Community Charter School moves in to new $23 million building

Community Charter School of Stanley just cut the ribbon on a new $23.1 million campus.

In addition to offering a brick and mortar building for students, the new school will allow Community Charter to continue adding grades.

In 2022, Community Charter School leaders realized the school was outgrowing the 10-acre location it inhabited at the time.

The school consisted of several modular buildings that served grades K-8.

A survey around that time showed that parents would be interested in their children attending high school at Community Charter.

So, school officials began the search for a larger campus and funding to grow into a K-12 facility.

Currently, the new building, located at 185 Mariposa Road in Stanley, is open and serving roughly 750 students in grades K-9, according to Philip McGinnis, Community Charter School’s head of business development and community engagement.

The new 70,000-square-foot campus has over 40 classrooms, a gym and athletic fields.

McGinnis said the school is planning to add grades 10-12 one at a time over the next three school years to allow the school’s current ninth grade class to be the first to graduate from Community Charter.

They will walk the stage in 2027.

Community Charter school is available to all students based on a lottery system.

Since North Carolina community charter schools receive public funding, they are required to be tuition free and open to all interested North Carolina students, according to McGinnis.

Students interested in attending Community Charter School apply during the enrollment period and if they are selected in the randomized lottery, they gain admission.

McGinnis said the values that set Community Charter apart from other schools is a focus on citizenship in the community.

“It's about contributing to something that is greater than yourself, that you may put in more effort than you get back for yourself, but you share in it with your community,” he said. “So, we emphasize things like compassion and perseverance.”

Community Charter School has open enrollment information available on its website cpcsnc.org.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Community Charter School moved in to new $23 million building