Clay County Schools

Clay County Schools is in the far western region of NC in the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains. The county seat is Hayesville, NC. Clay County provides numerous types of outdoor activities including hiking and mountain-biking along the Appalachian Trail and Nantahala National Forest, water sports on Lake Chatuge, and kayaking and trout-fishing along the Hiwassee River and its tributaries. 

CCS serves 1244 students with a 1:12 student to teacher ratio and small-town values. We value our employees and provide day care for all staff children at a reduced cost through a local partnership with a daycare located at Hayesville Primary School, a brand-new state of the art facility opened in 2020. All four of our schools and the district offices are located on the same campus in downtown Hayesville. 

Our motto is “All students learning at high levels.” Our community is dedicated to meeting the physical and social-emotional needs of all our students so that they can focus on academic achievement. Our students’ physical needs are met by our Communities for Students organization of local churches, businesses, and citizens. 

Social-emotional needs are met by a school counselor in every school, a district social worker, and a certified mental health therapist. We also have 58 sports and clubs to engage students, and 58% of our teachers are national board certified or have an advanced degree. At CCS, we envision providing high quality learning environments, created by professionals of the highest quality, leading to all students learning at high levels, and culminating in every student graduating on time with a plan for their next step. Please come join our team!

All four Clay County Schools are housed on one main campus for all students, Preschool through 12th grade, with all students riding the same buses. Having all students on one campus allows a unique opportunity for our students to know our staff and one another on a long-term, if not lifelong, basis. 

Once a student becomes familiar with our schools, they have a sense of belonging even through school level transitions. Being on the same campus allows our primary and elementary classes to partner with older middle and high school classes for mentoring and hands-on experiences as well.  

Clay County Schools employees also have the same security knowing that if they change school assignments, they are still located on the same campus. Beginning Teachers are assured to have the most experienced mentors through our Beginning Teacher Support Program that can be provided from teachers in a different school, but in their specific subject area that they might not have appropriate access to if on separate campuses.

Professional development is always geared to meeting the needs of our students and staff. We provide as much PD on campus as possible, so staff isn’t required to travel far from home often. Online PD opportunities are shared with staff when administrators see it is a topic individual or groups of teachers can benefit from as well. 

The Licensure Coordinator informs certified staff of their license renewal dates and keeps them updated on what they need for their next license renewal. The Licensure Coordinator also assists each certified staff in uploading any CEUs earned toward their license renewal./  Clay County Schools also provides an onsite day care at Hayesville Primary School in partnership with Southwestern Child Care at a discounted rate from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. We also provide a Discovery after-school program.

Clay County Schools will be launching a Teacher Cadet program during the 2021-2022 school year to help address our employment needs while exposing our students to the benefits of a job in the education fields.

We envision our future teachers taking advantage of the opportunities provided by all buildings located on a central campus to be able to observe and participate in teaching activities at all grade levels with ease.

If you’re interested in working for Clay County Schools, check out our job postings or email email.