Original Research by School Decision on Movement School Southwest
Movement School Southwest is a newly opened public charter school district serving the early elementary grades in southwest Charlotte. The school opened in August 2022 in a brand-new facility located near I-77 in the Yorkmount, Yorkwood, and Montclaire South neighborhoods, positioned as a school-choice option for families in that part of the county.
The enrollment is small and heavily concentrated among Black students, with a substantial share of Hispanic students and a very small share of white and Asian students. The school currently serves kindergarten through second grade, with enrollment distributed across those three grades. Data on students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch and on students receiving special education services or learning English as a second language were not available.
The defining feature of Movement School Southwest is its expansion pathway. The school is adding one grade level each year, with plans to reach kindergarten through fifth grade by fall 2026. This means families enrolling children in the earlier grades now can reasonably plan on a full elementary pathway at this single campus if they choose to stay, rather than facing transitions. The facility itself is being built out to accommodate this growth trajectory, with capacity planned for roughly that enrollment range across the full elementary span.
Academically, Movement Schools' network operates on a pedagogical model centered on structured literacy and conceptual mathematics delivered through small-group and personalized instruction, with character and virtue education integrated throughout the day. This approach is what parents are selecting when they enroll their children here. State testing results are not available because the school serves only early elementary grades, which North Carolina does not test.
Among Mecklenburg County's districts, Movement School Southwest appears in the bottom quartile for chronic absenteeism, a metric that captures the share of students missing substantial school time for any reason. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, as it could reflect either a pattern of attendance challenges in the student population served or operational factors at a very new school still in its first years. The school spends more per pupil than the median among county districts, placing it in the upper range for spending, though this metric is neutral rather than a strength or concern on its own. Proficiency data and graduation rates do not apply to a school serving only these early grades.
The school operates as part of a network; publicly reported information indicates Movement Schools has expanded to multiple Charlotte campuses. Families considering enrollment are essentially committing to a particular instructional philosophy and growth school model rather than choosing among a range of pedagogical approaches within the early elementary grades locally.
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