A breakdown by residency provided to the Thurgood Marshall Leadership Academy board Monday shows the majority of the school’s 175 applicants live within the boundaries of Fort Wayne Community Schools.
Just 48 students were residents living within the boundaries of East Allen County Schools, and of those 22 students were already attending school outside the district, including charter and private schools or in FWCS. A similar breakdown wasn’t provided for FWCS students interested in the school.
Applicants are in kindergarten through eighth grade, with the highest number of applicants in kindergarten and first grade.
In its first year the school, established by the Fort Wayne Urban League, the school hopes to enroll about 225 students this fall, with 25 students in each grade, K-8. Thurgood Marshall is currently negotiating a three-year lease with Zion Lutheran Church to rent its former academy to house the charter school.
Urban League Director of Development and Planning Jamie Garwood provided the enrollment update. She said the only grade she was concerned about was seventh. About half the applicants currently attend Prince Chapman Academy and do not wish to attend East Allen University at the former Harding High School next year, she said. But for many students transportation to the school’s location could be a problem.
The board originally hoped to locate the school within the boundaries of East Allen County Schools in the former Village Woods Middle School to better serve the students in that district. However, financing for the building was unsuccessful.
The school is authorized through the Indiana Charter School Board and will be managed by American Quality Schools.
