AUGUSTA, Ga. - Community members and school leaders are set to meet for a town hall Thursday evening to discuss a new school of choice coming to the South Augusta area.

The Georgia School for Innovation and the Classics is located in Hephzibah, but they are planning to open a new campus off Jennings Drive in 2024. The property was a Sears call center, but it will soon be called The School of Education at Rocky Creek Charter Academy.

Governing Board Chairman for the school, Robert Buchwitz, says with kids coming from all over the area to the existing Hephzibah location, they want to expand and share the new school option with other parts of the community.

"If you're gonna get new people to move into the area, most people are moving into Columbia County because of school choice over there and they think that for one reason or another they feel like that educational system may be better for their kids," Buchwitz says. "So, that tends to be where a lot of growth is happening if you have young parents. So, we think that this will help maybe to attract people to this area by having a school choice."

The Public Charter School opened in 2015. With a curriculum that integrates the core elements of a classical education centered on grammar, logic and rhetoric.

"I think it's gonna impact the students more than anything," Wayne Guilfoyle District 10 Commissioner says.

Construction will begin January, just in time to welcome students in fall of 2024.

This is the first in a series of meetings to inform the community of what's to come and keep parents up to date.

Commissioner Guilfoyle believes this school will be instrumental in improving the area, especially with plans in the works to build apartments in the location of the old Regency Mall. "I believe the mindset is it's going to be the catalyst."

Those who work nearby say drawing more kids in is good for the community.

The application system for students application system for students opens in January. Thursday's meeting at Broadway Baptist Church gave parents a head start on that process and allow staff to get a better idea of numbers for hiring purposes.

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