-Matthews and was the CCS 2020 Principal of the Year.
Donna Barger, one of Jordan-Matthews’ assistant principals, has been named interim principal at Jordan-Matthews after Clayton’s leave.
Article by Ella Sullivan. Seaforth logo graphic by Ella Sullivan. Other graphics from cited sources.
