THRIVE Academy on track to open

A new inner-city public boarding school called THRIVE Academy has tentative approval to move into the former Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired and plans to sign the lease by the end of this week, the school’s founder and executive director said Tuesday.

Sarah Broome, founder and executive director of THRIVE, said the school has worked the details out with the new Family and Youth Services Center, which recently took over control of the old school, at 1120 Government St.

The Family and Youth Services Center is a “one stop shop” truancy center, supported by several local government leaders, that aims to take youngsters off the streets, get them help and direct them into the appropriate school setting.

THRIVE will occupy an unused residential building on the campus and plans to start school Aug. 8 with about 20 sixth-graders, Broome said.

“We’re grateful for the overwhelming support the community has shown this innovative model and are excited to get our first year under way,” Broome said. “Our partnership with the Family and Youth Services Center is a prime example of what nonprofits can do when we work together.”

The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board in February approved by a vote of 6-4 the creation of the new charter school, which plans to grow to 240 students over eight years, with the proviso that it first find a place to hold school. With that hurdle apparently cleared, the School Board is set to vote Thursday on a three-year operating contract for the new charter school.

THRIVE also announced Tuesday that it has raised $270,000 in the past month, fulfilling most of its first-year fundraising goal.

“There is still a little bit of fundraising for this year left to do,” Broome said.