The Old School is Gone!

 Ocracoke School is our pre-k through twelve school that has a total of nearly one hundred and fifty students. It is a very special place at the heart of our community.  There is one teacher for each grade level up to middle school.  After that students have, for example, the same teacher for math or English all through high school.

The average graduating class usually runs close to a dozen students though this year we have a very small class with only five seniors.  Each year the large majority of our graduates go on to college or vocational schools with an abundance of scholarship help.  

Hurricane Dorian totally flooded the entire school building.  After missing school for a full month following the hurricane, students were temporarily taught in several different locations around the village until COVID shut things down totally in the springtime.  

At first it was thought that the school might be cleaned and repaired, but, with further exploration, the damage to the original building was so extensive that was not a possibility.  The main building was forty-nine years old, of totally wooden construction, and had to be replaced.  Only the new gym and a newer elementary wing turned out to be reparable.

Now we are waiting for new construction to begin.  Of course, all instruction this year has been COVID virtual.  Maybe we are the only place where that has actually been an advantage!  

All that is left of the old school building.

The Ocracoke Dolphin, carved by Lynn Skinner, was saved!