CMS board OKs big magnet program overhaul. See how your school is affected
The bulk of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ plans to overhaul its magnet programs, reducing the number from 16 to six, became official Tuesday.
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The CMS school board voted Tuesday at its regular meeting to approve plans for the magnet shuffle. CMS currently has 16 magnet programs across 71 of the district’s total 184 schools, and approximately 20,000 students apply for program choice in the district each year. The proposed new model, which would go into effect during the 2027-28 school year, would reduce the school system’s offerings to six main pathways, with multiple campuses in different parts of town offering different choice programs.
“School choice often creates competition for limited seats, uneven enrollment, transportation challenges and resource limitations,” CMS Deputy Superintendent Melissa Balknight told the CMS board in February when she first presented the proposal. “This approach ensures families are choosing what students learn, rather than what school they can access, while preserving neighborhood connections and promoting equity.”
The district came up with the changes in response to what it learned during a 2024 comprehensive review of its programs.
CMS also currently offers 23 career and technical education pathways and, under the new proposal, will offer a minimum of six at each district high school beginning in the 2027-28 school year.
Here’s what the board signed off on:
Changes to the district’s arts programs have already begun, with First Ward Creative Arts opening as a full arts magnet middle school last school year. Meanwhile, Northwest School of the Arts, which previously served grades 6-12, now solely serves high school students.
The elementary school arts magnet program is housed at University Park Creative Arts.
The only additional changes to the district’s arts offerings the board approved Tuesday was officially shuttering the arts magnet programs at three schools:
Those programs will be discontinued starting during the 2027-28 school year.
World languages programs include Spanish, French, Mandarin, German and Japanese. They will be housed at:
Which campus students attend will depend on where they live, with the exception of CMS’ Japanese language program, which will only be offered at South Academy of International Languages.
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The program will be new at Garinger High School in east Charlotte, though the school’s current Cambridge and exercise science programs will sunset beginning in fall 2028.
Under the new plan, the district will offer STEM magnet programs at 14 schools, including six elementary schools, two K-8 schools, four middle schools and two high schools:
Second Ward High School will open as a new CMS campus for the 2028-29 school year. As part of the plan, STEM programs will be discontinued at several CMS schools beginning in 2027:
This theme is only offered in high school in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Central Piedmont Community College and Carolinas College. It allows students to take college courses and receive up to two years of college credit while still in high school.
Under the newly approved plan, three of the district’s four middle colleges, which house grades 11-12, will convert into early colleges, which serve grades 9-12. One of them, Cato Middle College, will remain a middle college.
Early colleges currently have the most demand and longest waitlists in CMS. Meanwhile, none of the district’s middle colleges are at capacity.
There will be three transportation zones, grouped geographically. Magnet programs will be located in each of the three zones, with school placement determined by geography.
The “violet zone” covers north Mecklenburg County and north Charlotte, along with parts of west Charlotte. The “blue zone” covers south Charlotte, down to the state line and uptown. The “green zone” covers the eastern part of the city and county.
School attendance boundaries aren’t yet final, and the district will present a draft of its zoning plans in October.
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