School with roots in Civil Rights Movement gets new $58M facility

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools leaders held a dedication ceremony Wednesday morning at Bruns Avenue Elementary School, which has a deep history in the Civil Rights Movement.

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In 2017, voters approved a bond to build the $58 million, three-story school next to the existing one.

Channel 9′s Jonathan Lowe spoke with Principal Dr. Nathan Currie earlier this week before demolition started on the original Bruns building built in 1969.

"We're going to move into a bigger facility, a more modern facility for our kids coming up," Currie said.

In 1964, Bruns Avenue Elementary was Seversville Elementary and was one of the few racially integrated schools in the city.

"Darius Swann and his son, James Swann came here to enroll and were denied transportation that became litigation for the district as well as for the community," Currie said.

The NAACP sued the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education on behalf of the Swann family.

"And in 1971, it was ruled that Charlotte-Mecklenburg (Schools) did do some integration with buses, so this is a historical moment," Currie said.

It was a landmark case for racial integration, and it started at Bruns.

"It's a bittersweet moment," Currie said. "I'm thinking about all the students that came through these hallways."

CMS superintendent Dr. Crystal Hill said the new school will help generations of children succeed.

"Students just really have a clear pathway to just to do whatever they want and we're all here cheering them on doing whatever we can to make sure that they're successful," Hill said. "And not just that they're successful, but for generations to come over and over and over again."

The facility is designed to enhance learning features and features modern classrooms and upgraded technology for all students.

Three of the projects funded from the 2017 bond have opened to students since August.

"It's just so amazing," Hill said.

Facilities, including Bruns, are a direct message from the community to students, she said.

"It just says to the students, 'Look, we believe in you. We believe that you need beautiful facilities,'" Hill said.