COVID-19 kept Piedmont Community Charter School from formally marking the completion of its new high school campus in Gastonia, but all of the school’s students are finally enjoying it together.
“It’s an absolute dream come true,” said Jennifer Killen, Piedmont Charter’s head of school who began working at the school 19 years ago as a teacher’s assistant. She never imagined she would have a hand in building a new high school campus. “My heart is just full of gratefulness.”
Here are several key takeaways from the new campus:
Charter school s largest investment
Piedmont Charter’s new campus cost the school $20 million and features a 70,000-square-foot school building with 32 classrooms on two floors, a full-sized gymnasium for basketball and volleyball games, as well as physical education, a fine arts auditorium with more than 300 seats and an outdoor soccer field.
East Gaston High junior Aaron Hollar plays a musical instrument nicknamed the tenor tuba. Across town, 17-year-old Ashbrook student Amarah Kendrick s commitment to dance has landed her lead roles, such as Clara in the holiday classic The Nutcracker.
These two bright Gaston County students plan to spend their summer at North Carolina s Governor s School, the oldest statewide summer residential program for gifted and talented students in the United States.
Seventeen Gaston County high school students have an opportunity to attend the prestigious Governor’s School of North Carolina this summer, offering them a glimpse at college and the chance of meeting other high-achieving young people from across the state.