Morganton campus of NC School of Science & Math officially opens to first class

MORGANTON, N.C. (WLOS) — A goal and plan more than 10 years in the making was realized in Morganton Friday, June 10, with the opening of North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics' second campus in western North Carolina.

More than 600 state and local leaders along with NCSSM supporters gathered Friday to celebrate at he new campus to celebrate. The ridgetop campus

With the new campus, residential enrollment will expand to serve 300 additional North Carolina students on the Morganton campus of this unique public high school for juniors and seniors. The first class this fall at NCSSM-Morganton will enroll 150 high school juniors.

MATH AND SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL PLANNED FOR MORGANTON

The Morganton campus brings the UNC System into a region of North Carolina that did not previously have a UNC campus. NCSSM is the only high school in the 17-institution UNC System.

“The new campus in Morganton will extend the North Carolina School of Science and Math’s extraordinary benefits and opportunities to more of the state’s talented young people," said UNC System President Peter Hans. "We are grateful for the support of our elected leaders, who had a remarkable vision for this beautiful western campus, and our state will be better for it. Graduates from the Morganton campus will become North Carolina’s teachers, scientists, doctors and inventors, and their brilliance will inspire us.”

NCSSM-Morganton is situated on an 800-acre state-owned property shared with two other educational institutions — Western Piedmont Community College and the North Carolina School for the Deaf. The three schools are already collaborating and have plans to expand partnerships in the near future.

Construction on the residential high school is nearly complete as it begins summer programs on June 12 followed by the arrival of the inaugural residential class of juniors on Aug. 10 for the 2022-2023 school year. The new campus will ultimately support more than 100 full-time jobs.

The majority of the project has been funded by the state of North Carolina through $85 million in appropriations. A vast spectrum of individuals, corporations and nonprofits have also contributed more than $12 million in private investment for the new campus.

About NC School of Science & Mathematics:

NCSSM serves academically-talented high school juniors and seniors from all parts of North Carolina, including 680 each year in its residential high school program in Durham, which opened in 1980, and hundreds more through the NCSSM-Online program, which has been expanding annually and allows students each year to take a series of NCSSM courses virtually alongside the curriculum at their home high school. NCSSM also offers individual NCSSM Connect courses in partnership with local high schools as well as summer programs serving students as young as kindergarten, which will be offered from the new campus as well.

For more information about NCSSM, visit ncssm.edu, and for more about NCSSM-Morganton specifically, visit ncssm.edu/morgantoncampus.