Midwood School

By the end of the 1920s, residential construction in Plaza Midwood had finally taken off.  The 1930 U.S. Census showed Charlotte, with a population of over 82,000, had grown by nearly 80 percent in the previous ten years.  City schools were dreadfully overcrowded.  The school board instituted a building program, and six new schools were constructed in the mid-1930s.  Lawyers Road School was cited near the intersection of Central Avenue and The Plaza, right in the heart of the neighborhood.  Additionally, the school would be easily serviced by the streetcar line (and later bus lines)--city schools did not provide transportation service to their students at this time.

The school prospered in the neighborhood.  Several additions were made to the renamed Midwood Elementary School, with a new auditorium in 1941 and additional classrooms in the 1940s and 1950s. At its peak, the school housed over 1000 students.

The decline of Plaza Midwood during the 1960s and 1970s, however, affected the neighborhood school.  Midwood Elementary closed at the end of the 1982-1983 school year due to declining enrollment.  The building sat empty for several years until 1985, when a fire at Albermarle Elementary forced the school board to reopen the campus to temporarily house the second and third grades.

In the 2000s, the school served as an alternative center for ninth grade students.  However, the building has received new life as the future home of the International House (now named the Midwood International and Cultural Center).