Northside school marks dedication

As years turn to decades and the people that first walked the halls of Northside Elementary School grow old, one thing has remained visible within the community — the school’s pride for learning.

Saturday marked a historic and emotional moment in the school’s long past, with the gathering of more than 100 community members to formally dedicate the school to the education of youth in the area.

Northside has become a mainstay on Caldwell Street throughout the years. The school started out as the all-African-American Orange County Training School in 1924. In 1949, the training school was renamed Lincoln High School.

In 1951, the school was officially given the name Northside Elementary School.

The school closed shortly in 1966 and was later used for office space until it was razed to clear a spot for the new school. The new Northside Elementary School opened its doors on Aug. 26 and provides students with innovative tools for continual learning.

Senator-elect Valerie Foushee, D-Orange, was emotional during her speech to dedicate the remodeled school.

Foushee, an alumna of the school, said both her mother and father also attended the elementary school.

“I’m just excited and thrilled,” she said in an interview. “It is literally a dream come true, it is hard to describe this ceremony in words.”

The school was built to be energy conscious. From rooftop gardens to interactive dashboards displaying the building’s energy consumption, students can learn scientific lessons in a hands-on manner.

“We will use our building as a learning plan, it is a teaching tool within itself,” said the school’s principal Cheryl Carnahan.

Tom Forcella, the superintendent of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, said he felt the school was not just a way for the system to cut costs.

“This building’s model plan was enacted not to just save money but to improve the learning process as well,” he said.

Judith Gadd, parent of a fourth-grade student, said she was pleased with the effort put into making an innovative school for her daughter.

Gadd’s daughter, Jasmine, was excited to attend the event even though it was during the weekend. She said her school’s respect for the environment was important to her.

“Every day at lunch we have one bin for compost, one bin for plastics and one bin for trash,” she said. “Someone is always there to teach us which one to use.”

Dave Mason, alumni president for the school throughout its three different titles, said a recent alumni-only open house held a large attendance and displayed community pride for the school’s past.

Mason said Saturday honored the school’s past, while looking to its future.

“When I grew up, the community embraced the aspects of learning. Right now, we are still willing and able to fill that role again.”

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