Bailey Middle School

Aug. 20. By Dave Vieser. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will open for the fall semester next week and, when they do, 375 students who previously attended Davidson K-8 will now be enrolled at Bailey Middle School in Cornelius.

Enrollment at Bailey for the upcoming school year is expected to reach approximately 1,650 students, up from about 1,300 last year—marking a 28% increase.

To accommodate the growth, staff size will also expand. County officials said the school will add 22 new classroom and staff positions, increasing from 94 to 115 jobs.

Davidson residents previously attended Bailey before Davidson K-8 opened five years, but CMS officials have said families found the K–8 model unappealing, opting for more of a traditional middle school experience.

For example, some sports and activity clubs were shared between Bailey and Davidson, while others were not available at all to some Davidson students.

Davidson students were already mapped into Hough High School in Cornelius.

Not at Capacity

School officials said Bailey will not be at capacity despite the influx of new students. The county will continue to expand its use of temporary classrooms, known as “learning cottages.”

Easley

At a town board meeting last month, District 1 School Board representative Melissa Easley said district projections indicate that the use of cottages will likely expand in the coming years.

She also said attendance boundaries will be reviewed in preparation for the anticipated 2028 opening of “New Middle School No. 2,” to be built on Stumptown Road in Huntersville.

Traffic Concerns

The increase in enrollment comes as Cornelius officials address traffic and development concerns in the Bailey Road corridor.

Congestion on Bailey Road is largely driven by the number of parents who drive their children to and from school each weekday.

Morning traffic is typically heavy but moves steadily during drop-off. In the afternoons, vehicles are staged in the center turn lanes along Bailey Road starting about an hour before the 4:15 p.m. dismissal bell.

CMS did not have an exact figure for how many of the new students will ride the bus versus being driven, but officials said they are surveying families to gauge transportation plans.

Regardless, the shift will mean more buses and cars on Bailey Road each morning and afternoon during the upcoming school year.