A ceremony was held to celebrate the grand opening of a new charter school last month.
On Thursday, October 24, parents, staff, elected officials and community leaders joined tennis champion Andre Agassi and investor Bobby Turner for the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony of the brand new Grand Concourse Academy Charter School located at 625 Bolton Avenue. The ceremony was preceded by a media tour of the school and a classroom visit with Agassi.
The colorful, three-story school building features a state-of-the-art science lab, dedicated art room, outdoor amphitheater and gardening space, along with 30 classrooms.
The 50,000 square-foot campus, which is Grand Concourse Academy’s first permanent home, was designed by award-winning architectural firm Lubrano Ciavarra and developed by the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, which takes the lead in site selection, aquisition, design and construction for new school facilities.
The Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, a joint venture between Andre Agassi’s Agassi Ventures and Bobby Turner’s Turner Impact Capital, is a mission-driven, social impact investment fund which provides resources and real estate expertise to the country’s high-performing charter schools. It is the nation’s largest market-driven real estate fund dedicated to accelerating the advancement of successful urban charter schools.
To date, 95 schools have been developed nationwide, serving nearly 50,000 students in the country.
“This new campus will enable Grand Concourse Academy to extend its commendable track record of serving Bronx students and families, empowering them to succeed in the classroom and beyond,” Turner said.
“We know how challenging it can be for charter schools to find high-quality, permanent homes, and I’m beyond pleased to see Grand Concourse Academy settled confortably into this new, wonderful, education-friendly campus,” said Agassi. “I have every confidence that GCA students will go on to achieve great things – in the classroom and in life.”
Elected officials Assemblywoman Karines Reyes and Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson also attended the school’s grand opening.
“Having thriving communities in the future requires having great schools today,” Councilwoman Gibson said. “I have long been impressed by Grand Concourse Academy and its high standard of academic excellence. This is a great day for the Bronx and for all of New York.”
“I am thrilled to welcome Grand Concourse Academy to its permanent new home in Soundview – a beautiful new facility that will be a landmark of learning for the community,” said Assemblywoman Reyes. “Grand Concourse Academy is a first-rate institution that is making a positive impact on its students, setting them on a path for long-term success.”
Grand Concourse Academy was founded in a leased space at East 169th Street and Walton Avenue, near the Grand Concourse, in 2004, where it originally served 180 students from kindergarten through grade 2.
It is authorized by the Charter School Institute of SUNY and currently has an enrollment of over 600 students in grades K-8, with plans to increase the enrollment to nearly 800 students.
