See inside new $159M Ballantyne Ridge High School with floor-to-ceiling cafeteria windows
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 building projects completed ahead of the 2024-25 school year. Others are 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 passed by voters in 2017. The 100-classroom school is intended to relieve overcrowding at Ardrey Kell, South Mecklenburg and Myers Park high schools.
“This year, we’ll have a full ninth and tenth grade class and about half a junior class,” Ballantyne Ridge Principal Michael Miliote told The Charlotte Observer. “That will be around 1,550 kids.”
Rising juniors got to decide whether to stay at their previous high schools or make the switch to Ballantyne Ridge.
The school has approximately 130 teachers and administrators hired from around 500 applicants and 38 schools. Many came from Union County Public Schools, Milliote says. The school will add around 45 more teachers next year when there is a larger number of students.
Miliote has worked for CMS for 22 years and been a principal for 15. He previously worked as principal down the road from Ballantyne Ridge at Jay M. Robinson Middle School, and many of his former students are now zoned to his new campus.
The same night Miliote became principal, parents from Jay M. Robinson Middle School whose kids will attend the new school let him know they were forming a parent-teacher organization.
“That’s been really nice from the onset, to know that we’ve got the community behind this, too,” Miliote said.
The campus
The 36.5-acre campus has a modern four-story school building where classes are grouped by content. For example, all the algebra II classrooms will be clustered together.
“That gives teachers the opportunity to collaborate and tailor instruction between each block by being able to discuss with one another what’s working and what isn’t,” said Miliote.
The building was designed by Raleigh-based architecture firm Ratio. It previously designed several school buildings for Wake County Schools, but Ballantyne Ridge is its first CMS project.
In addition to classrooms, the school boasts a 677-seat auditorium alongside a workshop where students can build and store large set pieces for dramatic performances.
The floor-to-ceiling windows in the school’s main cafeteria look out on its football, baseball and softball fields as well as CMS’ first synthetic turf practice field. There’s also a 2,100-seat gym with the school’s signature Carolina blue and Clemson orange “BR” logo emblazoned at half-court.
“We had to find colors that weren’t the same ones as any of the high schools these kids are coming from,” said Dennis LaCaria, CMS executive director of facilities management.
The main school building has a student capacity of around 2,500, but with the rapid growth in the south Charlotte area, seats are expected to fill quickly.
“We’ll be at capacity very soon,” LaCaria said.
Even with the building finished, there’s quite a bit of work to do on the campus. Construction crews are working round-the-clock laying down grass, moving heaps of red dirt and cleaning up. Teachers arrive Friday to decorate their classrooms.
Academic vision
Miliote plans to introduce an International Baccalaureate, or IB, program at Ballantyne Ridge – something that’s been missing from south Charlotte.
“Our kids have traditionally had to go to either East Mecklenburg or West Charlotte for an IB magnet program, since those have been the closest ones,” he said.
The school will also offer the IB Career-Related Program, where students can take a smaller selection of IB courses in addition to taking classes related to a particular career pathway such as architecture or health sciences.
Ballantyne Ridge is still waiting to get accreditation for its IB program, and as a result, incoming ninth graders will be the first class that is eligible to participate. They can start taking IB courses their junior year.
This story was originally published August 15, 2024 at 5:30 PM.
