Selma Burke Middle School, SBMS, opened it’s doors to students for the first  time on August 9, 2023. SBMS is so proud to be the newest school in the Mooresville Graded School District, a district that believes in an environment that is welcoming to all, creating a sense of community.

SBMS was named after Selma Hortense Burke, born on December 31, 1900 in Mooresville, North Carolina. She was interested in art at an early age, sculpting small objects and animals with white clay from a nearby riverbed. Selma Burke embraced education. She earned a nursing degree, and later a Master’s in fine arts as well as served in the Navy during World War II.  

Burke's best-known work is a portrait honoring President Franklin D. Roosevelt which was the  model for his image on the dime. Her last historic work is a bronze statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Charlotte, N.C. which was created in 1980 when she was 80 years old,

Selma Burke’s family described her as a trailblazer and a pioneer.