By Mary Lide Parker
Staff Writer
Only a year and a half after opening its doors, Carrboro High School is well on its way to forming its own identity.
In conversation, teachers at Carrboro High often reference the “growing pains†associated with a new school. Alphonso Donaldson, co-chair of the English department, said that while there have been those pains, the faculty as a whole is starting to feel more confident.
Donaldson, who taught at East Chapel Hill High for six years before coming to Carrboro High, says he enjoys teaching there because of the smaller size.
“Because there are so many fewer students here, you get an opportunity to interact with more of them.â€
Steven Champion, the Carrboro police officer stationed at Carrboro High, said he has worked to build a positive relationship with the students over the past year and a half.
Because of the relatively small size of Carrboro High – the school has about 800 students while Chapel Hill High and East Chapel Hill High have around 1,700 each – Champion said students have felt more closely watched. The school also has more cameras than the other two high schools – 67 altogether.
“Students felt like they were constantly under surveillance,†Champion said. “But I think they realized the cameras are only there if something bad happens and we have to investigate. Kids finally realized that I’m not ‘Big Brother’ standing over, watching them all day long.
“I try to cut up with kids and let them know I’m human. From what I’m told, I’ve earned the respect of the students.â€
Last year a student used racial slurs to upset others and provoke fights. Champion said this year has been pretty quiet.
“We’re a very diverse school. Our school does not seem to have the fights that the other schools do, and that could be because of our size,†he said.
‘Really strict’
Mariel Steen attended Carrboro High last year and transferred back to Chapel Hill High for her senior year.
“It was really strict,†she said of Carrboro High. “I was unhappy because I love Chapel Hill High – I think it’s a really great school and one of the things I ended up missing about it was its character.â€
Aside from missing Chapel Hill High, Steen said she disliked the bleak setting of Carrboro High – walking through barren hallways and eating lunch outside on a slab of cement clashed with her idea of what high school should look and feel like. Despite having her best friend at Carrboro High, Steen said she never made a good group of friends there.
“My main problem was the people – it was really cliquey,†Steen said.
To transfer back, Steen had to fill out a transfer request. She listed her reason for transferring as class selection.
“Chapel Hill offered a lot of AP classes that Carrboro didn’t,†she said.
This year, Carrboro High offers 15 of the possible 35 AP classes. The other two high schools in the district average between 18 and 20 AP classes.
But given that Carrboro High is approximately half the size of the other two schools, said Principal Kelly Batten, 15 classes is a substantial number.
“We’re offering almost as much as schools that are twice our size,†Batten said.
Students who want to take an AP course not taught at Carrboro High this year have the option of cross-enrolling at one of the other high schools.
Growing fast
Carrboro High’s size will increase significantly in the next two years. While the senior class consists of 140 students and the junior class 125, the sophomore and freshman classes both have between 250 and 275 students.
Batten said the school is prepared to expand – it’s simply a matter of time and bureaucracy.
“It was smart construction, because there is a footprint for expansion even though that’s something that would be years down the road,†Batten said.
This year, Carrboro High will graduate its first class of seniors. School counselors are divided between classes. Last year, Mary Gratch was the counselor for all the juniors, and as the counselor for seniors this year she knows the students well.
“It’s kind of exciting,†she said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime [experience] to have this small group of kids that I know really well.â€
Gratch said there have been issues in the college application process. Because Carrboro High is so new, it’s not yet on the college radar. One university called Gratch to ask if the school was accredited. Gratch said students and parents worry that colleges know about the good reputations of Chapel Hill High and East Chapel Hill High but don’t know anything about Carrboro High.
“We want our kids to have the benefit of colleges being impressed with Carrboro High,†Gratch said.
With every senior’s college application, a school profile of Carrboro High is enclosed. The profile details that Carrboro High School is the newest addition to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School district.
It reads: “Known for its academic rigor, diversity, 21st-Century equipped classrooms and unique architectural style, Carrboro High is a welcome continuation to the long and respected history of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School district.â€
Mackenzie Price, a senior and the student body president of Carrboro High, said the college application process has been easy for him; he just sent off his early application to the University of Richmond. He said he didn’t have any problems with getting his grades transferred over from Chapel Hill High.
“It was easy to get all the transcript information and get everything sent off,†he said.
Building tradition
Something that hasn’t been as easy is establishing traditions at the new school. Gratch was a part of the design team that did planning for Carrboro High 10 months before it opened.
“I think we misunderstood how hard it is to establish traditions and how incredibly important that is,†she said.
Gratch said the seniors were looking forward to events being planned for graduation and believe that traditions are slowly starting to form. In late September, a school-wide pep rally was held, during which all the students sat by grade level. The seniors were the last to enter the gym and everyone stood and cheered when they did.
“There’s a lot of respect among the student body,†Batten said. “The seniors were very unified at that moment and I think that really energized them for the excitement we have had this year.â€
Price agreed that it’s hard to create traditions, but not impossible.
“There’s a general excitement and almost every senior is into it,†he said. “We’ve been able to forge traditions and shape what Carrboro High School is.â€