Joint Southeast Raleigh elementary school/YMCA may open in 2019

NewsandObserver.com

BY T. KEUNG HUI

Wake County school board members heard an update Monday on plans for a fall 2019 opening of a joint elementary school and YMCA of the Triangle facility.

“I’m really, really excited about this,” said school board member Kevin Hill, chairman of the board’s student achievement committee. “I think this is pretty neat.”

The goal is to break the cycle of inter-generational poverty in Southeast Raleigh, where student test scores are far below the district average. As part of that effort, the YMCA acquired the former flea market site and wants the school system’s help in providing area children with a comprehensive education from birth to college.

The joint school/YMCA would include amenities such as a gymnasium beyond what Wake typically would provide and a swimming pool, which is not part of the elementary school model. But the school would still remain under the control of the school system.

Kia Baker, director of the Southeast Raleigh Promise Project, which is leading the community side of the effort, said the housing should be ready by 2019. She said the rest of the project may also be ready by the time the school opens. Read more here.