Everybody got to shovel a little dirt and plans were formally announced for new facilities during groundbreaking ceremony of Phase I of new facilities project for Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School last week.
The school is in its third year and students from kindergarten through fourth grade are currently enrolled. One grade will be added each year until there are students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School agreed to purchase St. Paul’s United Methodist Church at 1012 West Second Street. However, to accommodate the students after all grades are added, two new buildings are being added to the property.
Amanda Johnson, executive director and founder of Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School, said when the school first opened three years ago, enrollment was at 150 students. She said she made a promise to all families to achieve the school’s mission of helping students have opportunities and be able to do anything they desire.
“We want to make sure that scholars are equipped with the academic skills, with the knowledge and with the character to be successful in whatever they endeavor,” Johnson said.
Johnson said many students want to attend college and it is important to provide a college preparatory education. She added the school is made up of students, teachers and leaders to help everyone achieve their goals, but a good facility is needed to help accelerate learning.
She said there would be a new kitchen to prepare meals, a teaching lab that opens to a courtyard and allows science teachers to be creative in the types of experiments they perform and music and art classrooms.
“We also know that providing a safe and secure campus will give our scholars and our families a peace of mind when they drop their kids off or when they get off the bus every single day,” Johnson said. “We know that this campus will add so much to our school and we’re so excited to celebrate that with you.”
Johnson said the school is running out of space and needs to expand with classrooms for upper grades.
Aurelia Jones-Taylor, board chair since the school started three years ago, said both phases of the project will allow the school to eventually be at full capacity of 675 students.
Jones-Taylor said 75 students will be in the one grade that is added each year until the school enrolls kindergarten through eighth graders.
“We began this journey together to establish a school in the Mississippi Delta that will provide new opportunities for scholars in Clarksdale and Coahoma County to be challenged academically, encouraged to invest in their own futures and are supported all along the way as they make their journeys toward college,” Jones-Taylor said. “Today, we celebrate a milestone in that journey.”
Jones-Taylor thanked the school board for its tireless effort throughout the entire process and the way it has supported the growth of the school.
Jonathan Tate and Maggie Lloyd, architects for the Office of Jonathan Tate out of New Orleans, broke down where everything would be for Phase I of the new facilities project. They also showed visual aids on the video to help illustrate Phase I of the project.
The existing building that was St. Paul’s Church will be an auditorium and classrooms for first and second grade.
The new building currently being constructed will have a technology lab, science lab and library at one end of the first floor. The cafeteria and kindergarten classrooms will be at another end of the first floor. The second floor will consist of third through sixth grade.
There will also be a new monumental front entrance.
The modular classrooms will not be in the parking lot.
“We’re excited and thankful to be part of the process of making a home for Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School,” Tate said.
David Endom, co-founding partner of Level Field Partners, said in the summer of 2019, the path began with the formation a charter school growth fund.
He said there will be about 29,000 square feet of new building space, the existing church structure will be renovated and enrollment growth will go 550 students the next three years. The foundation for the Second Phase will be laid so the school can eventually grow to 675 students. He added the project will create 175 construction jobs through the next 10 to 12 months.
Kim Davis, senior advisor at the Walton Family Foundation, offered congratulations and said they are working to provide access and opportunities to people and communities like Clarksdale and recognize the importance of a high quality education the school provides.
