Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School plans to break ground on the first phase of its facility expansion project as it continues to grow and prepares to welcome fifth grade students next fall.
The groundbreaking will be Thursday afternoon and COVID-19 concerns will limit public attendance. A virtual ceremony will be held on the school’s Facebook page.
“Our scholars deserve the best education available to them; opportunities to excel in environments that provide them with the tools for success now and in high school and college,” said Clarksdale Collegiate Executive Director and founder Amanda Johnson. “Over the last two years, Clarksdale Collegiate has experienced overwhelming interest from families and scholars eager to enroll, demonstrating community and family support for our work. These new facilities will provide more space for structured, ambitious, and jubilant environments for our hard working scholars to get a high-quality education in a high-quality facility”.
As the school heads towards full enrollment of 675 scholars in the 2024-25 school year, more space is needed to accommodate this growth and Thursday’s event marks that first step.
This growth begins with the official groundbreaking on Phase 1 of the project which will include classrooms for kindergarten and third through sixth grade scholars, a cafeteria, library, and science lab. Plans are to open the doors of the new facilities to staff, scholars, and the community beginning in the Fall of 2021.
These new spaces will equip staff with the technology and resources necessary to continue to prepare scholars for high school and college.
“Without these new spaces, we would be unable to welcome the future classes of 2034, 2035, 2036, and 2037”, said Chris Campos, Clarksdale Collegiate spokesman. “The work we do today will allow us to join these families in the years to come as their scholars declare their college commitments and intentions and take ownership of their futures.”
Campos said the charter school is all about students and their future.
“We want to share in the joy that comes with receiving college acceptance letters and that day depends on our ability to grow and continue to move our scholars forward toward that future,” said Campos. “We hope everyone will join us by sharing their support, by learning more about our work, and if able, by contributing financially to the facility expansion project.”
The school is ahead of schedule on its planned growth. This construction project and new space will match that growth and is part of the education model Clarksdale Collegiate provides to families in Clarksdale.
“The school is much more than the physical building but having enough space to meet our enrollment growth is essential,” said Johnson. “We can’t wait until the day when the class of 2029, the ‘seniors’ of the school, walk across their high school graduation stage and can proudly say that they are college bound graduates. This expansion project will make that possible for the class of 2029 and every class after them.”
Clarksdale Collegiate is financing the project. Construction of the new buildings, renovation of the current facilities and purchasing the property from St. Paul's United Methodist Church has an estimated $7.1 million price tag. The school is raising some of the funding from private donors.
Grinder Taber Grinder out of Memphis is the contractor and Jonathan Tate of New Orleans is the architect.
Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School is currently in its third year. Students in kindergarten through fourth grade are enrolled. One grade will be added each year until the school enrolls students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School is a Mississippi public school that prepares kindergarten through fourth grade scholars in the Mississippi Delta to excel in high school and college by providing rigorous instruction within a structured, ambitious and jubilant school community.
Find more information at clarksdalecollegiate.org.
