Chatham County Public Schools
The Chatham County Public School System is a school district located in Chatham County, North Carolina, and is operated by an elected school board. The school district currently operates 17 schools throughout the county.
High schools
There are three traditional public high schools and two alternative high schools:Northwood High School in Pittsboro
Jordan-Matthews High School in Siler City
Chatham Early College
Chatham Central High School in Bear Creek
in Siler City
in Siler City
Seaforth High School near Jordan Lake
Alternative Education
- ONE Academy
Middle schools
The district operates three middle schools:located in Siler City
located in Chapel Hill
located in Pittsboro.
Elementary Schools & Primary Schools
The district operates 5 elementary schools :located in Bennett
located in Bonlee
located near Goldston
located in Moncure
located in Silk Hope
The district also operates 6 primary schools :
in Chapel Hill
in Chapel Hill
in Pittsboro
also in Pittsboro
in Siler City
also in Siler City.
There is also a More at Four Pre-kindergarten center at Paul Braxton Children's Center in Siler City as well as several of schools in the county.
Bennett School controversy
In 2006, the Chatham County Board of Education announced that they were repealing a decision that allowed students that lived in the Randolph County portion of Bennett to attend Bennett School, the local K-8 school, free of charge. For years students from both counties that lived in "Bennett" were allowed to attend the school free under a memorandum of understanding between the two counties made many years ago. The announcement that the memorandum was being repealed stirred a firestorm of controversy, since the Randolph County students would be considered out-of-district students and could therefore be charged hundreds of dollars each year to attend school in Chatham County. The commute to the nearest Randolph County school was also a problem since it is located many miles from Bennett. To date, the Chatham County board has stood by its decision despite numerous complaints fromresidents.