The number of mobile classrooms in the shanty town beside the school outnumbers the number of brick and mortar classrooms inside. The school was designed for 800 students, and by the time a new school arrives on the scene to provide relief, it could be operating at 200 percent capacity. This coming school year, more than 1,300 students are expected to attend there.

Ironically, the school’s success might be its own worst enemy. Torrence Creek consistently scores among the highest in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and is even ranked at the top in terms of overall school satisfaction by GreatSchools (see story, Page 21), an organization whose slogan is “Involved parents. Successful kids.” Parents don’t get more involved than they do atTorrence Creek, which is more of a necessity there than it is a luxury.

And lest Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools even think of carving off a piece of the student body and sending it elsewhere, it would be met with stiff resistance from parents, who speak almost in unison that they would rather keep their kids at overcrowded Torrence Creek than send them a few miles away to Huntersville or Barnette elementaries.

Talkers note that it’s evidence that great schools are made of involved parents, no matter what the conditions.