Barnette Elementary

13659 Beatties Ford Road

School District

Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:14
Type

public

School Map for Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on February 12, 2025

This is a great school. One of the best signs I have found for a great school is the number of staff that choose it for their own children - and so many staff have done that at Barnette! I have a child that started at Barnette in Kindergarten and is now a first grader. We have had a great experience with dedicated, caring staff. His teacher in Kindergarten was out for part of the year, but the permanent substitute that he started the year with made sure the students had a great foundation for success in Kindergarten; once his teacher returned from leave we saw his academic growth skyrocket. They promote student success, not just academically but also socially and within the community.
Submitted by parent on October 16, 2024

We love Barnette! The staff is amazing from the administrators to the custodial staff. I have three students there currently and have had amazing experiences for 7 different teachers for my kids. So thankful we got zoned to this school and its feeder schools!!
Submitted by parent on September 19, 2019

Barnette is an excellent school run by a great team of staff and teachers. I’ve had nothing but positive experiences each year.
Submitted by parent on May 13, 2018

A 0... I would never send my child to this school. I withdrew both my children. The office personnel is awesome and sweet. Very helpful and seem to truly care about the students.(Ms. Shirley Jefferson is the best) now as far as teachers go... my experience with a kindergarten teacher and 4th grade... horrible. Don’t take a true interest in the kids... don’t care if they’re falling behind... just there for a paycheck. The kindergartener was being bullied and crying everyday and teacher did nothing. I didn’t find out the true problem until months after I pulled her out the school. Smh !
Submitted by parent on April 22, 2018

I love Barnette and am so happy this is our home school.
Submitted by parent on March 14, 2018

Though my son is progressing “well” at Barnette, my experience across time is poor. I experienced better communication with teachers and a more positive outlook to learning for my son at Chesterbrook. With a rising Kindergartener, it’s not worth going through this experience a 2nd time. There are now local Charter School options as well to consider. Not all parents and children will have a difficult time (see Barnette equity ratings). I’m a working parent and I better communication and transparency with the school would have been extremely helpful. Additionally, I’ve a child that toggles between the “at grade level” and “approaching grade level” tracks/classrooms. He’s proven he can transition from B’s and C’s to A’s and B’s with additional assistance at home, and after school tutoring. Even with his academic performance growth, my son does not enjoy school overall. Given his academic growth, an environment change to a school with practices that support all students equally is in order. Front Office Admins and Guidance are great. I’m confident parents able to invest a lot of time understanding the schools internal operations with children placing firmly in “above grade level” scores will do great at Barnette. If you family works and you’re not “above grade level”, you may experience similar issues.
Submitted by parent on February 27, 2018

Disappointed in how my daughter is doing. She was a straight A student when at private school now she struggling to meet her benchmarks and I get no feedback from the teachers and it seems as if they are not even concerned!
Submitted by parent on September 13, 2017

I have had my two children attend Barnette starting in kindergarten, my oldest is now in six grade at Bradley and my youngest in third grade at Barnette. While teachers at every school have different personalities I have found at every teacher my children have had at Barnette have brought new opportunities for them to grow as students and people. There is a strong commitment and the families to support the school and volunteer together to enrich the students experience. It is my strong belief that if you approach your children's education with a positive frame of mind and focus on being a partner to the teacher and administration and you will have an excellent experience here at Barnette or any other school!
Submitted by parent on August 26, 2017

Most of the teachers at this school are great, however the Head Administrator/ Principal plays favorites among the staff. My daughter loved the art teacher that was there, however she left since she was kicked out of her room and put onto a cart. It's obvious the leadership doesn't understand how important the arts play in our children's lives. Creativity is one half of the human brain and is a huge part of our children's developmental growth and development. It really angers me to see such a great teacher leave this school and how this decision has effected my child. They should be ashamed....
Submitted by parent on March 11, 2017

My grandchild loves it at Barnette and I am very pleased with the curriculum provided, however, I am EXTREMELY disappointed that in the past TWO years only TWO bulletin boards or teachers boards as they may be known were created to celebrate Black History Month. Only two!! I am a grandparent of Caucasian descent and have been around for the injustices shown to the blacks in this country and vowed to myself as I got older that I would not allow my family to mistreat or belittle the accomplishments made by black folks. I waited until the very end of February see if the staff would at least do something and only one measly board was posted. I gave my grandson ONE assignment: Tell me what you learned about an African American person today, and besides what I've taught him(I'm 42 yrs retired from Mecklenburg County Schools), he's had only one person to talk about and that came in the middle of the month. This lack of respect for our fellow Americans is disgusting and shameful. I am working on a curriculum for Black History Month that I will propose to the board of education for the 2018-2019 school year and will also be bringing attention to any other schools who are failing our children in this area. Mrs.Gabriel and her staff should be ashamed. Shame! Shame! Shame! This will NOT go unnoticed.
Submitted by parent on January 11, 2017

I love the small community, the closeness of the staff, and how much they support one another. We've been at Barnette for 3 years and love every part of it!
Submitted by parent on June 13, 2016

My biggest fear was that my daughter would get bored. This has never been a concern! The "blocks" for reading and math keep her challenged and engaged with students at her level. The teachers are very easy to communicate with, they are "on it" with the use of technology - integrated but not a distraction. The PTA is very active and FANTASTIC. We couldn't have done any better with a private/charter school. We LOVE Barnette!
Submitted by parent on June 02, 2016

We love Barnette! I can't imagine a better school for our kids or this community. The administration is caring and thoughtful in their decisions regarding the school and students. The teachers are amazing and do a great job teaching students on every level. The Cambridge Program is a great addition to the school and feeder schools. Barnette PTA goes above and beyond for our students and staff. We consider ourselves fortunate to be apart of the Barnette community!
Submitted by other on June 01, 2016

We love Barnette! The teachers are great at communicating what is happening and our PTO is top notch. The flex program has been huge for my kid. The ability to move around and learn from different teachers is great. It is close to home, it is clean and all the staff are friendly and accommodating. More folks in our community should give our public schools the opportunity to shine and stop going to charter schools that are pulling funding from our public schools. Be an involved parent and the school will be what you want it to be. We highly recommend Barnette!
Submitted by parent on May 31, 2016

We love Barnette! It has it all amazing teachers plus a outstanding PTA, you couldn't ask for a better elementary school!!!
Submitted by parent on May 31, 2016

I currently have 1 child attending Barnette (4th Grades). We have had a fabulous experience at the school. GREAT teachers, amazing staff and hands-on parents. 5 Stars all the way! Keep up the great work Barnette!
Submitted by parent on May 30, 2016

I have 2 kids that attend Barnette and they truly love it. I believe some of the previous negative comments and reviews reflect the old administration. The teachers seems fully supported by the PTA and the new principal. As a result, teacher retention has been over 90% for the past few years. We had the chance to send our kids to a charter and I am very thankful we stayed at Barnette. It is a great fit.
Submitted by parent on May 30, 2016

We can not imagine a better elementary school for our children. When we began looking at schools for our oldest, we were shocked at how many choices there were. It was overwhelming. I did not hear many good things about Barnette (this was 6+ years ago), and was concerned about enrolling our son. I have to say, that our experience has been wonderful, and I can not imagine a better school for our family to be a part of!! One of our children has severe ADHD, and the teachers and admin staff have supported us every step of the way, through each challenge. Our son (along with his little sister) is flourishing at Barnette. We feel very lucky to have Barnette as our neighborhood school! The principal, and entire staff are amazing, dedicated, hard-working educators. We are so grateful!
Submitted by other on May 26, 2016

We started out at this school under the old administration and decided to move our kids to a Charter...that was the biggest mistake we've made as parents. The charter was total chaos and the kids barely learned anything! After a year we moved our kids back to Barnette. Its been such a great year with this new administration and I'm so glad that my kids have the stability, resources and amazing staff that are now in place at this school. I'm sorry we left and lost a year of growth that they would have had if we had stayed!
Submitted by parent on May 24, 2016

Moving to this area I was initially panicked by the overwhelming amount of school choices and the varying strong opinions on each. Today, I couldn't be happier with my choice in Barnette. My oldest started kindergarten here and will be entering 5th grade next year. My youngest is going into 2nd grade next year. The teachers at Barnette seem happy and are fully supported by a wonderful and caring administration team. There was an administration change in mid 2015 when our new principal Missy Gabriel started (former Asst. Principal at Bradley Middle school). In my experience all of the staff truly have their student's best interests at heart. Barnette has a strong community of positive and involved parents. Both of my children are in high level enrichment programs and have been challenged and grown tremendously at Barnette. There are many programs and services offered at Barnette that you just won't find elsewhere; Flexible Leveled Learning, The Cambridge Program, TD (gifted) Program, Student Success By Design, Genius Hour, EC Program, Clubs, Musical Theater, etc. When it comes to schools no matter where you look or who you talk to there could be personality conflicts or people who will always be unhappy. I have found in my children's school what is true in life. You get out of it what you put into it! Give your community school a chance, you wont be disappointed!