Pittsboro, NC – The Chatham County Board of Education on January 20, 2021, approved Tripp Crayton as the principal of Seaforth High School, effective February 15, 2021. Crayton has been principal at Jordan-Matthews High School, in Siler City, since 2015.
Seaforth is on schedule to open in August. It’s the first high school built in the district since 1972. Crayton said he always wanted to open a brand-new school.
Seaforth High School is on a 75-acre site off Seaforth Road. It is a 213,000-sf facility. It will initially accommodate 1200 students, but there is a planned addition that will raise the student capacity to 1400.
Seaforth High School is on track to meet LEED Silver Certification, EnergyStar Certification requirements, and Duke Energy’s Efficiency Design Assistance Program. It will also meet the NCDPI program requirements: 30 academic classrooms, 9 science classrooms/labs, 2 self-contained, exceptional education classrooms, a complete athletic complex and cultural arts complex, and a career technical education and business/service classrooms/labs.
“After much reflection and thought, I sought the opportunity to become principal of the new high school to fulfill a goal I have desired over time,” Crayton said. “My experiences prior to coming to Jordan-Matthews, as well as my experiences there, will help guide me in building the foundation of the new school. It has been an honor working at Jordan-Matthews.”
Crayton, the 2020 Chatham County Schools Principal of the Year, is in his 26th year as an educator.
The interim principal at Jordan-Matthews will be Donna Barger, who has been one of the school’s assistant principals for the past 5 ½ years. Barger has been an educator for 24 years.