Alumnus Named Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Principal of the Year
![](https://education.charlotte.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/521/2023/11/CLT_CMSprincipal_01-1-600x337.jpeg)
by: Ann Doss Helms, WFAE
Renaissance West STEAM Academy opened in west Charlotte in 2017 with high hopes and massive community support. It’s the centerpiece of a project that replaced the dilapidated Boulevard Homes public housing project, surrounded by subsidized housing, child care, a senior center and other support systems.
But until Dwight Thompson took over as the pre-K-8 school’s third principal in 2021, it didn’t have much to celebrate.