About Our School

At Lawrence Orr Elementary, we aim to provide an engaging learning environment in which all children are equipped with a solid foundation of literacy, numeracy and content-specific skills. Our school culture shall be rooted in positive, authentic relationships between students, families, community partners and school staff. Our instructional platform is one in which high expectations are held for all learners with the firm belief that all learners possess the potential to achieve expectations set forth for them. At Lawrence Orr, all learners have access to a full range of future academic and career opportunities, ultimately setting the stage for lifelong success as productive, competitive, compassionate, and innovative global citizens. 

Lawrence Orr Elementary is a state-of-the-art learning facility housing 39 Kindergarten through 5th grade classrooms with a 16-classroom Pre-Kindergarten wing. Construction for the building began in late winter 2014 and was completed in summer 2015. 

 

K-5 classes enjoy an average 21:1 student to teacher ratio.

 

Classrooms throughout the building have been outfitted with classroom technology tools, including a dedicated projector/speaker system in each classroom, Apple TVs, iPads, Chromebooks, and more.

According to descendants of the school's namesake, Lawrence Orr was born May 14, 1883, the 7th child of Alexander and Allice Orr, former slaves. As slaves, Lawrence Orr's immediate family members worked the land on which Lawrence Orr Elementary now sits. Mr. Orr grew up in the township of Crab Orchard, which is now known as Hickory Grove. His father was a landowner of property connected to Hickory Grove Road. Following his marriage to his wife Addie Dennis, with whom he had ten children, Mr. Orr purchased 10 acres of land and built a home on what is presently Lawrence Orr Road.

 

As an active member of the African American community, Lawrence Orr encouraged other African Americans to buy land around him and advocated for the right to vote. Mr. Orr and other African Americans petitioned the county school board to build four new schools for African American children in the Hickory Grove area and surrounding counties. Mr. Orr owned and operated a general store at the corner of Shamrock Drive and Hickory Grove Road, only a few hundred yards from the Lawrence Orr Elementary campus. The store was the only black-owned business in a 15-mile radius. 

 

As the naming committee for Lawrence Orr Elementary, formerly known as the Hickory Grove Relief School, carefully researched the history of the area where the school is situated, the name Lawrence Orr almost immediately surfaced. The Orr family was consulted, and several members of the family shared a wealth of history about the man who once owned the land on which the school now sits. Lawrence Orr's story of success brought about by his determination, perseverance and pioneering leadership is a story we want all of our students to know as they write their own stories of success.

Nestled in a quickly-growing neighborhood only 20 minutes east of center-city Charlotte, Lawrence Orr Elementary is near the intersections of Hickory Grove Road and Shamrock Drive as well as Shamrock Drive and N. Sharon Amity Road. The school's physical address is 4835 Shamrock Drive Charlotte, NC 28215. 

Lawrence Orr's mascot is the lion. 

Black, orange and gold (metallic)