Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will outline a handful of changes to its magnet program and take public comments at Tuesday's school board meeting. The changes will take effect in the 2023 choice lottery if the board approves them Nov. 9.
CMS plans to put several programs into the renovated Waddell High School in southwest Charlotte:
- A new program called PACE Global High School, for high school students who are learning English.
- The Performance Learning Center, a small nontraditional high school currently located on Nations Ford Road near Waddell. It offers personalized instruction using a mix of virtual and in-person instruction.
- The district's virtual academy for grades 6-12.
- Career-tech programs related to aviation and aerospace, customer relations, software development and graphic design.
Montessori magnet move
CMS also plans to move Trillium Springs Montessori from its current home on the south edge of Huntersville to the Lincoln Heights Academy building. That’s about eight miles away, in north Charlotte.
The district opened Trillium Springs in 2014 in an effort to give north suburban families more options and meet high demand for Montessori seats. The preK-6 school is housed in the old Long Creek Elementary building that became available when CMS built a replacement school on the grounds.
Uptown early college high
The final change would create a new early college high school at Central Piedmont Community College’s campus in uptown Charlotte. CMS currently has middle college programs for juniors and seniors at four Central Piedmont campuses, and two early college programs for grades 9-13 at UNC Charlotte.
The new early college program would open with 100 seats each in grades 9 to 12. Students would attend high school at the central campus and take tuition-free college courses, with the option to stay for a 13th year and earn an associate degree.
The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center and streams live on the CMS board's Facebook page. Applications for the choice lottery will be open Jan. 16 to Feb. 13.
The district is also holding a series of virtual and in-person public discussions about a range of long-term construction and assignment plans through November.
