Information booklets are available. About 8,400 students attend prekindergarten through 12th grade in the county's 15 public schools. Schools are accredited by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The local school system employs about 1,200 people. Carteret County public schools are governed by an elected seven-member board of education.
Members serve four-year staggered terms and are chosen in countywide, nonpartisan elections.
School board members meet in open session each month. Elementary school students follow a curriculum that exceeds state standards and features reading and language arts, math, science, social studies, health, physical education, music and art. The middle school concept is used in the three public middle schools and to varying degrees in grades 6 through 8 at other schools. This approach emphasizes teams of students and teachers working together to create consistency for each group. The county's three high schools and three middle schools practice a comprehensive management program that emphasizes achievement and class attendance.