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Brand New Century Academy Shines During Open House
August 5, 2016
An open house was held Thursday evening at the new Century Academy, a private, non-profit K-12 school that will specialize in teaching children diagnosed with autism and other related learning disabilities.
Century Academy is operated by the well established East Hill Academy in Pensacola. It’s located in the former Carver/Century K-8 school on Hecker Avenue — an older building that has been transformed with plenty of paint and decor into a world filled with rain forest and ocean scenes — designed to capture the attention and imagination of children with autism.
“It is a beautiful place but one that is carefully designed to enhance the educational experience for children with autism and other learning disorders,” said director Barbara Barber.
After winning $20,000 in the Studer Institute’s Century Business Challenge, Barber knew the time was right for Century Academy, and she wanted it to be as much of a part of Century of possible.
“I hired only local staff,” Barber said. “I wanted them to be part of the community.”
The K-12 school plans to operate with a student-teach ratio of about five to one, with a teacher and assistant, in each classroom. Each students will have a Lenovo Thinkpad laptop, not a Chromebook like is being used in the public schools, she said.
Before the open house, about 15 students had officially registered for Century Academy, but Barber said she expects more students will be registered as their August 15 first day of school approaches. And she said she expects additional students to transfer in after school begins.
“I’m so excited about the opening of Century Academy. This school has the potential to change the entire face of the community and raise the bar economically for the community and personally for the children for years to come,” Rep. Clay Ingram, who attended the open house Thursday, said.
Century Academy has an official motto, stenciled on a wall just inside the front door — “We are Century Academy. All of us are unique. And when we come together, The puzzle is complete.”
There are two types of scholarships available for students that will cover the cost of tuition at the private school. Century Academy is now actively in the second phase of registration for the John McKay scholarship. This scholarship has a September 1 deadline to file an intent notice.
For more information about Century Academy, call (850) 437-5560.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
3 Responses to “Brand New Century Academy Shines During Open House”
This is wonderful. There is now a school in the community. I would not have known about this if I did not read it on northescambia.com. Thank you for putting out information and letting the people know what is going on. How would someone go about finding out if they can volunteer or be employed at Century Academy?
Simply put, Our children are our future! Efforts like this change futures.
This is an awesome addition to our community. I love that this has opened and I hope the words spreads to all of those in our surrounding communities. Especially that the McKay Scholarship is available for the children! What an awesome, awesome way to bring completeness to our children.