NEXT Charter School to open in August

The NEXT Charter School in Salem has an opening date, Aug. 15, 2016. According to NEXT School Eagle Ridge Principal Joe Greenberg, plans are moving forward. “Earlier this week, the NEXT Board, following some reports from me and our CEO, felt that the contingencies that had been laid fourth earlier in the spring had been met around enrollment targets, the facility and some of the charter amendments that we needed to have approved at the state level. All the things that they were looking to see were either met or exceeded expectations again in a really short two and half month window.” Principal Greenberg tells about the history of the NEXT Charter School. “The NEXT School Organization started in Greenville this past year but it is really about three or four years in the making. It started through a series of meetings with the business community in the greater Greenville area wanting to have more of an impact in local education. One of the entrepreneurs in Greenville suggested as start-up people that run businesses why don’t we bring our expertise in starting a new paradigm of education locally. They did due diligence researching around the country and visiting cutting-edge and research based model schools around the country. They brought those best practices and people such as me, who have been part of the educational reform and renewal movement to build a program. They launched last fall and when Tamassee-Salem learned of their fate with the school district having to make that difficult decision to close their school, the resolve and resourcefulness of that community found NEXT in Greenville. They did their due diligence and invited us to come study their community to learn a little bit about the history and needs of the community. It was just a perfect marriage of timing and circumstances.” The NEXT Charter School for grades 6-12 takes over the former Tamassee-Salem Middle and High School buildings, which are to be transferred this Friday to the Town of Salem and a memorandum of understanding articulating NEXT School’s use of building and grounds.