Coweta Charter Academy is a public school located in Senoia, Georgia that serves students from Kindergarten through 8th Grade. This school has provided a high performing educational option for students since 2010, however it has never had a proper gym for its students.
The school facility is housed in what was formerly a church, which never had a gym. As a result, our physical education classes have always been conducted in what was formerly the building's sanctuary, but the space constraints are challenging and it provides limited options for sports activities. It was always the intention of the school to eventually add a gym, but charter schools in Georgia are not provided the necessary facility funding to realize this school improvement goal. Previously, all funds have been put toward providing a better academic program than the surrounding districted schools and maintaining the existing facility. We have succeeded in accomplishing those goals, but there has just never been any additional money to put toward a gym expansion.
We are a Title 1 school and are located in a rural area of our immediate surrounding community. This significantly impacts our ability to fundraise locally and many of those avenues have been exhausted. Through a great deal of effort over the last year, the school secured enough additional funding to purchase a gym steel building kit, but due to recent and unexpected material cost increases and to meet new code requirements for the building's drainage the total project cost to finish the interior of the building have exceeded the original projected budget by $500,000.00. We do not have an extravagant vision, however we will need additional sitework to be completed and the building does need a floor, basic bathrooms, HVAC, insulation, lights, and security. The building structure has arrived, but we need assistance to finish the project and realize our dream of providing a dedicated gym for our young students. Otherwise, the steel building kit will have to sit for several more years until the additional necessary funds can be raised to erect and finish the structure. We do not want our students to wait, so we are expanding our call for assistance and utilizing this platform to seek a larger community of supportive donors.
Our students deserve the best we can give, a place that is designed specifically for play and to develop life long healthy habits. Fifteen years is a long time to wait for a gym and we are now asking for your financial support to provide our students with a better space for their physical education needs and to engage in sporting activities. Please give what you can to help us build our students a gym. Every dollar will be one step closer to a gym facility and it would give our young students such joy!
