COROLLA
Field trips to see wild horses romp in the surf are part of the plans for a new school proposed in Corolla.
A thriving tourist town for the past 20 years, Corolla has not had a school since 1957 when it was a tiny fishing village.
The old school house still sits near the Currituck Beach Lighthouse but now serves as headquarters and a museum for the Corolla Wild Horse Fund.
A committee of parents led by lighthouse site manager Meghan Agresto has formed a plan to start a small school, most likely a North Carolina charter school. The group is looking for support and ideas at a public meeting to be held May 17. If all goes well, the group will select a board, establish a nonprofit, apply to the state charter office in February 2010 and, if accepted, open in the fall of 2011, Agresto said.
"There are a lot of people here who want their kids to go to a small school," said Agresto, a mother of two. "So many people we have spoken to say, 'I'd be happy to lend you a hand.' "
Many of the organizers hold graduate and undergraduate degrees with backgrounds in education and nonprofits, she said.
About 15 children live in the area and could attend school there, but the doors will be open to anyone, she said. Many families have left Corolla to get closer to a school. In the past, parents have driven children to Dare County schools and paid the additional tuition.
Getting to school from the Currituck Outer Banks means a two-hour bus ride, a long drive or a boat ride across the sound to Knotts Island.
Caroline Foster, a second-grader, boards a bus at 6 a.m. within site of the lighthouse for a two-hour ride to Jarvisburg Elementary on the Currituck mainland. When the school day ends, she boards the bus again for the trek back, arriving at about 5 p.m. It's a grueling and time-consuming routine that her parents, Jeff and Amanda Foster, hope will end by the time she starts the fifth grade.
"Currituck sends a 40-some-passenger school bus every day to pick up exactly three children," said Jeff Foster, a fire fighter and paramedic in Corolla. "It's nonsensical."
Disadvantages could include a lack of after-school activities and sports, Agresto said.
Charter schools follow a theme that sets them apart from typical public schools, Agresto said. With the ocean, the sound, marshes, wild horses and a state wildlife center all close by, the curriculum there would focus on environmental science; a field trip could include a trip up to the four-wheel-drive area to watch and learn about the wild horses, she said.
The state plans to build a bridge from the mainland to Corolla by 2013, but the project has been delayed several times over the years. A bridge there would cut travel time to the mainland by about an hour. A school is still needed and the bridge could open the way for mainland students to attend, Agresto said.
Over the years, parents and the county have made attempts over the years to accommodate Outer Banks school children.
In 2004, the state bought a passenger-only ferry to carry Corolla students to mainland schools but the project failed. The Coast Guard found the vessel was not sea-worthy enough for the Currituck Sound, and ferry officials were charged with illegally dredging a channel to accommodate a landing area near the Whalehead Club.
In 1993, months-long discussions between the county and Corolla parents faltered after a determination that services would be limited, especially after-school activities, said John Barnes, a member of the board of education then and now.
A handful of small schools formed in Corolla in the late 1800s to accommodate families of locals, government officials and the lighthouse keeper. In 1905, the county stepped in to support a school there, hiring a teacher and standardizing grading, according to a stories in The Virginian-Pilot.
Students of all ages attended together. Attendance peaked during World War II to about 60 when the Coast Guard leased the Whalehead Club for training.
When the war ended, the population waned and the doors closed in 1957. The Corolla Wild Horse Fund moved into the old schoolhouse in 2006 to use it as their headquarters and one of their two museums.
Jeff Hampton (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com
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Remote locations not always easy for kids
I was the child of a summer resident in Carova and spent summers there from the age of 10 till I went off to college. It was even more remote than Corolla with 8 to 10 miles of beach driving up the coast. The beach is often impassable during bad winter storms and all vehicular travel is influenced by the tides. In the summer the beach is made almost impassable by the tourists that do not understand the wash (the hard pack sand at the edge of the ocean) is the road. While a beautiful place it can be isolated and lonely especially for kids. Yes the commute was harsh, however, yearly residents’ kids benefited by making friends at the larger schools in Dare County and the mainland. I always envied Jay, fellow UNC Wilmington student, who grew up there and went to school in Dare because he had many friends his age on the southern beaches. My parent retired in Carova and when I came home from college for breaks it was lonely because all my High School friends were in Northern VA. I would hate to see those kids lose the chance to make the many friendships possible in a larger school. The commute may be part of the price for choosing to live in such an isolated area. Don’t ho