Bridges Preparatory School to be in Beaufort Boys & Girls Club
Bridges Preparatory School has found a home -- for now -- sharing space with the Beaufort Boys & Girls Club.
The charter school announced Monday it will open this fall in downtown Beaufort at the Boys & Girls Club building at 1100 Boundary Street.
The Beaufort Boys & Girls Club will serve as a temporary location for the school during its first year of operation. In the coming year, the school intends to buy land and begin building a permanent location north of the Broad River, school charter committee chairwoman Ivie Szalai wrote in an email.
Meanwhile, the school will make minor renovations to the Boys & Girls Club to meet state building requirements for schools.
The Beaufort Boys & Girls Club will continue to provide afterschool and summer programs for its members at the club, Szalai wrote.
The school plans to open with 360 students in kindergarten through sixth grade. The student body will grow as a new grade is added each year until the school serves students through 12th grade.
Szalai said the Boys & Girls Club provides a central location for the school, as well as on-site after-school care for students. Teaming with the nonprofit also supports the school's "inquiry-based" learning program from the National Paideia Center, providing a prime venue for field trips and guest speakers.
The Paideia program trains teachers to develop student-driven learning through collaborative or guided research, where students solve problems and discover information on their own.
"A huge component of Paideia is being immersed within the community," Szalai said of a downtown location with the Boys & Girls Club.
Related content:
- Bridges Preparatory selects head of new charter school, Jan. 8, 2013
- New Beaufort County school Bridges Prep OK'd by state charter district, July 12, 2012
- Bridges Preparatory School
This story was originally published March 4, 2013 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Bridges Preparatory School to be in Beaufort Boys & Girls Club."