If you’re weighing a move to Chatham Park, the school question comes up in nearly every conversation I have with buyers. Chatham Park is a large planned community wrapping around downtown Pittsboro, and it’s growing fast enough that the schools serving it are still catching up to it. That means the answer to “which school will my kids attend” is more layered than a single sentence, and it’s worth getting right before you write an offer, not after.
I’m Jeremy Ferguson, a Chatham County-area real estate agent brokered by eXp Realty. I live in Chapel Hill on the Chatham County side, just minutes from Chatham Park, and I spend a lot of my time helping families match a home to the school zone that actually fits — not the one a listing description assumes. Below is what I can verify about Chatham Park’s current school assignments, what’s changing, and how to confirm your own address before you buy. For the bigger picture on life in the community beyond schools, see my full Chatham Park living guide.
How Chatham County School Assignment Works
Chatham County Schools (CCS) assigns students by home address, not by neighborhood name or HOA. Two houses on the same street in Chatham Park can occasionally land in different zones depending on exactly where a boundary line runs, and those lines move as new schools open. The only way to know for certain which elementary, middle, and high school a specific address feeds into is to check it directly with the district — not with a listing sheet, a neighbor, or this page.
CCS runs an official School Assignment Locator: enter a house number and street name and it returns the assigned school by grade level. I’d treat that tool, or a call to the district office at (919) 542-3626, as the final word on any specific address.
Chatham Park School Assignment Overview
With that caveat up front, here’s what’s currently verifiable, based on Chatham County Schools’ own current school list and Chatham Park’s developer, as of 2026:
| Level | School | Grades | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elementary | Perry W. Harrison Elementary | PK–5 | South of downtown Pittsboro on Hamlet Chapel Road; the elementary school most Chatham Park addresses have fed into to date. |
| Middle | George Moses Horton Middle | 5–8 | On Horton Street in Pittsboro; named for the enslaved Chatham County-born poet George Moses Horton. |
| High | Northwood High | 9–12 | Pittsboro’s longtime comprehensive high school, open since 1970; borders part of the Chatham Park development directly. |
Two other CCS schools are worth knowing even if they aren’t your assignment. Seaforth High School opened in August 2021 as the district’s fourth high school specifically to relieve Northwood, and attendance lines between the two have shifted before. Chatham Grove Elementary, on Andrews Store Road, is a newer elementary campus that also draws from parts of the Pittsboro area. Depending on exactly where in Chatham Park a home sits, and depending on redistricting the school board approves between now and your closing date, either could end up being the correct assignment instead of Perry Harrison or Northwood. That’s exactly the kind of detail the locator tool settles — I wouldn’t guess.
New Schools Coming to Chatham Park, and Why
Chatham Park is one of the largest master-planned communities in North Carolina, approved for more than 20,000 homes over several decades. Add VinFast’s electric-vehicle plant and FedEx’s regional hub, both within commuting distance in Chatham County, plus new sections like Asteria and South Village filling in with rooftops, and the county’s enrollment projections have had to move more than once. A December 2021 projection estimated roughly 1,000 additional CCS students from Chatham Park by 2031-32; more recent projections put that figure closer to 3,000.
To keep pace, Chatham County Schools has identified sites for two new elementary schools inside Chatham Park itself — one in the Northern Village, one in the Southern Village — both originally targeted to open for the 2027-28 school year. The county’s Capital Improvement Program, adopted by the Board of Commissioners on December 16, 2024, pushed the Northern Village elementary school back about a year “due to lower than projected enrollment growth,” and pushed a planned expansion of Margaret B. Pollard Middle School back two years, to FY2028, for the same reason. In plain terms: the new schools are coming, but exactly when depends on how fast Chatham Park and its neighboring developments actually fill in — so treat any opening year, including the ones in this article, as subject to change.
What it means for a buyer: once a new elementary school opens inside Chatham Park, CCS will very likely redraw attendance lines to fill it, which could shift addresses currently zoned to Perry Harrison or Chatham Grove. That’s ordinary in a growing district and not a reason to avoid buying here — it’s a reason to ask about it rather than assume today’s assignment is permanent.
Charter and Private Options Nearby
Families cross-shopping public assignment against other options have a couple of nearby choices. Thales Academy, a K-12 private school, opened a Pittsboro campus in April 2022 inside the Vineyards at Chatham Park, adding a grade level each year since. North Carolina also allows students to apply to any public charter school in the state regardless of home address, subject to lottery and available space, though none currently sit inside Chatham Park itself. Neither option changes your default CCS assignment — they’re simply worth knowing about if a family wants to look beyond it.
Verify the Assignment Before You Write an Offer
A few steps I walk buyers through on every home where school assignment matters to them:
- Run the exact address — not the neighborhood name — through the CCS School Assignment Locator before getting attached to a house.
- For new construction or a Chatham Park section that hasn’t been platted yet, call the district directly; brand-new streets sometimes lag behind the online tool.
- Ask whether the parcel sits near a zone boundary. Boundary-adjacent homes are the ones most likely to be affected by the next redistricting, whenever it happens.
- If a specific school assignment matters to your family’s decision, get it confirmed in writing or by phone with the district — not just from a listing sheet.
I can’t change a school’s attendance zone, but I can make sure you’re not guessing about it. When a family I’m working with has a school in mind, I check the address against the current CCS assignment before we tour the home, and I flag anything sitting close to a boundary line. If you’re looking at a move to Chatham Park or elsewhere around Pittsboro, reach out and I’ll help you match a home to the zone you actually want — or at least make sure you know what you’re getting into. Start at Find Your Home, or call me directly at (919) 646-3080.
Frequently Asked Questions
What elementary school does Chatham Park feed into?
Most Chatham Park addresses currently feed into Perry W. Harrison Elementary, but Chatham County Schools assigns by exact address, and some sections may be zoned to Chatham Grove Elementary instead. Confirm your specific address with the district’s School Assignment Locator before assuming.
Is a new elementary school being built inside Chatham Park?
Yes. Chatham County Schools has identified sites for two new elementary schools inside Chatham Park — one in the Northern Village and one in the Southern Village. Both were originally targeted for the 2027-28 school year; the county’s December 2024 Capital Improvement Program pushed the Northern Village school back about a year due to slower-than-projected enrollment growth, so treat any specific opening year as a moving target.
What high school serves Chatham Park — Northwood or Seaforth?
Northwood High is Chatham Park’s longtime assigned high school. Seaforth High, which opened in 2021 as the county’s fourth high school, was built specifically to relieve overcrowding at Northwood, and attendance lines between the two have shifted before. Verify a specific address with the district rather than assuming.
Can school assignments change after I buy a home in Chatham Park?
Yes, and it’s worth planning for. Chatham County Schools has redrawn attendance zones before as new schools opened, and it will very likely do so again once the Chatham Park elementary schools are built. There’s no way to lock in a specific school permanently; the most you can do is buy with an accurate, current picture and stay aware that boundary-adjacent homes see the most change.
How do I check which school a specific house is zoned for?
Use Chatham County Schools’ official School Assignment Locator and enter the exact house number and street name, or call the district office at (919) 542-3626. I check this for every buyer I work with before we tour a home where a school assignment matters to their decision.