STEELE CREEK NEWS

Community Meeting on New School Boundaries is September 30

(September 9, 2008) Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has posted maps showing attendance zone boundary options for the three new elementary schools opening in Steele Creek soon. They have scheduled a community meeting to discuss boundary options for the new Dixie
River Road Elementary (in Berewick), the new Youngblood Road/Steele Creek Road Elementary (at the corner of Smith and Hamilton Roads), and the new York
Road/Red Fez Club Road Elementary (adjacent to the Palisades) for Tuesday, September 30 at Lake Wylie Elementary School from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. A second meeting will be at West Charlotte High School on Thursday, October 2. (Both meetings will provide the same information.)

Staff will report their recommendations to the School Board on October 14. The public can comment at a public hearing before the Board on November 12. See Timeline - Boundary Development Process.

The new Dixie River Road Elementary School is scheduled to open in August 2009 and is located adjacent to Berewick within the Berewick Regional Park. See Location in WikiMapia.

The Maps for the new Dixie River Road Elementary School show two options. In both options, students living in Berewick will attend the new school. (They currently attend Berryhill.) In Option 1, students who live northeast of I-485 (including Olde Whitehall and other neighborhoods near the Beam Road/Shopton Road intersection) would go to the new school and students living in neighborhoods to the southwest (including Stowe Creek, Steele Oaks/Braddock Green, and Taragate/Twelve Oaks) would attend Steele Creek Elementary School. In Option 2, these areas are reversed.

The new Youngblood Road/Steele Creek Road Elementary School is scheduled to open in August 2009 and is located on the northwest corner of Smith Road and Hamilton Road. See Location in WikiMapia. The new York Road/Red Fez Club Road Elementary School is scheduled to open in August 2010 and is located adjacent to the Palisades. See Location in WikiMapia.

The Maps for the new Youngblood Road/Steele Creek Road and York Road/Red Fez Club Road Elementary Schools also show two options. In both, students who would go to the new school at the Palisades would attend Winget Park for the 2009-2010 school year. In Option 1, the attendance area for the school at Smith and Hamilton Roads extends from Youngblood Road to Moss Road. On Option 2, this attendance area is smaller, with more students at both Lake Wylie Elementary and the new school at the Palisades.

Funding for the three new schools comes from the 2007 bond issue that was approved by voters in Mecklenburg County last year. Construction has begin on the schools in Berewick and at Smith/Hamilton Roads. School names are temporary. Students and parents for the new schools will have an opportunity to have input on the permanent names beginning next spring.

Update (9/13/08) Additionally, the new Belmeade Middle School is scheduled to open in August 2008. This will affect Coulwood, Wilson, and Kennedy Middle School attendance zones. The Maps for the new Belmeade Middle School show two options, and both of these show students living in Berewick moving from Wilson to Kennedy Middle School.