About Our School

First Ward Creative Arts Middle School is a CMS Magnet School that provides specialized arts instruction for students in grades 6-8. Well known for the arts, we have also become a place of inspiring academic success.

Vision: First Ward Creative Arts Middle School will serve as a leader in the arts and in education. We will be a model of excellence as a top ranked arts magnet.  Our promise is to ensure that every student will excel artistically, academically, socially and emotionally throughout their secondary years of school and beyond. 

Mission: First Ward’s mission is to nurture emerging artists who think independently, learn with confidence, and show kindness to others. Our students thrive through daily experiences that blend arts exploration, challenging academics, and a strong community of care. 

Core Beliefs: We believe… 

• Everyone plays a role in creating a positive school culture. 

• All students can and will learn.

• All students have the ability to be challenged and achieve at higher levels. 

• Maintaining high expectations for all students supports student achievement.

• Standards aligned teaching should be happening everyday in every classroom.

• Each First Ward student is uniquely talented and by allowing students to have the experience to major in an art of choice, students become aware of additional gifts and talents they have.

• Our students deserve a safe and orderly environment for teaching and learning. 

• Adults in our school provide a daily source of equity and opportunity for our students. 

• Great teaching is using current best teaching practices to educate our students.

• Open and clear communication along with collaboration allows great teams to do even greater things towards reaching our vision and mission.  

• Families are an essential part of our students' success and we value them.

• We are committed to growing teachers professionally through observations, feedback, and coaching.

• We believe in affirming our students and embracing their differences. 

• Our students’ voices matter and we desire to provide avenues across the school for their voices to be heard and shared

Audition Required

Students must pass an audition in order to participate in the CMS School Options Lottery for a seat at First Ward. 

Academic Excellence

Students do not have to sacrifice academics in order to pursue the arts. Our students take the same “core” subject classes as students in other CMS schools (English, Math, Science, and Social Studies). 

Pro-Caring Environment

First Ward is a diverse community of dedicated student artists from all over Mecklenburg County. In addition to engagement in core studies and the arts, students enjoy connecting with talented peers in a dynamic, pro-caring learning environment. 

Our school culture embraces diversity, and is accepting of all students. We regularly celebrate and embrace our diversity through Firebird Festival Assemblies, designed to recognize diversity in the Arts, as well as among our students, that leads to an environment of caring and acceptance that is felt throughout the school.

The History of arts Magnets in CMS According to Dr. LaBorde

The seed for Northwest School of the Arts was planted in 1991 when Dr. John Murphy came to CMS as superintendent. He made the creation of magnet programs a major part of his efforts to rejuvenate the school system. Knowing that an arts magnet was often a strong component of the best school systems with magnet programs, I wrote to Dr. Murphy and told him of my background in the arts. (I was then principal of Myers Park High School, but had been a college theatre professor and a high school theatre teacher, as well as holding a theatre Ph.D.)

The original plan was to take the vacant Ivey’s Department Store on Tryon Street (directly across the street from the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center) and transform it into an arts high school. I was involved in the planning to create that space. Such a transformation required a bond issue vote—specifically for an arts high school. With no real push for those bonds by the system or the arts community—all thought the issue would pass easily—it was voted down by less than 80 votes.

Changing gears Dr. Murphy was still determined to have an arts high school, but decided he would start with elementary and middle school programs before tackling where to put a high school. He chose two schools that already had bond money approved for renovations—Chantilly for the elementary school and Northwest for the middle school years.

Deborah Cooper (the system’s visual art specialist), Dr. Harry Mamlin (the performing arts specialist), and I set out to work with architects to create the arts spaces needed for such a school. We also took the lead in staffing the arts teachers for the school, with our key hires being Sharon Kazee who not only served as head of the choral program but also as Lead Teacher; Jeanne Barefoot in visual arts; Linda Booth in dance; and Jerry Lowe in band.

Northwest started as an arts magnet in the 1993-94 school year (also housing an open school program and a year-round program—both of which eventually were discontinued as the arts program’s popularity grew) with Rosalind Rowe-Anderson continuing as the principal of the school. (Beverly Eury, who became such a fixture at NWSA as lead teacher, academic facilitator, assistant principal, and interim principal was part of the sixth-grade team in that first year.) That year I was reassigned from Myers Park High School (where I had started the first public school International Baccalaureate program in the state) and asked to oversee both the elementary and middle schools, while also looking for a site for ninth grade the following year.

(Northwest started with the unwieldy name—Northwest Visual and Performing Arts Magnet School. I petitioned the school board to change the name officially to Northwest School of the Arts for no other reason than simplicity in marketing.)

After exhaustive research across the school system looking at both unoccupied and under-utilized school facilities, my boss Dan Saltrick from central office and I came up with the revolutionary idea of just continuing ninth grade at the Northwest facility. It was expected that once the high school grew large enough, it would separate from the middle school.  As we now know, that came to pass for the 2025-26 school year when the middle school transitioned to First Ward Middle.

In the 1994-95 school year we added the first high school grade. I was its principal and Sharon Kazee was my assistant principal. We had 75 students.

In the 95-96 school year, grade 10 was added and then in 96-97 we added grades 11 and 12 to complete the high school. The twelfth grade that was added that year was the result of students from around the school system petitioning the school board to add that grade a year early so that they could graduate from an arts high school. Our first graduating class was in 1997—with only 25 students making up that historic group.

Eventually Ms. Rowe-Anderson left to take over University Park Elementary when it was transformed into our feeder arts school and I became principal of all grades 6-12.

The rest is history.

Thank you for your interest in CMS Arts Magnet Schools!