In preparation for next year’s school merge, parents of Davidson IB Middle School students are invited to tour J.M. Alexander Middle School in Huntersville Thursday, Jan. 20, at 4:15 p.m.

The 12201 Hambright Road campus will house the Davidson IB program next year, becoming a partial IB middle school, and the current Davidson IB school building, on South Street in Davidson, will close.

“Our focus right now is seeing that the two schools merge and that the marriage is healthy,” Northeast Zone Superintendent Scott Muri said.

When the Board of Education  approved the merge in November, the understanding was that the IB program would move intact, and all IB-certified teachers would move with it. It was also understood that the move to a larger facility would give more students access to the IB program, which currently has just over 240 students.

But while some things will remain in tact, the new, partial IB school will see some notable changes, including a new principal next year. The new principal will replace current J.M. Alexander principal Joanna Smith, and decisions regarding expansion of the IB program – when to expand and by how much – will be largely up to that person, Muri said.

Families that entered the magnet school lottery this month will not see any change in the lottery process.  If the new principal decides to expand the program, they will simply be able to enroll more of the lottery applicants in the program.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is likely to announce the new principal in early February, Muri said, after which time decisions about the program will be made.

“To grow (the IB program) exponentially year-one would probably not be wise,” he said. Instead, the school should focus on the culture and the climate, “making sure it’s one school and not two,” he said.