Workers will break ground later this month on the first phase of the THRIVE Academy on 2585 Brightside Lane, and the school’s executive director hopes the new campus will open for the start of the next school year.
In the first phase of construction, set to begin Nov. 19, workers will build one of the two planned dormitories. A second dorm, main school building and athletics center will be built at a later date, but are not expected to be ready when school opens next year, says Executive Director Sarah Broome.
A community center that is already on the property—a 7.4-acre tract THRIVE purchased from the Diocese of Baton Rouge in 2011 for about $1.2 million—will be renovated and will serve as a temporary classroom building when school begins, Broome says. The school is also searching for a space to use or rent for athletics.
The original plan was to build the campus all at once, but hiccups with financing forced Broome to switch to building the campus in phases. Broome had to file a new construction plan with the city-parish Planning Commission, which she submitted today. The Planning Commission will vote on the application at its Dec. 14 meeting.
“We just weren’t able to finance it all at one time,” Broome says.
Broome says she hopes to have the school completely finished in three years, but finding the financing is key.
Founded in 2011, THRIVE is a charter boarding school that serves at-risk students from East Baton Rouge Parish. It is currently housed in the Family and Youth Services Center on Government Street near Interstate 110. The school currently teaches 110 students in the sixth through ninth grades. Next year, there will be 160 students in the sixth through 10th grades. The goal is to eventually bring in 350 students in the sixth through 12th grades, Broome says.
—Ryan Broussard
