THRIVE charter inks deal for space, plans August opening

Baton Rouge’s first residential charter school has cleared its final major hurdle and will open its doors in August, school officials say. THRIVE announced today it has signed a lease with the Family Youth Services Center to rent space at the former School for the Visually Impaired for the coming school year. Officials also say the new school raised $270,000 in matching funds in just one month to support its first year of operations. Originally built as a boarding school, the Family Youth Services Center campus is a good fit for THRIVE because it has dorm rooms, adult apartments, classrooms and kitchen facilities. THRIVE plans to enroll 20 students in the sixth grade for its first year. The school hopes to grow by one additional class each year until it reaches full capacity with grades six through 12. The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board OK’d the charter school in February. When up and running, THRIVE will be one of only a handful of charter schools in the nation at which students live during the week, then depart for home on weekends. For more information about THRIVE, visit its website here.