Update on transition to the new Second Ward High School

CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG SCHOOLS

A model of the new Second Ward High School, a magnet program that will emphasize medical and technology education. The campus will be built on the site of the original Second Ward High, which was torn down in 1969 as part of Charlotte’s urban renewal program.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will host an update on the new Second Ward High School project next week.

The district will hold an in-person meeting on Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. at Hawthorne Academy of Health Sciences’ multipurpose room. The Second Ward High bond project, which encompasses construction of a comprehensive high school at the former Metro site is part of a $2.5 billion bond package approved by voters in 2023.

This new campus at 700 E Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. will specialize in medical and technology education and  relocation of the existing program at Hawthorne Academy. The meeting will include Dennis LaCaria, CMS’s executive director of real estate and facilities management, and LS3P Architects, the campus designer to share details about the project.

The magnet high school will be built on its forebear’s campus, where the Metro School now sits. The original Second Ward High, which opened in 1923 as the first public campus for Black students in Mecklenburg County, was closed in 1969 as part of Charlotte’s participation in federal urban renewal programs that eradicated the all-Black community.

The new Second Ward High’s design  documents have been submitted to CMS for review. The campus will consist of classrooms with a focus on health curriculum. Site clearing is nearly complete, and the old Morgan building on the Metro School campus has been demolished and expected to be cleared by spring 2025.

More geotechnical testing will be completed in advance of construction of the school, which is scheduled for early 2026.

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