STEELE CREEK NEWS
Top Names
Identified for New Elementary School
(March
20,
2014) Parents and other community members have voted on the
six names suggested for the new elementary school that is
under construction on York Road. The two top vote getters
were Palisades, with 37%, and McDowell, with 29%. The vote
fell off to 12% for the third place name, Lake Pointe.
Riverview, York Road, and Walker Branch were the other names
on the ballot and finished in that order.
Members of
the School Naming Committee also looked at votes and
discussed including the terms "Park," "STEM," and "Academy"
in the name.
The committee
recommended the following names to be presented to the South
Learning Community Superintendent for consideration:
Palisades
Park Elementary School
would recognize the significance of the Palisades community,
the largest development within the school's attendance area,
as well as Palisades Park, a neighborhood park currently
under construction adjacent to the school. Rhein Medall
Communities, the developer of the Palisades, helped
facilitate the acquisition of the school site and has shared
in significant development costs. The abbreviation for the
name would be PPES, which would help distinguish it from
Palisades Episcopal School (PES).
McDowell Park
Elementary School
would recognize the location of the school across from
McDowell Nature Preserve, which is more commonly called
McDowell Park. The McDowell Nature Preserve and Nature
Center are major assets to the community. The McDowell
family was one of the earliest families in Steele Creek. The
nature preserve was named for John McDowell, who lived to
the north in Steele Creek near Beam Road. He was an
long-time advocate for parks in Mecklenburg County.
Lake
Pointe Elementary School
recognizes the location of the school near Lake Wylie.
The
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education likely will adopt
one of these names at its next meeting on March 25 or at the
following meeting on April 8. The adoption of a name will
allow the school to have its own web page and allow
administrators to proceed with further planning for its
opening in fall 2014.
Members
of the School Naming Committee also made suggestions for a
school mascot and for school colors. Students will vote on
these the week of March 24.
The school will
be a partial magnet and include a
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)
program with
20 seats in each grade
level. Parents of prospective students are invited to attend
a meeting on April 3 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm at Winget Park
Elementary School to learn more about STEM curriculum.
The
attendance boundary for the new school was adopted in 2008,
but students within the boundary have been attending Winget
Park Elementary School since then. See
New School Attendance Boundaries Adopted (November 16,
2008). See
School Assignment Boundary Maps for current
boundary maps for all schools.
The
capacity for both Winget Park Elementary School and the new
school, which each include 39 classrooms, is 767. This
year's enrollment at Winget Park is 986. The projected
enrollment for the new school, including magnet slots, is
around 600, and the projected enrollment for Winget Park
next year is around 470. The new school originally was
expected to open in 2010 to accommodate an expected large
population influx into the area, but growth has not occurred
as much as expected during the economic downturn.
For more
information and updates, see the temporary
Winget Park Relief School web site or contact
Principal Gina O'Hare at
gina.ohare@cms.k12.nc.us.
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