School History

Prior to 1924, the Cape Fear Township had three separate schools. Acorn Branch, Castle Hayne, and Wrightsboro. The third school, Wrightsboro was a two room school which was build adjacent to the Wrightsboro Baptist Church. The land for the school, which was donated by Mr. Moses Horne, was located on Rock Road, which is now Castle Hayne Road. The name Rock Road, was so named because it was unpaved and made with rock marl. Wood fires kept classes warm, oil lamps supplied the light, water was drawn from a hand pump in the yard, and two outside buildings served as restrooms.There were two teachers and two rooms in this school. One for grades one through four, and one for grades five through eight. There was no bus service at this time, so students walked four to six miles to and from school every day.

 

A few years prior to 1924 the Acorn Branch School was closed and those students were transferred to the Wrightsboro School, which now had two teachers and ninety students. In 1924, the New Hanover County Board of Education purchased three acres of land from Mr. Horne and erected a one-story brick building. At this time the Castle Hayne school was consolidated with the Wrightsboro school, now having five teachers and one hundred fifty-five students. By 1930, Wrightsboro had eight teachers all of whom were single and were paid $70 a month for eight months.

In 1939, the second story was added to Wrightsboro, and the cafeteria was built in 1953. In 1963, six additional classrooms were built behind the first building and six more classrooms were added in 1968. Wrightsboro school continued to serve students in grades one through eight until 1952 when the seventh and eighth grades were transferred to Chestnut Street Junior High School (now Annie H. Snipes). In 1971, Wrightsboro began serving only grades one through four, and the first kindergarten class was added in 1973. In 1982, the fifth and sixth graders returned to Wrightsboro making it the fifth largest elementary school in New Hanover County.

In 1997, a new fifteen room addition was opened which also included a new cafeteria. The old 1924 building was renovated with the auditorium converted into a modern library. The old cafeteria was converted into a multipurpose room. The 1924 building was again renovated in 2009, when Wrightsboro celebrated its 100 year anniversary. In 2012 the two back buildings were renovated. Wrightsboro currently serves kindergarten through fifth grade and has an enrollment of approximately 600 students.