Front of J. S. Waters School
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    J. S. Waters School is a kindergarten through eighth grade school serving the central rural region of Chatham County in North Carolina. With a population of approximately 350 students, it is one of three feeder schools for Chatham Central High School.

      
    The School History

     
    J. S. Waters Elementary School was constructed on, and still occupies, the site of the former Goldston School, which was built in 1939 and destroyed by fire in 1953. The name was changed to J. S. Waters High School in 1956 at the request of parents and school patrons, in honor of J. Shirley Waters, then superintendent of Chatham County Schools.

    The current J. S. Waters School began operation in 1968 and serves students in the central section of Chatham County in Goldston, North Carolina.

    Prior to 1958, Goldston supported two area union schools: J. S. Waters High School and Goldston High School. In 1958, as part of Chatham County's re-organizational plan to improve school facilities, Chatham Central High School was created to accommodate students from Goldston High School and Bonlee High School.

    Goldston High School was then renamed Goldston Elementary School. In compliance with the Civil Rights Act, J. S. Waters High School merged in 1968 with Chatham Central High School The former J. S. Waters High School was renamed J. S. Waters Elementary School. In 1970, also in compliance with the Civil Rights Act, the two elementary schools, Goldston Elementary and J. S. Waters Elementary, merged.