Cherokee County Schools | |
---|---|
Address | |
2230 Airport Road Marble , Cherokee County, North Carolina, 28905United States | |
District information | |
Motto | Locally Grown, Globally Prepared |
Grades | Pre-K - 12 |
Superintendent | Dr. Keevin Woody |
Asst. superintendent(s) | John Higdon |
Schools | 13 |
Budget | $ 40,200,000 |
NCES District ID | 3700780 [1] |
Students and staff | |
Enrollment | 3,146 |
Faculty | 249.87 (FTE) |
Other information | |
Website | www |
Cherokee County Schools manages the 13 public schools in Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States, with an enrollment of 3,079 students and a 13.25:1 student-to-teacher ratio. [2] [3] [4]
The school superintendent is Dr. Keevin Woody. [5] As of 2023, Cherokee County Schools' graduation rate is 92 percent. The state average is 86.5 percent. [6] As of 2021, Cherokee County Schools' per-student spending is $13,614. [4]
Around 1900, Cherokee County had multiple private schools and schoolhouses. This included schools in the county that no longer exist such as the Ogreeta School or the Friendship School. The first school bus in Cherokee County was purchased in 1926, and served the Andrews community. Cherokee County modernized its school campuses between the late 1940s and early 1960s.
In 1891, the Murphy Public School was opened on the site of the former Providence Hospital. In 1910, the Murphy Grammar School, locally known as the "Dome Building" was opened. In 1925, the second Murphy High was built.
Unaka Elementary School, the oldest public school building in Cherokee County, was constructed in 1947. The school had reported a lack of students since at least 1971, and the school closed in September 1993. [7] Peachtree Elementary School was built in 1947. The 1947 classroom building was burned in 1986. [8] The original school gym remains standing as of 2024.
The Andrews Primary School was built in 1951. In 1952, the Ranger School was built and opened. Marble Elementary School opened in 1956. Later that year, the current Hiwassee Dam School was built and opened. The third and current Murphy High School opened in 1957. After a fire destroyed its previous building in 1962, the current Andrews High School was built. In 1969, Murphy City Schools and Andrews City Schools merged into Cherokee County Schools.
Around 1996, Cherokee County Schools hired Orkan Architecture P.A. to design four new schools, and an expansion piece to Murphy Elementary and Murphy High. The four new schools were Andrews Middle, Martins Creek Elementary, Murphy Middle, and Ranger Elementary. The Martins Creek and Ranger Schools had already existed but both schools were in need of a larger space. Murphy Middle was built around 1996, Martins Creek was built around 1997, and both Ranger Elementary and Andrews Middle were built in 1998. The schools were either built by Edison Foard, Inc. or Buncombe Construction Company, Inc. Murphy Elementary had classrooms and offices added, and Murphy High had a gym lobby added. Both additions were built by Edison Foard, Inc. All of the schools were built with nearly identical designs, especially in the interior. Every building had the same paint scheme in the halls and cafeterias. The foyers of the schools include the schools' acronyms on the floor made from tile. Each school was built with their own brick pattern, roof color (Andrews & Ranger maroon, Murphy black, and Martins Creek teal), and canopy design.
In 2014, superintendent Dr. Stephen Lane was charged with driving while intoxicated and lost his job. He had lost his previous job as superintendent due to a DWI charge as well. [9]
In the summer of 2024, Cherokee County received its first electric school bus as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Grant Program.
In 2024, Cherokee County Schools' Central Office moved to the former Marble Elementary School building.
Elementary-middle schools are schools that teach kindergarten, or pre-kindergarten, to the 8th grade. Cherokee County Schools operated 3 elementary-middle schools until 2024 - Martins Creek, Ranger, and Hiwassee Dam. These three schools taught K-8.
On January 18, 2024, Cherokee County's school board voted to move Hiwassee Dam Elementary (K-5 Students) to Ranger Elementary School and move Ranger middle school students to Hiwassee Dam, leaving only Ranger Elementary and Hiwassee Dam Middle School (and High School). They also voted to move Martins Creek Elementary Middle students to Murphy Middle School. The reorganization went into effect for the 2024-2025 school year. [23] In March 2024, the Cherokee Scout wrote that the school board also plans to combine Peachtree Elementary School and Martins Creek School in the 2025-2026 school year.
The school board’s decision to reorganize multiple schools and rezone children ignited heated opposition. The board made the choice without public notice, took no public comment about the changes during that meeting, and did not seek feedback from staff or principals who were there. [24] The Scout reported that multiple citizens and the newspaper itself had difficulty getting any response from school board members. The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners called for a joint meeting with the school board, but the school district did not respond, prompting commissioners to delay approving school projects. In March 2024, the Scout wrote that the school district is “at odds with a growing list of local institutions and individuals that includes county government, the county’s Needs and Solutions Advisory Committee, parents, faculty, staff and even the Cherokee Scout.” [25]
Cherokee County Schools operates three middle schools, one of which was made into a middle school in 2024.
Cherokee County Schools operates 3 main high schools in the county, the oldest high school facility being Hiwassee Dam High (1956) and the newest being Andrews (1963). Murphy High School was built in 1957.
In May 2020 the Cherokee County Board of Education voted to build a new high school near Tri-County Community College in Peachtree to consolidate Andrews High, Hiwassee Dam High School, and Murphy High. [35] In September 2022 the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction awarded Cherokee County Schools a $50 million grant to move forward with consolidation. [36] After public outcry, in January 2023 new members of the Cherokee County Board of Education voted to return the money to the state rather than consolidate the schools. [37]
Cherokee County Schools also operates an alternative school and an early college.
On May 23, 2024, the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to make an alternative use for CCS's Central Office at 911 Andrews Road. The board gave CCS until August 2, 2024, to surrender and vacate the property. [39] A statement from the letter given to Cherokee County Schools on May 24:
"Should Cherokee County Schools fail to vacate the premises by the 2 August 2024 at 5 p.m., Cherokee County Government reserves the right to seek summary ejectment..."
The above statement tells Cherokee County Schools that if they had not vacated the property before August 2, then they would have been evicted. An offer was made to Cherokee County Schools by the Board of Commissioners to use the former National Guard Amory at 188 James A. Mulkey Drive. Now a county-owned facility, the building is stated to have a comparable size to the current office. The county was willing to give funds for any renovations to the building for CCS's move. It was also stated that the Board of Commissioners will be glad to take any requests for other properties CCS would like to use for their Central Office and that they would still fund the renovations. CCS had previously considered using the Marble Elementary campus as a central office before the eviction notice. The Central Office moved to the Marble campus in late July 2024.
School | Constructed | Opened | Temporarily Closed | Reason for Closure | Permanently Closed | Reason For Closure | Reopened | Fate | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Andrews Elementary School (AES) | 1951 | 1951 | 1971 | Burned | 1975 | ||||
Andrews Middle School (AMS) | 1998 | 1999 | |||||||
Andrews High School (AHS) | c. 1890, 1914, 1962 | c. 1890 | 1961 (Public School), 1962 | 61' - Public School Demolished 62' - HS Burned | 1915, 1963 | ||||
Cherokee County Schools Bus Garage | 1955 | 1955 | |||||||
Cherokee County Schools Central Office | 1956, ????, ????, 1955 (Mar ES) | 1970, 1997, 2001, 2024 | Work was still done during moves | ||||||
Cherokee County Schools of Innovation (Three Schools) (CCSI) | 2021-2023 | 2023 | |||||||
Cherokee County Schools Career Academy (CCSCA) | 2021 (CCSI) | 2023 | |||||||
Hiwassee Dam Middle School (HDMS) | 1956 | 1956 | |||||||
Hiwassee Dam High School (HDHS) | 1956 | 1956 | |||||||
Marble Elementary School (Mar ES) | 1955 | 1955 | 2017 | Low-budget of County Schools | Consolidation with Andrews and Murphy Elementary, Building For Sale | ||||
Martins Creek Elementary School (MCES) | c. 1940s, 1997 | c. 1940s | 1997 | Relocation | 1998 | ||||
Mountain Youth School (MYS) | 1940s | 1997 | 2017 | Re-established as The Oaks Academy | |||||
Murphy Elementary School (MES) | 1922, 1961 | 1922 | 1961 | Demolished for new ES | 1962 | ||||
Murphy Middle School (MMS) | 1996 | 1997 | |||||||
Murphy High School (MHS) | c.1900, 1925, 1956 | c.1900 | 1925, 1956 | 25' - Relocation 56' - Relocation | 1957 | ||||
Peachtree Elementary School (PES) | 1900s, 1929, 1947, 1989 | 1800s | 1929, 1945, 1986 | 29' - Relocation 45' - Burned 86' - Burned | 1929, 1947, 1989 | ||||
Ranger Elementary School (RES) | 1952, 1998 | 1952 | 1998 | 98' - Reconstruction | 1999 | ||||
The Oaks Academy (TOA) | 1955 (Mar ES), 2021 (CCSI) | 2017 | |||||||
Tri-County Early College (TCEC) | 2006, 2021 (CCSI) | 2006 |
Clay County is a county located in the far western part of U.S. state North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 11,089. The county seat is Hayesville.
Cherokee County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It borders Tennessee to its west and Georgia to its south. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,774. The county seat is Murphy.
Andrews is a town in Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,667 at the 2020 census.
Murphy is a town in and the county seat of Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Hiwassee and Valley rivers. It is the westernmost county seat in the state of North Carolina, approximately 360 miles (580 km) from the state capital in Raleigh. The population of Murphy was 1,608 at the 2020 census.
Hayesville is a town in Clay County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 311 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Clay County.
Hiwassee is a small village in Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States, which sits next to the Hiwassee Dam and the artificially created Hiwassee Reservoir, on Hiwassee River.
Western Carolina Regional Airport is a county-owned public-use airport located 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the central business district of Andrews, in Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States. It was formerly known as Andrews-Murphy Airport.
Tri-County Community College is a public community college in Murphy, North Carolina. It was founded in 1964 to serve Cherokee, Clay, and Graham counties and is part of the North Carolina Community College System.
Marble is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 321.
Hiwassee Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Hiwassee River in Cherokee County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is one of three dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s to bring flood control and electricity to the region. The dam impounds the Hiwassee Lake of 6,000 acres (2,400 ha), and its tailwaters are part of Apalachia Reservoir. At 307 feet (94 m), Hiwassee Dam is the highest overspill dam east of the Mississippi River and is second only to Grand Coulee dam in the nation. At the time it was completed, it was the highest overspill dam in the world.
The Valley River is a tributary of the Hiwassee River. It arises as a pair of springs in the Snowbird Mountains of Cherokee County, North Carolina and descends 2,960 feet (900 m) in elevation in approximately forty miles (64 km) to enter the Hiwassee embayment at present-day Murphy, North Carolina.
Jackson County Public Schools is a public school district serving Jackson County, North Carolina, US. It is headquartered in the county seat of Sylva. The Jackson County School system is unique in the way that is still has a K–8 system with combined elementary and middle schools, with one central high school and one combined K–12 elementary/middle/high school. The county school system has eight schools, all with different histories and stories behind why they are the way they are today. The school system includes four kindergarten-through-8th-grade schools, two kindergarten-through-12th-grade schools, one traditional 9th-through-12th-grade high school, and one alternative 9th-through-12th-grade high school early college.
Andrews High School (AHS) in Andrews, North Carolina serves grades 9–12 and is one of only three high schools in the Cherokee County Schools System. As of 2007 it had a full-time teaching staff of 27 teachers giving an average of 11 students per teacher. In 2024-25 enrollment was 232. The school's capacity is 530.
Murphy High School (MHS) is a public high school in Murphy, North Carolina. It serves grades 9–12 and is one of only three high schools in the Cherokee County Schools system. The MHS campus is sandwiched between U.S. Route 19 and the Valley River. The high school shares its campus with Murphy Middle School and the Cherokee County Schools Bus Garage. As of 2007 the school had a full-time teaching staff of 42 teachers giving an average of 12 students per teacher. It has a GreatSchools rating of 5/10 and an average community rating of 4/5 stars. In the 2024-25 school year, 437 students were enrolled. The school has a capacity of 746 students.
Hiwassee Dam High School (HDHS) in Murphy, North Carolina serves grades 9–12 and is one of three high schools in Cherokee County Schools. It is the westernmost public school in the state of North Carolina. As of 2007 it had a full-time teaching staff of 20 teachers giving an average of 11 students per teacher. Enrollment is 139 students. The school's capacity is 361 students.
Clay County Schools (CCS) manages the public school system in Clay County, North Carolina. It is the only school district in Clay County and covers all of the county with about 1,320 students attending a total of 4 separate schools located on a central campus in Hayesville. After county government, Clay County Schools is the county's largest employer with a staff of 205 people.
The Cherokee County Courthouse is a historic courthouse in Murphy, North Carolina, United States, the county seat of Cherokee County, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
Martins Creek is an unincorporated community in Cherokee County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina.
Peachtree is a community located in Cherokee County, North Carolina. It is named after the numerous peach trees found in the area.
Nantahala Regional Library is the oldest regional library in North Carolina and one of the first regional libraries formed in the United States. Its headquarters is in Murphy, North Carolina. The library has branches in Cherokee, Clay, and Graham counties.
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