Lake City charter school gets bus, holds opening ceremony

LAKE CITY — Dr. Deloris Brown said the vision for Lake City College Preparatory Academy Inc. came after looking at the plight of education in the nation, state and the community.

After much reflection, Brown said, the result was the formation of the new charter school.

“It was hard work, but it happened,” said Brown, who serves as the school’s executive director of education.

The new charter school will open Monday at the temporary location of the W.L. Thompson/Mt. Clair Campus on East Main Street.

On Aug. 9 the school received its first bus from the Lake City Community Foundation and held a ceremony in honor of the new school vehicle.

“This is the kind of public affirmation of our efforts that maintains an environment of community acceptance and support so vital to the success of our new enterprise,” Brown said in a press relese. “This is the first charter school, chartered by the State Charter School District, to begin offering a comprehensive arts based curriculum to students in grades K through 12.”

Two weeks ago, the Lake City Community Foundation told Brown that it was taking steps to acquire two school buses to donate to the school, according to the press release.

The equipment was secured for the donation by Interstate Transportation Equipment, the Columbia company that made the country’s largest purchase of school buses in 1994-95, when South Carolina approved a bond issue to buy more than 2,000 new school buses.

“The new charter school is essential to the community,” said Darla Moore, who played a role in helping the school receive the bus. Moore said the charter school gives students in the community an alternative for education.

Rev. W.L. Thompson, pastor of Mt. Clair Missionary Baptist Church, said during the ceremony that he is thankful to God for the formation of Lake City College Preparatory Academy.

“I’m very appreciative to have a school of this magnitude in our community,” he said.

South Carolina Public Charter School District Superintendent Dr. Wayne Brazell said in an e-mail that he is excited about the opening of Lake City College Preparatory Academy.

“Charter schools should be about academic rigor and innovation,” Brazell said.

He said the new Lake City school represents both of those concepts and that he is convinced the community and staff at the school will work hard to make this a successful program and a model for other charter schools in South Carolina.

“I am disappointed that charter schools in the South Carolina Public Charter School Districts receive such a low level of funding compared to most public schools in South Carolina, but I think the Lake City community will see that a lot of positive educational outcomes from Lake City College Prepartory Academy,” Brazell said. 

In addition to Lake City College Preparatory Academy, the South Carolina Public Charter School District is adding three schools to its district — York Preparatory Academy in Rock Hill, Mary L. Dinkins Charter School in Bishopville and Palmetto Scholars Academy in Charleston — according to “The Charter Lighthouse,” the charter school district’s quarterly newsletter.

Lake City City Council members heard about the idea of the new charter school coming to the area during their regular council meeting in April 2009.

The new charter school will focus on the arts. Brown said that research shows students who participate in arts-based curriculum perform better academically.

Brown, a Lake City native, has served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and district level director of curriculum and instruction, she said.

Brown earned a bachelor’s in English literature from the University of Miami and a master’s in public administration from Nova Southeastern University. She also earned a master’s in education from Fordham University in New York.

Afterward, Brown earned a dual doctor of education and doctor of philosophy in educational leadership from Fordham University.

The board of directors for the new charter school is composed of Queen Wallace, Shirley Kennedy, the Rev. Dr. Frank Maddox, the Rev. Ray McAllister, Gloria Tisdale, John Williams, Judy Toney, Vera Elliott, Ruby Jackson and Luvenia Richardson.

Former educators on the board of directors are Gloria Brayboy, an elementary school teacher; Dr. Flossie Bartell, former assistant superintendent for instruction for Dillon School District 2; and Lakisha Bennett, who was a music teacher and social worker.