Charter academy to offer public tours beginning Tuesday.

July 18, 2016
Jamie Bandstra, left, talks about the academy's facilities to Jeanne Oaks of the Community Foundation for Mason County and John Wilson of the Pennies from Heaven Foundation.

Jamie Bandstra, left, talks about the academy’s facilities to Jeanne Oaks of the Community Foundation for Mason County and John Wilson of the Pennies from Heaven Foundation.

#MasonCountyNews #MasonCountyEducation #Scottville #GatewayToSuccessAcademy

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.

SCOTTVILLE — Gateway to Success Academy will begin offering tours to the public, beginning Tuesday, July 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The new charter school, which is still under construction, is located at 526 N. Scottville Road in the former Foster’s grocery market building. The new building, however, is barely a remnant of the original. Construction began in July 2015 with the dismantling of three of the building’s four walls. Since that time, the building has taken on a new, modern look.

Last week, Jamie Bandstra, the school’s administrator, gave a tour to members of the Community Foundation for Mason County (one of the school’s major financial supporters) along with the media.

“This building has been designed for project based learning,” Bandstra said. “There are five classrooms on the north side of the building which will each be dedicated to core high school education areas such as math, science, English and social studies. There is also a self contained middle school classroom. There is a common area for staff where they can connect and a meeting room connected to that room. The center of the building contains a common space that can be used for all kinds of purposes.

“There is a maker space which really sets this building apart from a lot of other spaces,” he said. In that area, students will learn hands-on skills such as design and engineering. Though physical education will not be a class offered at the school, the building will include an exercise room to promote physical fitness. The building also contains its own food service area and office spaces for administration.

The building is expected to be completed in early August and school will open on Sept. 6, Bandstra said.

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