Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s newest high school opens this morning, three weeks before most of the district’s students start classes.
About 200 students in grades 9-11 are reporting to the second floor of Central Piedmont’s Worrell Building in uptown Charlotte. The new school joins more than 130 high schools across North Carolina that partner with universities and community colleges to give teens an early experience of campus life.
They can stay for up to five years earning tuition-free credits, then graduate with an associate’s degree or credentials that let them move straight into skilled jobs.
“What it does is provide opportunities for first-generation college students, underrepresented minorities or students and families that are looking for academic acceleration,” said Principal Erik Turner, who moved from Julius Chambers High to open Central Piedmont Early College High.
Most high schools provide ways to earn college credits, such as Advanced Placement courses and community college classes offered through traditional high schools. But the on-campus experience is viewed as one way to help underrepresented students get comfortable with the idea of higher education.
The concept isn’t new for CMS. It already has middle-college high schools at four other Central Piedmont campuses. The difference is those schools start with 11th grade, while early colleges welcome students to campus as soon as ninth grade. And the CMS middle-college high schools start classes at 11 a.m. The uptown early college school starts at 7:15 a.m., like most CMS high schools.
As for the early start date, North Carolina exempts its college-based high schools from the law requiring most schools to wait until late August because they need to synchronize with their higher-education partners.
Lots of options open
CMS also has two early college programs at UNC Charlotte. They require students to choose a career track: engineering or education.
Turner says his school is different: “Our students can participate in any of the associate’s degree pathways that are provided by Central Piedmont. Whether it’s an associate’s in engineering, in science, they can pursue nursing careers — any field of interest that the community college offers.”
That’s appealing to students like Bryson Ferebee, who’s starting 10th grade at Central Piedmont after a freshman year at Garinger High.
“I want to start working on becoming an architect. And trying to work on music as well,” he said. “My first goal is to become a musician, a famous musician, but my backup is to be an architect and sell houses.”
Bryson attended Central Piedmont Early College’s open hour Thursday with his mother, Octavia Brown. She pushed her son to switch because she didn’t think his old school was challenging enough, and she eagerly volunteered her take.
“As a mom, as a parent, the fact that he gets to earn his high school diploma and an associate’s degree and cut down on the college costs for me, (I) couldn’t ask for a better opportunity,” she said, beaming.
Autumn Holt is a freshman at the new school. She said she already feels welcomed by the small group of teachers and classmates here. She said some things about a traditional high-school experience appeal to her, but overall the intimate setting and “that good learning experience” won out.
Her mother, Tammie Holt, said the family looked at several options and Central Piedmont “checked all the boxes.”
“The small community helps, the relationships, all of that is really important to both of us, along with rigorous expectations that are going to prepare her for what comes after high school,” she said.
Express bus debut
At the open house, Principal Turner sat at the entrance helping a long line of families figure out their bus schedules and stops. This marks the debut of a controversial express stop plan that will be in full swing on Aug. 28, when most CMS schools open. It requires students to get to consolidated stops at schools that can be miles from their homes, often along busy roads, for buses that take them to about a dozen magnet high schools.
CMS officials say a driver shortage is forcing the district to eliminate neighborhood pickups for some magnets that draw students from a large geographic area — in the case of Central Piedmont Early College, the entire county.
Turner notes that the middle-college high schools on other Central Piedmont campuses don’t have buses.
“I’m thankful that we can offer transportation,” he said. “However, I do realize that it is going to present a challenge and potential hardship for some of our families that have challenges with getting their students to the express bus site.”
Some of the school’s parents connected on social media to create a PTSO. Those volunteers have already sponsored a summer leadership summit for select students, created a weekly electronic newsletter for families and fed teachers when they reported to school to prepare for opening.
“This last two weeks has been amazing and inspiring, because this school has had so many volunteers come out to help,” said Chrissy Premeaux, the PTSO president.
But when she talks about making the express system work, Premeaux says that “I’m going to try to use my words very carefully.”
When CMS released information about the stops last week, officials said they were giving families plenty of time to prepare and figure out options. But for Central Piedmont Early College families, that lead time wasn’t there. Some families tried to connect to create new consolidated stops, which require at least seven students, but with the students so scattered they couldn’t make that work, Premeaux said.
CMS agreed to add the uptown Central Piedmont school as a stop for express buses serving Hawthorne Academy of Health Sciences, another magnet near uptown Charlotte. That made more stops available, but Premeaux said a few days before school started some parents were still unsure how to get their students to and from school.
Still, she said she’s trying to stay optimistic: “I feel like despite everything that has been thrown at us through CMS’s transportation challenges … this school is going to somehow find a way to be successful.”
