The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Homepage

Related Photos

  • The hallways have been painted with the North East Carolina Prep School colors. Students will begin the new year at the new location Monday Jan. 7. For The Daily Southerner

    Prep Hallway.jpg

  • This is the walkway to the office area at the front of the new location at the North East Carolina Prep School. For The Daily Southerner

    Front Door Prep.jpg

  • North East Carolina Prep School Sign For The Daily Southerner

    Prep Sign.jpg
December 27, 2012

NECP moving to new campus on January 7

The Daily Southerner MIRANDA BAINES

TARBORO — When North East Carolina Prep School (NECP) begins its second semester on Monday, Jan. 7, students will be on the school’s new campus — at the site of the former Mary Frances Center. To allow students and parents, as well as the community, to become more familiar with the new facility, an open house will be held from 1 until 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 5.

“It’s a beautiful campus, so we want to invite everyone out so they can see it,” said Taro Knight, NECP’s director of communications/ community outreach. The school will open its doors to students for the first day of the school’s second semester the following Monday.

The 52-acre property off Howard Avenue Extension features two buildings recently renovated by Bouma Construction. One building will house students in kindergarten and first grade, while the other will house second through eighth-grade students. Construction on a new two-story building to house middle and high school students is projected to begin in February.

The complete project is estimated at $12 million.

“We don’t have to worry about having space as we grow,” Knight said. Under the leadership of executive director John Westberg, Edgecombe County’s only charter school plans to add another grade each year, adding ninth grade next year. The ultimate enrollment goal is 2,200 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

NECP’s original state allotment was for 380 students in its first year. The school currently has an enrollment of 403 students. The school has an allotment for 863 students for the 2013-2014 school year. If the numbers exceed 863 at the end of open enrollment on March 31, the school will have a lottery to determine which additional students will be able to attend.

Drop-off and pick-up of students was a challenge in NECP’s first week at its temporary Davis Street facility. Knight predicts the new facility’s two-lane drive and separate dismissal times for kindergarten and first grade (3 p.m.) and middle school (3:15 p.m.) will “help out a lot” with traffic flow.

Knight said the entire NECP organization is grateful to St. Stephen Missionary Baptist Ministry for the use of its Davis Street property for the first semester at the school, but the new property will offer much more room – additional office space for administrators, places for parents to meet with teachers, and a conference room for the parent teacher organization to have its board meetings. “It has a more modern feel than where we were,” Knight said. “The technology will be there. Everything will be wireless.”

While the buildings will be modern, the school’s location just outside the limits of the Town of Tarboro will provide more access to nature.

“We’re going to use everything that we have to promote learning,” Knight said. He added that the duck pond on the property would give students a “good opportunity to learn about ecosystems and about how animals survive in their environment.”

“A gem in the rough” is the phrase that Mark Skousen used to describe the charter school’s property at a groundbreaking ceremony in September. Skousen is a representative from HighMark School Development, the company that is financing NECP’s property acquisition and $12 million renovation/construction project.

“High Mark is investing in this school because we truly believe it’s going to change the landscape of education in this region,” said Patrick Beausoleil, also a High Mark representative, at the groundbreaking.

The North Carolina Board of Education approved the opening of NECP, along with eight other charter schools statewide, in March. The charter applications came after the North Carolina General Assembly’s passage of Senate Bill 8, which lifted the cap on the number of charter schools in the state.

Text Only
Homepage
DSCN8094.jpg

Nathan Sherrod (left) and his twin brother Melvin, of Tarboro, enjoy a carnival ride Saturday afternoon at the Happening on the Common. Abrams Rentals provided the rides.

  • HAPPENING ON THE COMMON

    Tarboro’s Town Common was clearly the center of activity in town Saturday,  with cars lining the streets surrounding the common, music that could be heard from blocks away, and a sea of people navigating their way through the vendors’ tables under a canopy of trees. The occasion was the 43rd Annual Happening on the Common.

    May 20, 2013 4 Photos

  • Entertainment variety highlights Saturdays Happening
  • PINETOPS 300
Local News
CRIME.jpg

  • Two suspects arrested on 36 charges; third issued citation

    After executing a search warrant Thursday on a residence at 500 W. Johnston St. in Tarboro, police officers arrested two suspects for possessing a small amount of marijuana and issued a third suspect a citation for possessing a glass pipe to smoke the drugs.
    After the marijuana was found, officers notified two of the three suspects that they also had additional warrants on them from the department's "Spring Fling" drug campaign where they had sold marijuana to undercover officers.

    May 20, 2013 1 Photo

  • Introductory Latin class beginning Tuesday
Sports
DoeRunner.jpg

Tony Everett, of Wake Forest, backs his Chevrolet truck named DoeRunner up as he prepares to pull in the four wheel drive event Friday night.

  • Pinetops 300

    PINETOPS – With the threat of rain during the weekend, it put a little damper on the Pinetops 300 Tractor and Truck Pull attendance. Friday night there was a large crowd in attendance, but not the amount it has been the last several years. There was 500 less people in attendance Friday then there was a year ago, but it didn't stop the pullers from slinging mud everywhere. The fans in one section even had a chance to see what it looked like when a belt breaks on a fine tuned machine. During the Mini Modified run, Thomas Coleman, of Stoneville, had a belt break on his KB 526 Pure Hell ride and the belt slung into the crowd. No one was injured.

    May 20, 2013 2 Photos

  • Vikings, Cougars compete in 2-A state meet
Opinion
  • My 13 years have been lucky

    It was 13 years Sunday that a drought was broken in Big Spring, Texas, After that, we ate Mexican for dinner with a gathering of family and friends.
    The next day, a Saturday, Stephanie and I joined one another in marriage under a beautiful little gazebo by Comanche Trail Lake, fed by the historic spring from which the community draws its name.

    May 20, 2013

Lifestyles
  • 5246-WED-Corbett.jpg Corbett/Chasse Wedding

    Brittney Joyce Corbett and Kenneth Robert Chasse, Jr. were united in marriage on April 6th, 2013, at 5:30pm at the Imperial Centre in Rocky Mount. The Rev. Carrol Bradbury officiated the ceremony.
    The Rehearsal Dinner was hosted by Shirley and Donald Foreman, Grandparents of the Groom and also Elisha and Kenneth Chasse, Parents of the Groom, at Pizza Inn in Rocky Mount.
    The Bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Durwood Corbett of Macclesfield, NC. The Groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Robert Leonel Chasse, Sr. of Pinetops, NC.

    May 13, 2013 1 Photo

Obituaries Archives
  • MATTIE RUTH BULLOCK

    BELVOIR — Mrs. Mattie Ruth Bullock, 81, passed away on Saturday, May 18, 2013. The funeral service will be conducted Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in the Wilkerson Funeral Chapel.  Burial will be in Evergreen Memorial Park, Wilson.
    Mrs. Bullock, a native of Wilson County and a lifelong resident of Pitt County, was a graduate of Belvoir-Falkland High School.  She was engaged in farming with her husband until 1989 and was a charter member of Belvoir Free Will Baptist Church.

    May 19, 2013

  • CLAYTON JERELL EPPS
  • NONA DEE EZZELLE
  • JESSE CLARENCE GARDNER JR.
  • CHRISTINE GORHAM
Food
Events
  • Edgecombe Events May 20

    Edgecombe Events should be submitted by noon the day before publication. Items eligible include notices of local meetings and activities of non-profit organizations, clubs, schools and civic groups in the community. Information should be brief and typewritten, neatly printed or via e-mail. Questions? 823-3106 or e-mail: events@dailysoutherner.com. Leave  a daytime contact phone number.

    May 19, 2013

Our Community
Tarboro's 2012 Christmas Parade


Poll

Does the IRS tax exempt disclosure concern you?

Yes
No
     View Results
CNHI Network News
AP Video
Voters Could Elect LA's First Female Mayor Huge Tornado Kills Dozens Near Oklahoma City Raw: Rescuers Pull Tornado Survivors to Safety Oklahoma Gov: 'Hearts Are Broken' After Tornado Raw: Walking in a Flattened Okla. Neighborhood Raw: Rescue Workers Search Oklahoma School Raw: Witness Describes Scene After Okla. Tornado Raw: Aftermath of Massive Tornado in Oklahoma Raw: House Burns After Massive Oklahoma Tornado Raw: Tornado on the Ground in Oklahoma Split-second Choice Ended With NY Student Dead White House Backs 'Shield Law' for Media Wave of Attacks Kills Scores in Iraq Pug Life on Display at Wisconsin Festival Company Promises to Make All Snail Mail Digital Analyst: Tumblr Fills Void in Yahoo's Offerings Commuters Face Delays After Conn. Train Accident Raw: Swarm of Tornadoes Slams Plains Raw: Fierce Bombing in Qusair, Syria RAW: TV Staff Take Cover From Tornado
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
Facebook
Peter Temple Tribute
Photo of the Day