The brand new Ballantyne Ridge High School will welcome students for the first time in 11 days.

The school, at 4004 Toringdon Way, is one of four major Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools construction projects that will be completed before the 2024-25 school year. Others include Sedgefield Montessori, Bruns Avenue Elementary and the brand new Knights View Elementary School.

The district funded the nearly $159 million Ballantyne Ridge project as part of a $922 million bond package that voters passed in 2017. The 100-classroom school is designed to address overcrowding at Ardrey Kell, South Mecklenburg and Myers Park high schools.

“This year we will have a full ninth and 10th grade and about half of a junior class,” Ballantyne Ridge principal Michael Miliote told the Charlotte Observer. “That will be about 1,550 kids.”

Advancing eleventh graders can decide whether they want to stay at their current high school or transfer to Ballantyne Ridge.

The school has hired about 130 teachers and administrators, drawn from about 500 applicants and 38 schools. Many came from Union County Public Schools, Milliote says. The school will hire about 45 more teachers next year as enrollment increases.

Miliote has worked for CMS for 22 years and was principal for 15 years. He previously served as principal of Jay M. Robinson Middle School near Ballantyne Ridge, and many of his former students are now assigned to his new campus.

The same night Miliote became principal, parents at Jay M. Robinson Middle School, whose children will attend the new school, informed him that they were forming a parent-teacher organization.

“It was really nice to know from the beginning that the community was behind it,” said Miliote.

The Campus

The 36.5-acre campus features a modern four-story school building where classes are grouped by content. For example, all Algebra II classrooms are grouped together.

“This gives teachers the opportunity to collaborate and adapt lessons between classes by discussing what is working and what is not,” Miliote said.

The building was designed by Raleigh-based architectural firm Ratio, which has previously designed several school buildings for Wake County Schools, but Ballantyne Ridge is its first CMS project.

In addition to ClassroomsThe school has a 677-seat auditorium and a workshop where students can build and maintain large sets for theatrical performances.

Floor-to-ceiling windows in the school’s main cafeteria overlook the football, baseball and softball fields, as well as CMS’ first artificial turf practice field. There is also a 2,100-seat gymnasium with the school’s signature “BR” logo emblazoned at center field in Carolina blue and Clemson orange.

“We had to find colors that didn’t match the high schools these kids come from,” said Dennis LaCaria, CMS executive director of facilities management.

The main school building has space for around 2,500 students, but due to the rapid growth in the southern Charlotte area, it is expected that the places will be filled quickly.

“We will reach capacity very soon,” LaCaria said.

Even though the building is complete, there is still a lot of work to be done on campus. Construction crews are working around the clock laying sod, moving piles of red sand and cleaning up. Teachers are coming in on Friday to decorate their classrooms.

Academic Vision

Miliote plans to introduce an International Baccalaureate, or IB, program at Ballantyne Ridge – something that has been missing in south Charlotte.

“Our kids traditionally had to go to either East Mecklenburg or West Charlotte for an IB magnet program because they were the closest,” he said.

The school also offers the IB Career-Related Program, which allows students to take a smaller selection of IB courses in addition to courses geared toward a specific career path, such as architecture or health sciences.

Ballantyne Ridge is still waiting for accreditation of its IB program, so ninth graders are the first to be allowed to participate. They can start IB courses in their penultimate year of school.