Jackson County Public Schools is planning to build its first-ever middle school after receiving a $52 million grant from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction last September.
Jackson County has long operated without a dedicated middle school, relying on K-8 schools to feed into the county’s only high school, Smoky Mountain High. JCPS also operates a K-12 school, Jackson Community School.
“This is a huge undertaking,” said JCPS superintendent Dana Ayers. “We’re one of only eleven counties in NC that doesn’t have a middle-school model. I just want to catch up to what the rest of our state is already doing.”
The introduction of a dedicated middle school will allow JCPS to offer new opportunities to students and teachers. Ayers said a large aspect of this change will be increased collaboration between teachers and age-specific programs for students.
Each school in Jackson County teaching middle-grades has only one teacher per grade, per subject. The schools are spread throughout the county, making it difficult for teachers to come together.
“There are teachers who are doing really well, but we can’t go visit them because we’d be neglecting our class. We’re alone on our little islands right now,” said Sydney Conley, a sixth grade math teacher at Cullowhee Valley.
Conley said the new school will help bring teachers together who currently must take extra time out of their days to meet. She said email and text messaging only go so far, and that in-person collaboration is a must.
“I have nobody to collaborate with unless it’s a specific planning day, which comes about two or three times a year,” Conley said.
She also points out logistical benefits of a centralized school: multiple staff members in one location can help in scheduling, planning, or simply helping out on an off day.
“If I’m out and can’t get a substitute, my students won’t get math that day. It’s good to have people behind your back that can help you when life happens,” Conley said.
A dedicated middle school will also offer students a choice in Career and Technical Education classes. JCPS offers middle grade CTE classes in business, agriculture, carpentry and more; but because middle-grade students are split between schools, not every CTE class is offered at each school.
“What we’re missing is the opportunity to specialize in the needs of adolescent kiddos in grades six through eight. And also offer them the opportunity to dabble a little bit in careers that they may enter after high school and beyond,” Ayers said.
A dedicated middle school will allow JCPS to offer every available class for each student in the same location.
Kristin Menickelli is a sixth grade science and social studies teacher at Cullowhee Valley School. She’s looking forward to a centralized middle school in Jackson County.
“It’s exciting for the community. Previously, most Jackson County Public Schools’ students attended a pre-K through eight setting before high school. Having a middle school will allow teachers to collaborate in unique ways that will best serve the social, emotional, physical and developmental needs of adolescents,” Menickelli said.
The $52 million comes from the NC DPI Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund grant. Counties with less than $40 billion in taxable land are eligible to apply for funds, which come in part from the North Carolina Education Lottery. Jackson County received the maximum amount possible and committed to cover 15% of the grant, about $8 million.
Jackson County has 24 months from the reception of the funds to break ground on its new facility. The grant was awarded in Sep. 2024, meaning construction must begin by Sep. 2026. Finding flat land in WNC large enough for a middle school has proven challenging and Ayers hopes to find a location soon.
Ayers said JCPS is looking for 30 acres or more, a space ideally large enough for a baseball field, softball field, soccer field and a track. Because the facility will consolidate many existing programs from across the county, the location should be centrally located and easily accessible for most residents. Pinnacle Architecture and Vannoy Construction have been contracted to build the school.
A community input session was held at Southwestern Community College March 24.
