Board Approves Plans to Adjust School Boundaries
As two schools are planned to open in 2024-25, three others will close

Greensboro, N.C. – The Guilford County Board of Education moved forward with plans to adjust student assignment boundaries to allow more students to attend new buildings opening in January 2025. 

The school board approved plans first presented in November to close Wiley Elementary, Murphey Traditional Academy and Archer Elementary, in keeping with the recommendations of the 2019 Facilities Master Plan. 

Students in the Murphey and Wiley boundaries will be reassigned to Peck Elementary, which is currently under construction and will become a K-8 expeditionary learning school. Students in the Archer boundary will be reassigned to Foust Elementary, which is also currently under construction and will become a K-5 gaming and robotics school. These new buildings will be ready to open in January 2025, but the reassignments will take effect in August 2024 to bring students and staff together as one school community for the entire year. 

The Murphey and Wiley buildings will be used as temporary locations, or “swing” spaces, for schools that are upcoming on the list for renovation. Archer Elementary will begin renovation to become the future home of the current Erwin Montessori program, which was relocated to Alamance Elementary following a devastating tornado in 2018. Erwin Montessori will move to Wiley Elementary in August while work begins at the Archer campus.

Also on Tuesday, the board voted to eliminate the attendance boundary for Swann Middle, which is set to begin construction next year and will become a 6-12 performing arts school. Students in the Swann Middle attendance zone will be reassigned to Kiser Middle or Mendenhall Middle, depending on their assigned high school of Grimsley High or Page High. The two choice programs currently at Swann will also be relocated – Spanish Immersion to Kiser Middle and STEM to Hairston Middle. 

“This process will allow us to fully utilize the capacity of our buildings, better align our choice programs across the district and continue our efforts to give all students a world-class education in an environment that suits their needs,” says Superintendent Dr. Whitney Oakley. 

The board’s action came after public hearings Tuesday on each of the school closures. The district also hosted parent and staff meetings for each of the schools in November and December.