Cartoogechaye Elementary School

Cartoogechaye Elementary School is located in rural Franklin, North Carolina in the western most part of our state.  The word Cartoogechaye means "small village" in the Cherokee language.  We are surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains with peaks as high as 5300 feet, and located 5-miles from the Appalachian Trail.  We are the first and only school in the state of North Carolina to earn STARS status, first in 2006 and then again in 2011.  We are a Physical Education Demonstration school, as well as a partner to Western Carolina University for mentoring future physical educators.

Our school serves 355 students in grades K-4. All students receive 45-minutes of Physical Education each day with our two certified, full time Physical Education teachers, one whom is Nationally Board Certified.  Our curriculum is based on the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Healthful Living as well as the NASPE national standards.  Cartoogechaye is a pilot school for Virtual Physical Education (V.P.E.) in which students will be assessed on age appropriate power standards. The assessments are then recorded on an iPad that was provided to us through a recent PEP grant.  We are also involved in a pilot program with FitnessGram testing in which our students score will run through our NC Wise system, thus allowing for the scores to follow the child if they were to transfer to another school.  The PEP grant has provided many opportunities for staff development, new equipment and technology, which in turn have increased the learning opportunities for our students.

There are many features of our program that make it distinct.  Our partnership with the Nantahala Hiking club has brought our outdoor education program and Appalachian Trail hikes to a new level.  The club also helped to build a mini Appalachian Trail on our campus including the signs and mileage as it passes through each state.  This was also made possible by a grant from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.  It is our goal that all students will learn and develop skills that will motivate them to be active people throughout their lives.  Lifetime skills include, but are not limited to: Yoga, fishing, bicycling, tennis, golf, bouldering, archery, disc golf, teambuilding/ropes course, bowling, dance, hiking/outdoor education, personal fitness with pedometers, heart rate monitors and individual goal setting.  Students also have an opportunity to learn a variety of circus activities including juggling, unicycling, and other skills that encourage students to be active both in and out of school.