BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
Top Photo: Bradley Neave is the Founder and Chairman of Ivy Creek Classical Charter School
With a public hearing scheduled Dec. 7 at the Elmore County Board of Education concerning Ivy Classical Academy, we reached out for comments on the future of the proposed school.
Bradley Neave is the Founder/Chairman of Ivy Classical Academy and said he is looking forward to the future.
Originally, Ivy Classical filled out an application which listed Autauga County as the location of the school. But later, upon learning that the school could have space in the mostly vacant High Point Town Center of Prattville, everything changed. High Point Town Center is within Prattville City Limits, but also in Elmore County.
“Shortly after submitting our original application to the state, we reached out to Ball Ventures and Clearview Investments, the owners of High Point. We would soon come to find out that the property is located less than a mile across the Elmore County line,” Neave told the EAN. “Despite tales to the contrary, the BVCV team was not only open to working with Ivy Classical, but has been extremely pleasant, professional and more than anything patient as this journey has unfolded.
“To permanently solve our geographical issue, we decided it would be best to begin a new application. By reapplying directly to Elmore County, we will be able to locate at High Point and will be offering priority enrollment to students and families in Elmore County.
“If any seats remain open after the priority enrollment period, Autauga County families will be able to apply at that time with seats awarded through a lottery system,” he said.
Despite a lot of negativity surrounding the school, specifically Prattville residents who did not want to see the City of Prattville help with funding, support for the school has continued, Neave said.
“The social media negativity actually helped drive our strong pre-enrollment numbers. Most of our application surges coincided with an off-base comment or falsehood being posted online. Student and family demand for Ivy Classical continues to grow and we are now beginning to hear from local teachers as well as teachers from Mississippi, Arizona, Missouri, California, Georgia and other parts of Alabama who are excited at the opportunity to teach a classical education in a public school,” he said.
He continued, “We have over 900 students pre-enrolled, and thousands more family members that quietly support and pray for Ivy. They are working moms and dads, grandparents and students who want school choice, who want a rigorous curriculum, who want Ivy Classical.”
While Ivy Classical had approached the City of Prattville concerning help with funding, Neave said that is more than likely not an option now, even though it would remain inside city limits.
“At this time we are expecting zero financial support from the City of Prattville. However, as a public school serving public school students within the City of Prattville, those students and families would certainly welcome any assistance,” he said.
His first impressions on working with Elmore County are quite favorable thus far.
“We are truly thankful to the Elmore County Board of Education, Shay Jackson and Superintendent Richard Dennis for the opportunity to apply to Elmore County. Superintendent Dennis and the ECBOE have built an incredible, student focused educational system, which we would be grateful and proud to be a part of.
“We look forward to the review process and if approved, partnering with the ECBOE to bring school choice to Elmore County as well as the first public classical school to the State of Alabama,” Neave said.
Neave said that the supporters of the school throughout this period have been incredibly appreciated.
To those supporters, he would like to say, “Thank you. Your messages and prayers are making a difference every day!”
Last year Elmore County applied and was granted to authorize and approve any Charter School that wanted to establish within Elmore County. Because of that, and Ivy Classical reapplying, they will now submit their application to the Elmore BOE for review. That is the reason for the public hearing Dec. 7.
Residents interested in the outcome of that review will be allowed three minutes in which to speak in favor or against the school being approved. The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. in the Board Room of the BOE. For those wishing to attend the meeting in person, the address is 100 H H Robinson Drive, Wetumpka, AL 36092.
