Colton-MacKenzie School District

**Colton-Mackenzie School District** is a school district located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It currently houses over 10,000 students as of June 2021. It was established in 1890 by Candace Colton and Lorelei MacKenzie. The district includes five schools: Colton-Mackenzie High School, Candace Colton Middle School, Charlotte-Mooresville High School, Juno Elementary School, and North Charlotte Academy.

## History

In 1881, Candace Katherine Colton (1860-1955), a factory worker, met Lorelei Elizabeth MacKenzie (née Hunter) on a train on her way to work in Charlotte, North Carolina. Colton was a Charlotte native while Mackenzie was from Greensboro. The two had "an insightful conversation about social justice and the rights of women and people of color, which could've gone downhill if the two men that were standing beside them were actually listening". During this exchange, Colton lamented that she had trouble getting a job and getting a good education because of her race. MacKenzie added that she had struggled as a child because she was paralyzed and the schoolchildren, as well as the staff, were discriminatory towards her. The fact that she was a woman alone was a factor of her struggles of getting into a good college.

Fueled by their anger, the two decided to open up a school that all children of all ages, races, genders, bodies, and living situations could attend and learn together, without feeling badly or discriminated against. The school, who's name was the two women's last names put together and hyphenated, officially opened its first campus in 1890.

In order to serve its purpose for as long as possible, Colton-Mackenzie had to remain a charter school, despite numerous efforts to be otherwise. The initial tuition to attend was $200 (equal to $6,078 today). The school served K-12 students in one building until 1920, then grades K-6 were moved to a newly constructed campus dubbed "New Hope Campus". The old junior/senior campus was expanded by over 400 acres of land from the original 60.

As both schools gained more traction, and the concept of a "junior high" becoming more and more popular, the public began calling for a new, separate campus from New Hope and CM to be established for grades 7 and 8 in the 1930's. Colton and Mackenzie were hesitant to follow through at first, as they felt like more division would be detrimental to the already divided community. In 1940, Celeste Colton Junior High, named after Colton's mother, was established, and construction finished in spring of 1945.

In 1960, New Hope's name was changed to Juno Elementary, In 2000, sixth grade was moved over to the Celeste campus. In 1976, CM's rival school, Charlotte-Mooresville, combined with Colton-Mackenzie to become the Colton-Mackenzie school district. Juno joined the union in 1980, followed by North Charlotte Academy in 1996. All schools are on the same campus, which is spans over 1000 acres.

## Extracurricular Activities

The schools' sports teams are known as the Colton-MacKenzie Stags, and the team colors are maroon and peach. All schools offer Drama Club, Radio Club, Art Club, Honor Society, Junior Honor Society, Yearbook Club, and Student Government. The drama clubs has performed many spectacular plays and musicals, even writing some of their own.