Governor cuts ribbon at Ossipee's North Star Academy

OSSIPEE — Gov. Kelly Ayotte last week cut the ribbon for the newly opened North Star Academy Public Charter School and told students they could seek to become "kid governor" for a day. She said being the governor is a tough but rewarding job.

North Star opened Sept. 17, with 17 students from kindergarten to grade seven in the former Carroll County Courthouse building, which is over 100 years old. The school has a capacity of up to 50 students, and the charter is for grades K-8. The school currently has two full-time teachers and one full-time assistant. There is also a part-time art teacher and a reading specialist.

Other attendees at the ribbon-cutting on Oct. 17 included Executive Councilor Joe Kenney (R-Wakefield), state Sen. Mark McConkey (R-Freedom), state Rep. Katie Peternel (R-Wolfeboro) and former County Commissioner Matt Plache, who is now executive director of White Horse Recovery.

"It's wonderful to be here at the North Star Academy. What a phenomenal school and an opportunity for the kids," said Ayotte.

Referencing Executive Director Adrien Rule, she said: "I know how hard Adrien has worked on this. It's really been a passion project. And I look at the members of the community who are involved, and it's just going to be a great opportunity for learning for our young people and another choice for parents in the area."

The students had questions for the governor.

Pierce Sarty asked how many schools she had visited.

Ayotte replied that she’s been to a lot of schools both as governor and as a U.S. senator. As a student, she attended schools in Nashua.

"I got to visit the school of the kid governor earlier this year. That was cool," said Ayotte.

She explained that a lucky child gets to come to the State House for the Kid Governor program. "You get sworn in, and I'll be there, and then you can come hang out in my office and you can give me some good advice about what I should do as governor."

The idea elicited giggles from the students. The 2025 kid governor is Jade Adams, a fifth-grader from Harrisville.

Student Chris Sloane asked if being governor is fun.

Ayotte said it is.

"I get to visit all kinds of neat places like here today. So, for example, Councilor Kenney and I also took a snowcat up to the top of Mount Washington in the winter. That was super cool. We went zip-lining together. So I get to do fun things like that," said Ayotte, adding that sometimes the job can be hard but rewarding. "When you can get something done and help people, it feels great."

The building had been a functioning courthouse until it was replaced by a new building in 2004. In 2022, the county took over the building from the Ossipee Historical Society, which said it no longer could afford to maintain it.

Kenney said the school is "wonderful" and will help develop its students into being "productive and patriotic citizens."

Senator Mark McConkey said he was impressed by the work North Star did to fix up the building.

In June 2023, after a bidding process run by county commissioners, the Carroll County delegation, which controls county spending, voted along party lines (Republicans for, Democrats against) to sell the building to the Institute for Classical Culture for $1. The institute is the founding non-profit behind North Star Academy charter school.

"It's just wonderful to see this building being preserved like this and renovated. It'll be good for another 100 years now," said Plache, who was a commissioner during the bidding process. "It was costing the county $40,000 a year just to mothball it. This is great to see this happening and being put back to use with kids in it."