North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics or NCSSM is an excellent boarding school to send your child and challenge themselves to experience what they know to become well-rounded students to survive in this critical world today. 

The school was founded in the 1980’s. It’s part of the UNC system. It is funded by the state, meaning no student has to pay any tuition, room,  board, or other student fees.  

In 1908, the school was a hospital called the Watts Hospital, and since then, it was funded entirely by George W. Watts for the citizens in Durham, North Carolina. He offered free care to those unable to pay. The hospital became public in 1953 and closed in 1976.  In the 1980’s it was converted to a school called North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.  The campus is 27 acres and includes 16 buildings and dorms for the students to stay and learn. 

They have a vast learning curriculum, specialized curriculum emphasizing science and mathematics, and humanities courses:  as well as athletics and extracurricular opportunities. 

But there is one story of a haunting. 

It was a rainy night in 1995 where David Cameron, the security guard, parked his car near the Watts Hospital, ensuring the campus was secure and nothing would come through. He was about to eat a sandwich when torrential rain came pouring and pounding the patrol car. It made him restless, just watching the rain coming down. 

When suddenly he spotted something white between the buildings, it looked like reflectors. But it wasn’t. It looked like spots the sports became a shoe and a figure of a woman submerged in the rain.  He drove up and saw a woman walking briskly through the rain with her head down, and her hair covered her face. She clutched her sweater tightly around her neck and wore a knee-length white dress. 

He drove up and rolled down his window. 

“Are you okay?” he asked. 

She stopped, as she was taken by surprise by his presence. 

And slowly – very slowly, she turned her head to the security guard. 

Her face was pale. Water ran down her stringy hair and across her face. 

“No, I am on my way home.” She spoke in a voice that is not from this world. She said slowly and turned her head back down and walked away. 

Cameron sat still, and he was in shock of what he had witnessed and what he heard. He realized that something was not right. He followed her to make sure she got home safely. 

She then made her way to the gymnasium, and he was right there. He got out of the car and went to the side door of the gym, where she went through. But the door was locked. He jerked the door, so it was impossible to go through. He fumbled with his keys, and when he opened it.  She was nowhere to be found. The floor was dried. No footprints.  

Where could she be gone? 

In the 1960’s it was said that a nursing student who went out for a date and never had returned. Her body was found in a rural area. She was murdered, and to this day, the case is still unsolved. 

Is she still there trying to get home on a rainy night? 

Have you seen her?