By Gene Galin
Pittsboro, NC – On March 1, Mr. Tripp Crayton, the first principal of the new Seaforth High School gave me a tour of the facilities. The purpose of the tour was so that I could record the tour and share the video clips of the tour with you.
Below you will find all the individual segments that I shot in chronological order as we made our way around the school. During the tour principal Crayton talks about various features and functionality of the new building. He also answers questions that were submitted to me by various Chatham Chatlist members.
These 16 video clips are available on YouTube and you are welcome to share them and embed them as needed.
Principal Crayton met me outside the front doors of Seaforth High School. We started our conversation outdoors socially distanced and spaced apart by more than six feet.
When he was offered the position as the principal of the new Seaforth High School, Mr. Crayton noted that “I was extremely excited to have the opportunity of opening new school, especially the newest high school that hadn’t been built in Chatham County since 1972.”
We headed inside the building and Mr. Crayton explained how entry into the building would be handled every morning during a regular school day. We then went into the wide open Commons area with the large central staircase and plenty of space for students to congregate and do work.
We then headed into the left front wing of the school. The school is a large rectangular building with an open air center courtyard.
Principal Crayton shows off the classroom and work area setups for the agricultural, construction and carpentry classes.
We get to see the school bus drop-off area located at the rear of the school and principal Crayton explains the process. We then go and take a look at the cultural arts classrooms.
We take a look at the theatre and band rooms that will be available for student use during the school day and for after school activities. These are located near the auditorium.
Principal Tripp takes us inside the cafeteria and explains the preliminary plans for how lunch will be served as the first year of school begins and the school continues to grow in capacity over the years. The cafeteria is large with a high ceiling and can accommodate various functions.
The new school features a dance room, dressing rooms and an auditorium that can be used by students interested in the performing arts. The auditorium set up is also set up to accommodate those involved in production.
We take a look at the wrestling area and weight room. They feature padded flooring to withstand dropped weights and training equipment.
The new school features not one, but two gyms. One can easily accommodate a couple thousand spectators for a home sporting event. The other can be used as a practice gym and also has space for a limited number of spectators as needed for smaller events.
The school features new spaces for athletic department offices and locker rooms.
We take a quick peek inside the coaches office space and the laundry room.
We head up the stairs to the second floor to see the classrooms up at this level.
Seaforth high school will have two vice principals. They will be located on the second floor along with academic classrooms and the teachers room. The school is also built and there is room on the grounds to expand the physical building as needed to accommodate about 200 additional students is needed in the future.
We finished up our tour of the inside of the school building by taking a look at the administrative offices. I suspect that principal Crayton will be spending a lot of the school day walking around the school and interacting with students, faculty and staff.
Before leaving I did get a chance to take a look at Seaforth outdoor facilities. The football stadium will be able to accommodate about 2400 spectators. There are also softball, baseball and soccer fields along with tennis courts. I finish off this video with an aerial view of the outdoor sports facilities and the school building.