CHAPEL HILL – School has restarted for our students, and the new Northside Elementary is getting positive feedback.

Northside Elementary is the newest school built in Chapel Hill and it serves the Northside neighborhood and surrounding areas.  The Northside Elementary School site is the former home of the Orange County Training School, Lincoln High, and Northside School.  Parent, Nicole Clark, says she’s confident the school will be a good fit for  her son.

“He’s nervous,” Clark says. “He has his nervous first day jitters, but interesting enough, I think it’s going to go okay.”

Nearly 500 children are in attendance at Northside elementary. This marks the first time in more than 50 years that children from the neighborhood will be able to walk to their school.  Clark’s son says he is excited to be going to school with his friends from the area.

“I’m mostly excited about having a new school and having to do it with my cousin and my friends, and it’s so great,” he says.

The CHCCS Board of Education decided to name the district’s 11th elementary school after the historic segregated school that occupied the same land.  School Superintendent, Dr. Thomas Forcella, said that he has high hopes for Northside.

“We’re looking forward to the entire school year, especially Northside Elementary,” Dr. Forcella says. “It’s a beautiful school and it’s great to see the smiling faces walking in. I think everyone is going to be pleased with the facility that we have here.”

Northside Elementary has also implemented many green technologies into the school to save on future spending and create a longer life for the school.  These technologies may help the students to learn new things that they might not have at other schools.