The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system serves kindergartners through 12th graders in Charlotte, NC, to the tune of over 148,000 students. In more than 175 schools throughout Mecklenburg County, there is a vast mix of diverse students representing over 175 countries and almost 200 languages and dialects.
While it may sound like a challenge, it is not one, really. You just have to know the needs of your child alongside what is available in Charlotte. Here is a guide to schools in Charlotte, NC.
Advantageous Public Schools
Many parents are scoping out other avenues of education for their children, such as private schools or homeschooling, but public schools have advantages that many have forgotten about.
First, there is the availability factor, students cannot be turned away from public schools if they live in that designated school district. Because of this, everyone in the community is welcome and your child is likely to be exposed to the diversity that is in Charlotte.
Public schools provide transportation to school and back home, as well as reduced-price lunches. Students answer to the state regarding their academic learning in the form of state testing. In public schools, students that excel are able to take Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes or join programs like "gifted and talented."
Too, teachers must be state-certified. Lastly, the cost, though many still gripe about the cost of lunches and sports equipment, is minuscule as compared with that of other types of schooling. Overall, public schooling is a good deal.
Strong School Districts
A school district can achieve much more toward achieving the excellence craved by parents and by the state than can any individual school alone.
A district's office is where the problems can be identified, a plan formulated, and best practices decided upon and dispersed. It is where people are held accountable for results.
Behind most great schools is a great district administration, and behind them are the companies in the community, who have been generous with their profits.
Distinguished Charlotte High Schools
In Charlotte high schools, some schools are well-known for their academic program, while others are better known for their athletic programs. Whether academically, athletically, or just socially, each Charlotte school has something that sets it apart. Providence, Olympic, and Independence high schools are great examples.
Providence High opened its doors to suburban South Charlotte in 1989. Besides the school building itself, on the campus, there is a technical building and a greenhouse.
Also on the Providence High property, because the Panthers love their sports, there is a baseball stadium, a football stadium, a softball field, and a gym with a swimming pool. There are practice fields, cross-country trails, and tennis courts, too.
Olympic High began holding classes in the Steele Creek community in 1966. It became a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools in 2005.
It was then split into five theme-based schools. However, in the 2018-2019 school year, Olympic High became one again consolidating into a single school with one principal.
The college readiness and career programs in its highly-acclaimed NAF Career Academies have been nationally recognized.
Olympic High is located on Sandy Porter Road just off the Governor James G Martin Freeway.
Independence High opened its doors to Mint Hill students in 1967. Independence High was awarded the 2011 Broad Prize for excellence in public education.
The school no longer has magnet programs, but other programs for gifted and talented students or just those who are interested in truly applying themselves have taken their place.
Tried-and-True Charlotte Middle Schools
In Charlotte middle schools, both academically and socially, students are nurtured, even nudged, to push beyond their limits. Carmel and Southwest middle schools are two middle schools with excellent programs that have stood the test of time.
Carmel Middle School has earned the honor of being a North Carolina School of Distinction by the ACCSC several different times. In 2005, the North Carolina Middle School Association named it a "school to watch."
Southwest Middle celebrated its 18th year of teaching with its 2019-2020 school year. Its administration, faculty, and staff expect their students to be leaders - members of service clubs and service organizations and participators in fine arts and athletics, and leaders are what they get.
Historic and Modern Charlotte Elementary Schools
Some Charlotte elementary schools are newer and some were first built near the turn of the century.
While the newer schools have their own allure, there is just something about a school that is steeped in history that makes it special. Sharon and Dilworth are two such elementary schools, special because of their age, history, and more.
Sharon Elementary can be found in the Foxcroft neighborhood. It consisted of a three-room schoolhouse at the corner of Sharon Road and Fairview Road in 1912 when it first began housing students. Then, it was an annex of Sharon Presbyterian Church.
It opened to the public serving the Southpark neighborhood in 1925, with a library to serve the few classrooms.
The first Dilworth Elementary School had only eight rooms. Edward Dilworth Latta donated the land it was built on in 1904.
Dilworth Elementary has been enlarged and renovated numerous times and still serves students from Dilworth's heart. Its students have access to a generous number of indoor and outdoor amenities.
High-Performing Private Schools
You pay tuition at private schools, but quite often, there are good reasons for that. The one main reason is that they are not government funded, which gives them the freedom to not have to adhere to all of the national curriculum guidelines.
However, private schools usually pride themselves upon their academics, and according to NCES, whatever they are doing is working.
Students from private schools are more than twice as likely to graduate from college if they completed at least the eighth grade in a private school.
Excellence in Christian Schools
Where a child spends their day greatly influences their life. Christian schools believe that the morals and values they teach alongside their academics are what will help their children succeed and be assets to their communities.
They believe that children desperately need an understanding of God's Word, His works, and God Himself so that they can grasp the truth and obtain the ability to show His love to those around them.
Christian schools don't just add on a class about Jesus, but each class is taught from a godly perspective. For instance, science is taught from a creationism viewpoint rather than an evolution viewpoint. While it is not free, like public schools, oftentimes, there are scholarships available at these schools which can be Baptist, Southern Baptist, Full Gospel, International Pentecostal Holiness, and more. These schools use high-quality curriculums.
Charlotte Catholic Schools
MACS (Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools) consists of all nine Catholic schools of the Greater Charlotte area, which educate kindergartners through 12th graders.
Their mission is to proclaim the gospel and nurture the students physically, intellectually, spiritually, and socially, and prepare them to live in a changing society. They work hard to keep the teachings of Jesus at the forefront as the core of the values they teach and uphold.
All of the following churches support all nine MACS schools: Our Lady of Assumption, Our Lady of Consolation, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Ann, St. Gabriel, St. John Lee Korean, St. John Neumann, St. Luke, St. Mark, St. Matthew, St. Patrick, St. Peter, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. Joseph Vietnamese Catholic churches.
Better Charter Schools
A charter school is a great concept accompanied by a good administration.
The schools that do remain are solid schools, scoring better than traditional public schools in some subjects, but the truth is that there really isn't that much difference in test scores between the two. It is that some charter schools are better than others.
Pine Lake Prep can be found in the southmost part of Iredell County, but it also serves, Rowan, Lincoln, Catawba, Mecklenburg, and five other counties. Pine Lake's charter was approved, and it opened its doors to K-2 in 2006. It had a special focus on fine arts at a time when many schools were dropping their fine arts programs.
High-Quality Boarding Schools
From military schools to prep academies, boarding schools are portrayed as strict and uptight, but that is not always the case. Some of these schools allow their students to go wherever they choose as long as they return by curfew.
Also, boarding schools are always portrayed as housing a bunch of troubled, unwanted children. This is certainly not always the case. Many of the children in boarding schools go there to receive a higher-quality education.
Summer Schools for Charlotte Residents
Summer school is optional, so attending makes it appear that your student cares, for one thing. For another, it can help them become more confident in a subject in which they are unsure of themselves.
Also, they can improve their grades, possibly even replace one, if need be. They can even take summer school just to help them prepare for the SAT exam.
Taking summer school classes only makes them look eager and enthusiastic. How can they go wrong like that?
Diverse Charlotte Schools
Is your student a scholar, an athlete, or an artist? You can find the best school to get the best education for your Charlotte student. Whether summer school, Catholic school, or whatever kind of school, Charlotte is a melting pot where you can find whatever you need.