One City Schools Wisconsin just found a new home for its students, reports PR Newswire.
The system’s Board of Directors has announced plans to purchase a 157,000 square foot facility for $12 million from WPS Health Solutions that will be home to its innovative K-12 public charter schools.
Currently, One City Elementary School enrolls children in grades 4K-2 and will now add third and fourth grades this fall.
The school’s charter school authorizer, the University of Wisconsin System’s Office of Educational Opportunity, has also conditionally approved One City to open its 6-12 grade One City Preparatory Academy in September 2022.
A generous donation of $14 million made by Madison Philanthropist Pleasant Rowland made the purchase of a building on the WPS campus possible — this is her second major gift to One City Schools.
“This is an extraordinary moment for One City Schools, for the Greater Madison community, and for Wisconsin,” said One City Founder and CEO, Kaleem Caire. “As a city and state that has maintained the largest school achievement gap in the country between Black and White students for at least two decades, Ms. Rowland’s tremendous contribution gives us the opportunity to continue with our mission to seed a new model of public education that ensures young children are on track to succeed in a college or career preparatory program from birth through high school graduation.”
One City Prep will offer a unique Early College and Career Preparatory Program that will allow students to complete credits toward earning both associate’s and bachelor’s degrees along with industry certifications beginning in ninth grade. The offer comes at no expense to its students.
“We are going to ensure that our children achieve to their full potential and are prepared to pursue their post-secondary education and career goals before they leave our nest,” continued Caire. “Moreover, we will continue to serve as a model of what ‘our community can do’ to help all of our children thrive. We owe it to our children to give them every chance to succeed in life before they are expected to fly on their own.”
Currently, One City enrolls 167 children in its nationally and internationally recognized preschool and elementary school.
