News
Brashier Middle College opens $8.5 million facility
August 18, 2009
Brashier Middle College, a charter high school established in 2006, held a grand opening of the school’s permanent location Thursday at the Brashier campus of Greenville Technical College.
Keith Miller, president of Greenville Tech, spoke of closing the achievement gap between high school and college.
“Business and industry are demanding an increased level of schooling and that’s what you, this school, and the college is all about,” he said.
The new $8.5 million facility is a 63,750-square-foot building with 20 classrooms, two computer labs, two science classrooms, a media center, a dining area, a gym and offices. The building is funded through tax-free bonds through a limited liability corporation owned by the Greenville Tech Foundation.
Stuart McAlister, a board member for BMC, said 100% of the senior class is expected to graduate and enroll in college at the end of this academic school year. The average student will graduate with 19 hours of college credit through the school’s partnership with Greenville Tech.
Dennis Bega, senior education advisor for the U.S. Department of Education’s regional office in Atlanta, gave a keynote speech on treating education as the civil rights initiative of the current generation. He said charter schools are “nothing new,” but added his department is interested in BMC’s model of making education work.
“We’re interested in what works at the local level,” Bega said. “You are restoring the value of high quality education.”
Currently 85% of sophomores and 80% of juniors have a 3.0 grade point average or higher.
Bega serves as the Southeast representative for the education provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. He said education reform will require collaboration beyond party lines.
“We all have an investment in this building,” he said. “You are the future citizens, employers and employees of the next generation.”
Triangle Construction Co. was the general contractor. Freeman & Major Architects served as the architect.
Many of the building’s furnishings have been donated, and fundraising efforts continue on facility upgrades from the original plan, such as higher quality carpet and a wood floor in the gymnasium.
