Navigating CMS
(Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools)
Public school is free. There are laws and customs regarding public schooling. North Carolina's education laws require children between seven and sixteen to attend school. Parents are expected to be involved in their children’s education by doing things like ensuring that they attend class. Public schools are available throughout the country free of charge. By law, public schools cannot have any religious affiliation.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is located in Charlotte, North Carolina a serves over 140,406 students in Kindergarten through 12th grade across 180 schools throughout in the cities and towns of Mecklenburg County. Each day, CMS student prepare to be leaders in a technologically savvy and globally competitive world. Click here to access.
CMS Grade Bands
There are four levels of education for children in the United States. In public schools, boys and girls attend classes together.
Preschool- This level is for children 3 to 5 years of age. CMS has a strong prekindergarten program. For more information please visit CMS Pre-Kindergarten.
Elementary school- This level begins with Kindergarten (age 5) and continues through fifth (age 12).
Middle School- CMS middle schools are grade levels are sixth through eighth grade, for children ages 12 through 14.
High school- CMS high schools include ninth grade through twelfth grade, for children ages 14 to 18. Students who complete school requirements at this level receive a high school diploma.
Students with a high school diploma and a good academic record often continue their education at a college or university, but higher education is not free. Post-secondary vocational training is also available and is less expensive than colleges and universities.
School Choice
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools’ Magnet Programs office strives for excellence, equity, and access by connecting students’ interests and needs with high-quality theme-based learning experiences. Once your child is enrolled in CMS you can apply for them to attend a magnet school that offers focused learning opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM), Visual and Performing Arts, World Languages, International Baccalaureate and much more. We currently offer 12 different themes for learning in 71 magnet schools across the district. To learn more about our themes, school choice options and how to apply, visit https://cmschoice.org/
Handbook and Forms
Families have the opportunity to print the forms, fill them out at home and return them to their child's school. There will be a limited number of printed Student Forms handbooks available for families that do not have easy access to the Internet.
Please contact your school if you need a printed copy or click here to download and print a copy.
The Parent-Student Handbook includes information on parent resources, student support services, communications, academics, athletics and more. Click here to for the Parent-Student Handbook.
This handbook has been developed to help your child receive quality instruction in an orderly educational environment. It describes specifically what CMS expects from each student and helps the district maintain an environment in which every student can learn and be successful. Click here for the CMS Code of Student Conduct.
Navigating Your Child's CMS School Website
Schools are grouped by Elementary (K-5), Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12) Alternative Education (K-12) and Exceptional Children (K-12)
Click the blue tab showing your child's grade. The purple colored-tab indicates the current grade band shown.
Schools are listed in alphabetical order by grade band.
Click the name of your child's school to visit your child's school website. Click the email address to the right of the phone number to send your school a message.
Each Charlotte-Mecklenburg School website will have a similar layout with information available for families.
The red arrow in the picture on the left shows the school's basic information which includes:
School address
Telephone number
Principal
Start and end times
School Specific Information
The red arrow in the picture on the left shows the vertical navigation bar. In the this navigation bar you will find school specific information. You will find links to page containing items such as newsletters, school rules, Parent Teacher Association (PTA), and/or school clubs.
My North Carolina Education Cloud
(my.ncedcloud.org)
All students, parent or guardian have a single, unique username and password to access cloud-based learning resources in North Carolina. Your child's username stay the same while in North Carolina schools. Your school will help your child create their account. In case a password is forgotten, contact your child's school. Click here to access my.ncecloud.org.
Powerschool Parent Portal
(cms.powerschool.com/public)
Parental involvement is very important to a child's education. That's why CMS has provided a user-friendly web application to help parents and families become more involved in education. Parents can check their child's homework assignments, attendance reports, grades and other items from any computer, any time using PowerSchool. Click here to access.
CMS Technology Support
Canvas, Chromebook, and Zoom resources and videos.
WIDA Resources
WIDA is an organization dedicated to research, design and implementation of a high-quality, standards-based system for K-12 English language learners.
