After years of planning and a long stretch without a neighborhood school, Halifax County has brought a local landmark back into the fold. The former Eastman campus in Enfield has reopened as Eastman Leadership Academy, a modern pre‑K through eighth‑grade school that replaces the old building that closed in 2009. The new, larger campus keeps the Eastman name and legacy front and center while adding more classrooms, community space and updated technology. Alumni, officials and families packed a spring ribbon‑cutting that district leaders did not hesitate to call a homecoming for the town.
The roughly 101,000‑square‑foot building came with a nearly $53 million price tag, and most of that was covered by needs‑based construction grants from the North Carolina Education Lottery. Lottery officials say the $48.5 million grant paid for the bulk of hard construction costs and helped the district build in expanded specialty spaces along with upgraded safety systems.
Eastman traces its roots to 1894, and the new facility steps in for the former Eastman school that shut its doors in 2009. That sense of continuity hit alumni hard, including Board member Charles Hedgepeth. "I'm not a very emotional guy, but I get a little teary eyed. I'm glad to see this school," Hedgepeth said. Superintendent Dr. Eric Cunningham also called the reopening "a homecoming" in coverage by ABC11.
Lottery dollars, statewide reach
According to lottery officials, Eastman is the 45th school in North Carolina to open or undergo renovation with the help of lottery‑funded grants. The program has provided about $2.4 billion in needs‑based public school capital funding to 62 counties. Those statewide investments are part of a broader push, the lottery says, to direct construction dollars toward lower‑wealth districts that have a harder time raising money for new buildings and major repairs.
Why this matters for Halifax
Halifax County is one of the state’s lower‑wealth districts and has wrestled with budget uncertainty that can complicate long‑term planning and hiring, a challenge Superintendent Cunningham discussed in reporting by WUNC. For communities with thin tax bases, capital grants like those from the lottery can make or break efforts to replace aging facilities and consolidate schools in ways that lower operating costs.
What families should know
Eastman Leadership Academy will serve students in pre‑K through eighth grade and is set to welcome its first classes this fall, with registration and program details posted by Halifax County Schools. The reopening also comes with a family twist: three of Board member Hedgepeth's grandchildren are slated to start at Eastman this fall, a detail reported by ABC11.
