Martins Creek School

Martins Creek Elementary/Middle School
Address
1459 Tobe Scalcup Road Murphy, North Carolina, Cherokee County, 28906 USA
Information
School type	Public Elementary Middle School
Status	Open
School district	Cherokee County School District
Principal	Arnold Mathews
Chief custodian	Jason Hamby
Grades	prek-8
Gender	Co-educational
Age range	6-14
Enrollment	265  (2011)
Hours in school day	8
Campuses	1
Campus size	61 Acres
Website	School Website

Martins Creek Elementary/Middle School is an elementary and middle school, located in Murphy, North Carolina, United States, that serves approximately 265 students. The 61 acre campus includes playgrounds, hiking trails, mountain biking trails and a multi-functional gymnasium.

Awards and distinctions

School

Martins Creek has received many awards and distinctions including being in the top 25 Schools of Excellence in the North Carolina ABC program,^[1] a School of Distinction, a School of Exemplary Growth and was included in PC Magazine's Top 100 Wired Schools in the nation.^{[not in citation given]} It is also one of the few schools in the state to be recognized as achieving exemplary growth every year since the ABCs Program began.^{[not in citation given][2][3][4]}

Faculty

Principal Arnold Mathews was named the 2011 Wachovia Principal of the Year for Cherokee County.^[5]

Demographics

Martins Creek educates in grades Pre-K through 8th grade. The 2011 enrollment of 265 is up from 202 in 2008-09, with a even gender split. The school has a student/teacher ratio of 9.9. The school population is 95% white.^[6]

Solar power array

The school acquired the largest public school solar power array in North Carolina. The array produces around one megawatt of power. At the request of Heath Shuler, the school was honored, for this initiative, in the United States House of Representatives on May 11, 2010.^[7] This project was funded by a $5 million donation from Nantahala Bank and Trust.^[8] The plant was acquired by Duke Energy on April 11, 2011 on terms that benefit the school equivalent to the cost of staffing two full-time teachers. This is now the third largest such installation at a school in the US.^[9]

References

1. ^ North Carolina ABC top 25 Schools
2. ^ Martins Creek Elementary Middle School Official Website
3. ^ Martins Creek Elementary Middle on psk12.com
4. ^ Martins Creek Elementary Middle on Greatschools
5. ^ Lizz Harold (October 26, 2010). "Mathews named principal of year". Cherokee Scout. http://www.cherokeescout.com/articles/2010/10/26/community/doc4cc72d5bdba59594336056.txt. Retrieved May 15, 2011. 
6. ^ "Search for Public Schools: Martins Creek Elementary/mid". National Center for Education Statistics. 2008-09. http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&InstName=martins+creek&State=37&SchoolType=1&SchoolType=2&SchoolType=3&SchoolType=4&SpecificSchlTypes=all&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-1&HiGrade=-1&ID=370078000321. Retrieved May 15, 2011. 
7. ^ "HONORING THE SOLAR POWER INITIATIVE AT MARTINS CREEK SCHOOL IN MURPHY, NC.". Congressional Record. May 11, 2010. http://shuler.house.gov/media/05112010_martins_creek_school.pdf. Retrieved May 15, 2011. 
8. ^ "Solar Array At Martins Creek School". WDEF-TV. http://wdef.com/solar_array_at_martins_creek_school. Retrieved May 15, 2011. 
9. ^ "Duke Energy Renewables Acquires Solar Farm at N.C. Elementary School". Enviro News & Business. April 12, 2011. http://www.enviro-news.com/news-releases/duke-energy-renewables-acquires-solar-farm-at-n-c--elementary-school.html. Retrieved May 15, 2011. 

External links

• Official website
• Image of solar farm

Coordinates: 35°01′10″N 84°01′07″W / 35.0195°N 84.0185°W / 35.0195; -84.0185