Cape Hatteras Secondary School is a public middle and high school in Buxton, on Cape Hatteras in Dare County, North Carolina. It is a part of Dare County Schools. It serves grades 6 through 12. Its attendance boundary includes areas in the county on islands south of the Oregon Inlet Bridge. [1] This includes the census-designated places of Buxton, Avon, Frisco, Hatteras, Rodanthe, Salvo, and Waves.
An older set of buildings were built beginning in 1955, and by the mid-2000s Cape Hatteras Secondary was the oldest school structure in the school district. In 1993 Hurricane Emily flooded the building. [2]
There was a single K-12 school, Cape Hatteras School, but it since 1997 was administratively divided into elementary and secondary divisions. [3]
In 2003 Hurricane Isabel tore a channel between Hatteras and the school building, and therefore for a two-month period boats were used to transport students. [2]
From 2005 to 2007 the district renovated portions and demolished others, spending a total of almost $30 million, far larger than the initial $5.3 million anticipated renovation. In 2007 it had about 350 students. [2]
By 2019 the school was having a new media center built. [4] Hurricane Dorian damaged the campus, with older portions generally more severely impacted. About $400,000 damage was done to the roof. [5] The roof of the media center had been affected. [6]
Dare County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,915. Its county seat is Manteo. Dare County is named after Virginia Dare, the first child born in the Americas to English parents, who was born within the county's current borders. Founded in 1870 from parts of Tyrrell, Currituck and Hyde counties, it consists of a large segment of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, along with Roanoke Island and a peninsula of land attached to the mainland. Most of the county consists of a string of resort communities along the Outer Banks. While lightly populated by year-round residents, the population swells during the summer with vacationers.
Ocracoke is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated town located at the southern end of Ocracoke Island, located entirely within Hyde County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 948 as of the 2010 census. In the 2020 census, the population had dropped to 797 people.
Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina.
Avon is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Dare County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, it had a permanent population of 776.
Rodanthe is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Dare County, North Carolina, United States, on Hatteras Island, part of North Carolina's Outer Banks. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 213. Rodanthe, along with Waves and Salvo, are part of the settlement of Chicamacomico. Rodanthe includes the original Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station, decommissioned in 1954, but now a museum.
Waves is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Dare County, North Carolina, United States. It is on Hatteras Island, part of North Carolina's Outer Banks. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 134. Waves, along with Rodanthe and Salvo, are part of the settlement of Chicamacomico.
Salvo is a census-designated place located in Dare County, North Carolina, United States, on Hatteras Island, part of North Carolina's Outer Banks. As of the 2010 census, Salvo had a population of 229. Originally part of the settlement of Chicamacomico, Salvo was originally known as "Clarks" or "Clarksville."
Hatteras Island is a barrier island located off the North Carolina coast. Dividing the Atlantic Ocean and the Pamlico Sound, it runs parallel to the coast, forming a bend at Cape Hatteras. It is part of North Carolina's Outer Banks and includes the communities of Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton, Frisco, and Hatteras. It contains the largest part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Prior to European settlement the island was inhabited by Croatoan Native Americans.
Hatteras is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in Dare County, North Carolina, United States, on the Outer Banks island of Hatteras, at its extreme southwestern tip. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 504. Immediately to the west of the village of Hatteras is Hatteras Inlet which separates Hatteras Island from the neighboring Ocracoke Island. North Carolina Highway 12 passes through the community linking it to Frisco to the east and Ocracoke to the west.
Buxton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) on Hatteras Island near Cape Hatteras. It is located in Dare County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,273. Located at the widest part of Hatteras Island, it is the largest community on Hatteras Island both in terms of area and population, and is home to the island's schools and other major public buildings and offices.
Frisco is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) on the barrier island of Hatteras Island, between the villages of Buxton and Hatteras. It is located in Dare County, North Carolina, United States, and was previously named "Trent", or "Trent Woods", but received a new name with the coming of the post office in 1898. Most of the land is taken by houses available for rental during the summer months, and as such the community's population varies seasonally. As of the 2010 census, the permanent population of the community was 200. North Carolina Highway 12 serves as the primary road in Frisco and connects the community to others on the island.
The Outer Banks are a 200 mi (320 km) string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separating Currituck Sound, Albemarle Sound, and Pamlico Sound from the Atlantic Ocean. A major tourist destination, the Outer Banks are known for their wide expanse of open beachfront and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The seashore and surrounding ecosystem are important biodiversity zones, including beach grasses and shrubland that help maintain the form of the land.
Hurricane Dennis caused flooding in North Carolina and the Mid-Atlantic states in early September 1999, which would later be compounded by Hurricane Floyd. The fifth tropical cyclone of the season, Dennis developed from a tropical wave to the north of Puerto Rico on August 24. Originally a tropical depression, the system moved west-northwestward and strengthened into a tropical storm despite unfavorable wind shear. The storm became a hurricane by August 26. After striking the Abaco Islands, conditions improved, allowing for Dennis to strengthen into a Category 2 on the Saffir–Simpson scale by August 28. Around this time, Dennis began to move parallel to the Southeastern United States. Early on August 30, the storm peaked with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h). By the following day, steering currents collapsed and the storm interacted with a cold front, causing Dennis to move erratically offshore North Carolina. Wind shear and cold air associated with the front weakened Dennis to a tropical storm on September 1 and removed some of its tropical characteristics. Eventually, warmer ocean temperatures caused some re-strengthening. By September 4, Dennis turned northwestward and made landfall in Cape Lookout, North Carolina, as a strong tropical storm. The storm slowly weakened inland, before transitioning into an extratropical cyclone over western New York on September 7.
Hurricane Emily in 1993 caused record flooding in the Outer Banks of North Carolina while remaining just offshore. The fifth named storm and the first yet strongest hurricane of the year's hurricane season, Emily developed from a tropical wave northeast of the Lesser Antilles on August 22, 1993. It moved northwestward and strengthened into a tropical storm on August 25, after becoming nearly stationary southeast of Bermuda. Emily then curved to the southwest but quickly resumed its northwest trajectory while strengthening into a hurricane. Late on August 31, the hurricane reached peak winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) on its approach to North Carolina. Although part of the eye passed over Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks, its absolute center remained 23 mi (37 km)/h) offshore. Gradually weakening, the hurricane swerved away from the coast toward the northeast and later east. Emily stalled again, this time northeast of Bermuda, and dissipated on September 6 to the southeast of Newfoundland.
North Carolina Highway 12 (NC 12) is a 148.0-mile-long (238.2 km) primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina, linking the peninsulas and islands of the northern Outer Banks. Most sections of NC 12 are two lanes wide, and there are also two North Carolina Ferry System routes which maintain continuity of the route as it traverses the Outer Banks region. NC 12 is part of the Outer Banks Scenic Byway, a National Scenic Byway. The first NC 12 appeared on the 1924 North Carolina Official Map and at its greatest length ran from NC 30 in Pollocksville to NC 48 near Murfreesboro. Over time it was replaced by both U.S. Route 258 (US 258) and NC 58 and ceased to exist in 1958. The current NC 12 first appeared on the 1964 state highway map running from US 158 in Nags Head to Ocracoke. In 1976 NC 12 was extended to US 70 on the mainland and in 1987 was extended north to Corolla.
Oregon Inlet is an inlet along North Carolina's Outer Banks. It joins the Pamlico Sound with the Atlantic Ocean and separates Bodie Island from Pea Island, which are connected by the 2.8 mile Marc Basnight Bridge that spans the inlet. As one of the few access points to the ocean along this stretch of coast, Oregon Inlet is a major departure point for charter fishing trips, with a nearby harbor serving as the base for many large boats that travel miles out towards the Gulf Stream almost every day. The inlet is also the location of a U.S. Coast Guard motor lifeboat station.
Isabel Inlet was an informally named inlet along the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was created by Hurricane Isabel when it swept ashore on September 18, 2003.
The effects of Hurricane Isabel in North Carolina were widespread, with the heaviest damage in Dare County. The hurricane made landfall in the Outer Banks of North Carolina on September 18. There, storm surge flooding and strong winds damaged thousands of houses. The storm surge produced a 2,000 feet (610 m) wide inlet on Hatteras Island, isolating Hatteras by road for two months. Several locations along North Carolina Highway 12 were partially washed out or covered with debris. Hurricane Isabel produced hurricane-force wind gusts across eastern North Carolina, knocking down trees and power lines. About 700,000 residents lost power due to the storm, although most outages were restored within a few days. The hurricane killed three people in the state – two due to falling trees, and the other a utility worker attempting to restore electricity. Damage in the state totaled $450 million.
Bodie Island is a long, narrow barrier peninsula that forms the northernmost portion of the Outer Banks. The land that is most commonly referred to as Bodie Island was at one time a true island, but in 1811 Roanoke Inlet, which had separated it from the Currituck Banks in the north, closed. As a result, the Currituck Banks and Bodie Island are now one contiguous peninsula, joined at the Nags Head area, where the inlet once flowed. Today, either name can be used to refer to peninsula as a whole, but both portions colloquially retain their historical names.
Dare County Schools (DCS) is a school district for Dare County, North Carolina. Its headquarters are in Nags Head.
Cape Hatteras Secondary School -- All areas South of the Oregon Inlet Bridge