Families at Trillium Springs Montessori (TSM), a CMS magnet school located just inside the Huntersville city line from North Charlotte, were notified mid October of a proposal to shut down their school and move the staff to Lincoln Heights Academy, just south of I-85 in Charlotte, at the end of the 2023 school year. Students are offered placement in the school without having to re-enter the lottery. We ask that the CMS Board of Education rejects this proposal.

While we (the signed) support Lincoln Heights as a new Montessori school for CMS, we do not support taking our school to do so. We'd like to see Lincoln Heights begin from Pre-K/K with a new principal and stand on its own two feet, with the support of all of the Montessori magnets, potentially as a county-wide magnet.

CMS is always in a difficult position with funding for buildings, but we have not received enough information to believe that the situation for our building is so dire that we must be moved out of it at the end of the year without a concrete plan for a replacement where we are (or close by). We are told that we are in an inequitable situation because of our building, but we are not convinced that moving our staff so far from our current student body, without anyone's input at TSM, is an equitable answer. 

If the board rejects this proposal:

• TSM is more likely to be able to stay together as a school community. We should be in consideration for a new or renovated building closer to our current location so that we can grow with the same success and continue to be an ambassador to the North as a magnet that feeds secondary magnets closer to the city center. We'd like to welcome more friends and have more space for Montessori programming in our current location, which is ideal for balance and diversity (see attached maps).
  https://www.publicschoolreview.com/trillium-springs-montessori-profile
• CMS will have to come up with a new proposal for TSM - we do not have evidence of a health and safety risk that proves urgency; only that our building is costly to maintain. We would like to see a vision and a plan for our successful magnet program that is viable for ALL of our current families and our admin, faculty, and staff with no one left behind. Other options for temporary, shared locations closer by should be reconsidered while a permanent home is in progress. From the Capital Needs Presentation:
  
• Lincoln Heights can begin its program with the 6 new proposed classrooms and its own principal and grow year by year. Standing up Lincoln Heights a new *additional* magnet school is what the board voted to approve in August and what community engagement centered around in the Spring. Operating as a county-wide magnet could allow it to draw from the wait lists of all other schools and remain balanced and diverse.

If the board approves this proposal:

• Trillium Springs teachers and staff will be moved to Lincoln Heights as of August 2023, and our school will be demolished. We will lose our name - Trillium Springs will no longer exist. Our school community will be fractured, as 30% or more of our families do not want to move and/or cannot justify the time on the road via car or bus for elementary age students. We would need shuttles and dedicated bus drivers to support those willing to travel the distance, and we would need continued support if transportation zones are changed.
• CMS will run a lottery in January that adds 100+ kids to Lincoln Heights *before* having teachers in place. We currently have 10 classrooms and 5 teachers fully trained and certified. We already have 1 vacancy and are likely to have more if we move. A part of the proposal is requiring our principal to hire 6 more classrooms worth of qualified staff, which is growth of 60%. It's hard enough to find certified teachers *without Montessori* willing to teach in our current climate and pay in NC. CMS should reduce this expectation to 2 primary classrooms, at most.
• This will be a disruption in our students' learning, right as we are trying to recover from the pandemic. They will not see the same friends or teachers in school and will not be in the same school. Montessori students traditionally stay with the same teacher for 3 years. Research has shown how the disruption from elementary school to middle school affects learning, and our capital needs staff is leaning toward K-8 schools for this reason - why disrupt elementary students in this way intentionally? 
• Moving Trillium Springs to the farthest edge of the transportation zone (3 miles from Highland Mills and 6 miles from Chantilly), clusters all Montessori elementary schools together, limiting access to those who might otherwise participate from the outer edges of the county.
  
• The bus driver shortage makes bus rides for magnet students unsustainable. Current bus times, even located in the center of the transportation zone, are in the range of 2 hours - one way! This is a 7:06 stop time in the morning for a 9:15 start.
  
• Kids are likely to be in the middle of construction. Renovations are unlikely to be complete in 2023. https://cmsbondconstruction.com/dashboard-reports/ shows that LH won't be ready for occupancy until July 2024. We need time and thought given to these renovations if this is to be a Montessori school - classrooms need more space, and our staff should be consulted. A Montessori classroom needs more space that a regular classroom, and the number of classrooms should be reduced. We should never be expected or pressured to reach the original capacity of the building.
  
• Magnets are meant to balance high, middle, and low socioeconomic (SES) levels and must be in strategically placed locations to achieve racial and ethnic diversity. There's a strong body of research showing that this greatly increases opportunity and outcomes in lower income kids with no decreased outcomes for higher income kids (and a potential added bonus of breaking cycles of implicit bias). Based on CMS's SES maps, moving our school to Lincoln Heights makes it less likely the school can remain balanced. The same problem would occur if the school were moved to the Northern edge of the zone.
  -https://www.wfae.org/education/2021-05-03/cms-looks-at-pandemics-missing-students-and-effects-of-2016-diversity-decisions

CMS is attempting to solve a building problem by causing student outcomes and staffing problems. With the expectations being handed to us, we are being set up to fail and losing our beloved school.

If you are curious why we are so protective of the Montessori method and so insistent on our Montessori teachers and environment, consider these videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZFajh6uVWM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYgH5AeaaqU https://youtu.be/rZLq5Uttq8M

The maps below are to demonstrate how the current location (or nearby) is a better strategic location for balance. Lincoln Heights is currently in the same transportation zone as Trillium but would likely have a more strategic outcome as a county-wide magnet. This is not to condone the fact that our neighborhoods are so disparate-it is a look in the mirror.

-maps source https://mcmap.org/qol/#14

Most recent recommendations from the school composition subcommittee of the CMS Equity Committee: 

I greatly appreciate the support of the Huntersville Commissioners who put together this statement. They are aware that most of our students are not Huntersville residents and value our successful magnet program being within the Huntersville jurisdiction. 

 

Note: Please sign by adding your role with your name. For instance, Kim Smith - parent, Geoff Smith - grandparent, or Stephanie Roberts - community member, etc.