The new Newell Elementary School has 39 classrooms.

Two new school facilities will open soon in University City. Queen City STEM School, will open in the former Ben Craig Center at 8701 Mallard Creek Road. The charter school has ties to Triad and Triangle Math and Science academies.

One of the area’s oldest schools, Newell Elementary, will start classes in its new home at 325 Rocky River Road West.

About Queen City STEM School

The charter school will launch this fall with up to 292 students in grades K-6, offering a program similar to the ones in place at its sister schools in Greensboro and Cary. The school plans to add a grade per year until it offers all 13 grades.

Work started this summer on more than $3 million in renovations to transform the longtime home of UNC Charlotte’s business incubator into a school. A lottery was held last spring for entry into the school. School leaders have been hiring teachers throughout the summer.

School leadership

The school principal is Atila Akyurek, formerly with the School of Science and Technology in San Antonio. Board members include Fatih Kandil, principal of the Triad Math and Science Academy; Carlton Cammon, senior audit analyst at Time Warner Cable; and Fahrudin Mekic, Director for Marketing & Sales at ABB Inc. and an Adjunct Professor at the UNC Charlotte William States Lee College of Engineering.

Learn more about Queen City STEM

The school has a temporary office at 1914 JN Pease Place, although a staff member said that the office will soon move to the school campus. Contact the school at 704-802-2080 or info@queencitystem.org, or visit http://queencitystem.org/

New home for Newell Elementary

Newell Elementary School students and staff are moving this month to a brand new facility on Rocky River Road West near North Tryon Street. The new building has 39 classrooms on its 22-acre campus beside the Arcadia student housing complex.

For nearly a century, Newell School operated at 8601 Old Concord Road, in the heart of the historic Newell community. During its early years, the facility served grades 1-12 and included a house where unmarried teachers could live. The current building dates back to 1970. It also has a newer addition and has had many mobile units for at least the last decade.