Richmond charter school opens its top floor after 15 years of being inoperable
For the last 15 years, the Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts functioned without full use of its entire building.
That was until recently, when officials opened access to the third floor of its building for the first time in the school’s history.
At a “Journey to the Top” ceremony on Friday, school leaders revealed the top floor, which includes third, fourth and fifth-grade classrooms for students in the upcoming school year. Students have already been using the rooms for the last few months.
The floor also contains a new HVAC system, an Americans with Disabilities Act complaint bathroom and a wheelchair ramp that runs throughout the building. The school does not have an elevator.
The Southside school previously operated as Patrick Henry Elementary School for years before closing in 2007. It eventually rebranded in 2010 as the first elementary charter school in the state, opening its doors to students in 2012 through a lottery system.
“One of the things that we do recognize is we also bring in students who have never been in the public school system – homeschooled students and students in the private school sector,” said Principal Tarnee Hudson. “They are bringing themselves to Richmond Public Schools through us. We increase the enrollment.”
The event felt like a homecoming for some attendees, like former student Toria Donaldson. She was among the initial students who went to the charter when it first opened and is now graduating from VCU this May. She has since come back after graduating from the school to occasionally teach dance to students.
She said that the top floor opening will be great for the students who are currently learning in trailers outside of the building.
“Seeing the kids, it reminds me of myself,” she said.
Recently elected State Del. Charlie Schmidt, who was at the ceremony, was part of helping create the charter agreement between the school and Richmond Public Schools. He was a former founding member of the school’s board of directors.
The nearly 100-year-old building had been impacted by Hurricane Ernesto in 2006, Antoine Green said. Green, a former member of the Virginia Board of Education, is a member of the school’s Board, separate from the Richmond School Board. That left the building in need of multiple repairs.
“It's great to finally see the original vision come to fruition,” Green said.
The opening of the school’s top floor helps increase the school’s enrollment. Hudson said the school received over 400 applications for this school year and had only 65 available seats. The additional classrooms now add 30 seats to its overall enrollment, bringing it up from 310 this school year to 340 for next school year.
When asked why repairs took so long, Hudson pointed to a bureaucracy of paperwork, building permits and ultimately a lack of funding. Repairs cost roughly $625,000, she said, which was funded by donors like Building Hope and the Pauley Family Foundation.
More repairs are still underway, as windows in classrooms are still boarded up and the ceiling had a sudden leak before the ribbon cutting.
Ashlee Davis was a student of the former Patrick Henry Elementary. Years later, she is now the charter school’s guidance counselor.
“My passion for the school is a little bit different than others,” she said. “Every time I run into a student and I hear their story and they remember the things that they learned here at Patrick Henry, it just gives me the motivation to continue to be here.”
Contact Reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin at vifatusin@richmonder.org
