New Bibb charter school leaders have big plans

Clearing another hurdle on the way to a new charter school in Bibb County is an answered prayer, its leaders say.

The site of the former Cross Keys Christian Academy off Jeffersonville Road could become Cirrus Academy Charter School if the state Department of Education approves the bid later this fall, perhaps in November. In that event, school leaders could begin to execute contracts and ramp up planning efforts.

“We’re prayerful about it, we are excited about it and we are looking forward to working with the (charter school) commission on it,” said Pamela Brown, president of the school’s board of trustees.

True Faith Church of God in Christ owns the school site and has signed a nonbinding letter of intent with Cirrus for a five-year lease on the property. The site includes a former high school building and education building, as well as use of the land.

“We knew when we got this site that we wanted to have a school here,” said the Rev. Evans D. Brown Sr., pastor of the church.

The school and church would be separate entities.

The main building that made up Cross Keys’ high school is built around a large gym and stage. The building also includes 11 classrooms, a space for administrative offices and a faculty lounge. There is a separate education center with more classrooms and two more modular buildings that once housed Cross Keys’ preschool.

The site was a lucky find, said Albert Rogers, vice chair of the board at the new school. One of the biggest challenges has been finding a site. But the Cross Keys location, which was vacated in 1997, has ready-made school buildings and is already approved for use as a school.

“That’s the biggest drawback when you start a charter school,” Rogers said. “We have that.”

The school site at 2048 Jeffersonville Road is just east of the intersection of Millerfield Road. It is the site of the former Cross Keys Baptist Church, which closed around the same time as the school, said Evans Brown, who is not related to Pamela Brown. True Faith purchased the site and moved in 2003.

In that time, the church has done some maintenance on the two large school buildings, but it has only used the former high school site sparingly. If the charter receives final approval, Rogers said the group will be working with an architect to come up with a renovation plan to make sure it is ready for occupancy by the time the school is set to open for the 2015-2016 school year.

VIOLIN LESSONS TOO

Cirrus Academy was the brainchild of Rogers, a Macon native and retired Air Force major. He has spent time teaching aviation and running education programs.

He wanted to see a school that taught STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and the arts.

Rogers began his quest in 2008, submitting several petitions to the Bibb County school board, but was rejected. He continued to add board members and expertise to the group, now led by Pamela Brown. She’s a longtime Bibb County teacher and former director of the Macon-Bibb County Equal Opportunity Commission’s Headstart program.

Cirrus plans to recruit students in counties within 30 miles of the school.

In its initial review, the charter school commission’s staff recommended denial of the petition. However, the group sharpened its proposal and received concessions from several vendors and made other adjustments.

Among the other changes that earned the approval was the addition of a recruitment plan -- with the school targeting commuting parents from surrounding counties. The school is only about two miles from some of Bibb County’s largest employers, YKK USA and Geico, and it is about the same distance from downtown Macon. It hopes to draw in students from parents who commute to those employment hubs.

Pamela Brown said the group will continue to work with the state’s Charter School Commission to enhance its proposal while awaiting word from the Department of Education.

Until it is approved, the school cannot sign agreements, only letters of intent. So if it does go through, the board of trustees will have to turn those letters into binding contracts quickly and begin its work.

Laura Perkins is principal of the Academy for Classical Education complex, Bibb’s first charter school, which opened this year. It has been a whirlwind, she said, and she offered some advice for the Cirrus leaders.

“Be prepared to work hard, be prepared for it to be costly -- you will have to use your own money,” she said. “It will take a lot of time and you will have critics -- as the kids say, haters -- you have to stay true your mission and that’s the kids.”

If approved, Cirrus plans to open in September 2015. It will open initially with 618 students in kindergarten through eighth grade and grow one class per year to 918 students.

The school will emphasize a “STEM plus” approach, which emphasizes science, math and technology, and the addition of an arts curriculum. The school will include ballet classes, dance and music instruction as a part of its curriculum from kindergarten onward.

Once in middle school, students will be able to focus on a major from among creative arts, performing arts, science, writing or language. This will guide their studies outside of the core curriculum, which include many STEM courses.

Each student will be issued a violin in kindergarten (and upon enrollment in the school) and take lessons through the fifth grade, Rogers said.

On a recent tour of the education building, he could already see the possibilities.

“I can see these being practice rooms,” he said, walking through the upstairs of the former youth education building of the church looking into small, well-lighted classroom spaces off of a larger classroom.

The goal of the school’s curriculum is to build confidence through the arts and competence through STEM, Pamela Brown said.

“Our motto is ‘we’re changing the atmosphere of education,’ and that’s what we’re doing. We’re hoping to create future leaders for a creative society.”

To contact writer Mark Vanderhoek, call 744-4331.

This story was originally published September 26, 2014 at 6:34 PM with the headline "New Bibb charter school leaders have big plans ."