Green Hope High School

Green Hope High School is a school in Cary, North Carolina, serving grades 9-12. It is a part of the Wake County Public School System.In 2006, Green Hope had a 95% graduation rate, with approximately 2,144 students attending and 530 seniors graduating. Widely considered to be one of the top public schools at sports in the nation, the school is known for athletes who transfer to the school to compete in the North Carolina 4A Athletics Conference. Green Hope is regularly ranked in the top 5 in the state for Men and Women's Soccer, Golf, Cross Country, Lacrosse and Swimming. The school consistently has large amounts of students that attend college after graduation. It was ranked as the 206th best high school according to the 2011 Newsweek Rankings of Top US High Schools.HistoryThe school is named for the older, historic Green Hope School, built in 1927.It provided Grades 1 through 12 during its lifetime as a consolidated school. This continued until 1952, when it was re-dubbed Green Hope Elementary School, providing primary-education while the higher grades were reallocated to nearby Cary or Apex High schools. Green Hope Elementary proudly became the first accredited rural school in Wake County. By 1963, it served 172000 students. However, at the time, the school was a whites-only establishment.Fire and destructionOn August 15, 1963 at 1 AM, the school caught fire. Three fire departments responded: Apex, Morrisville, and Yrac. (Yrac Department was created in 1958 as a temporary reorganization of Cary Rural Fire District; in 1998 it was merged with Cary F.D.) Despite this response, the school was completely destroyed. Damage was estimated at greater than $400,000, and the school was not reconstructed.