History

Carolina Beach Elementary School is located in a coastal community south of Wilmington, NC on Carolina Beach. The school grounds cover the block of land from Fourth to Fifth streets between Atlanta Ave. and Clarendon Blvd. and is situated behind Carolina Beach Lake.

Between 1916 and 1937, children attended a two- room school on the boardwalk with approximately 30 students.

In the fall of 1937, construction began on the original school building. The architect/builder was W.A. Simon. J.T. and Addie B. Thompson owned the property. Dr. John T. Hoggard was the chairman of the Board of Education and H.M. Roland was New Hanover County Schools Superintendent.

The school opened in 1938 with Ms. Madge Woods as principal and teacher of grades five and six. There were about 55 students.

Carolina Beach Elementary School has been renovated many times. The first renovation was completed in 1942 and another 1953 with three class rooms and bathrooms added to each room. The auditorium was doubled in size and a kitchen was added so students could eat a hot lunch at school.

In October of 1954, Hurricane Hazel hit the area and caused lots of damage to the island. Carolina Beach Elementary School suffered only minor wind and water damage.

As the island continued to grow, the 1971 version of CBES was filled with students from first grade to sixth grade.

The library was added in 1975 with a renovation that added a kindergarten wing named after then principal, Denning T. Buchter.

On the morning of September 21, 1982, lightning struck the school’s roof on the Atlanta Ave. side of the building and caught fire. Severe fire damage occurred in the office, two classrooms and the library. For the remainder of the year the office was located on the stage in the cafeteria. Dr. Audrey Albrecht was the school’s principal during this time. Because of the damage from the fire, some of the students went to school at Carolina Beach’s Presbyterian Church which was located on Charlotte Ave. New construction began in January of 1983. The rebuilt section housed two classrooms, an office and some small rooms for conferences. After the fire, the students from the class of 1982-1983 put together at time capsule to be opened 25 years in the future, 2008. On May 3, 1984 a ceremony was held to celebrate the newly constructed portion of the building.

Hurricane Diana made landfall on September 13, 1984 and destroyed one of the mobile classrooms on campus. It was replaced a few weeks later.

In 1987, six classrooms were added. This is the current 3-5 grade hall.

In the mid-nineties, a playground renovation took place that included a large pirate ship.

Our most recent renovation was 2006-2007. Three more classrooms were added and the main hall and office area were moved. New landscaping, front porch and new playground equipment was added.

While the construction and renovation were occurring, our staff and students were relocated to a newly built school off the island at Veteran’s Park. That school is now Anderson Elementary. The principal during this time was Vicki Hayes. After this renovation and we returned to Carolina Beach, the principal was Cindy Wartel.

In May of 2008, Carolina Beach School’s time capsule from 1983 was opened after 25 years in the ground. Items found inside included photo albums, an ET figurine, and index cards with questions from students. Questions included “Do you still wear glasses?”, “Are school buses still around?” and “What does Michael Jackson look like now?”

A new time capsule was created during the 2007 – 2008 school year and included Hanna Montana memorabilia, Tech Deck toy skateboards, a PlayStation 2, a DVD player, a Wii mote box, a cordless phone, a cell phone, yearbook and lots of questions about the future.

Our school is lucky to have had some incredible parent artists. The paintings on the walls in the building are by Rhonda Sparks and Deborah Salfer, and the painting in the cafeteria is by Brooks Pierce. Some of the paintings on the school’s walls were saved during the 2006 renovation. They were cut out and preserved in the alcove near the front entrance.

The courtyard and outdoor learning areas are an ongoing project at our school. The PTO’s garden committee (2008), led by Yiffen Strickland, purchased lighting, rain barrels, worm and composting bins, plants and benches.

Lifepoint Church donated picnic tables and has helped paint and spruce up the area on many occasions. Local realtors and community members are so generous donating their time and resources to plant and care for our outdoor classroom and our school sign in the front of the building.

Carolina Beach Elementary School celebrated it’s 75th anniversary in 2013 with Cindy Wartel as principal. Classes made posters and welcomed guests who were former students at Carolina Beach Elementary School. Citizenship Award winner from 1983, Billy Marshall Walters or Marty, gave a speech about his time at CBES and how much the school means to him.

In August of 2018, Carolina Beach Elementary School welcomed a new principal, Deanna Leake. During her tenure our school families endured powerful Hurricane Dorian in September of 2019, and a nationwide pandemic from the COVID 19 virus, 2020 to 2021. Students were sent home in March of 2020 and did not return to a regular school year with in-person full day instruction until August of 2021. Students and staff were required to wear masks or face coverings each day and have a temperature reading of 98.6 before entering school.

In August of 2023, Principal Leake was transferred to Murray Middle School and Carolina Beach School welcomed Jennifer Angel as our new Principal.