MAURICE, La. (KLFY)-- There is a lot of excitement surrounding the new charter school opening called Vermilion Charter Academy. The school is a tuition-free type 2 charter school serving students from kindergarten through eighth grade. 

"Oh my gosh, this is the most exciting thing. I've been in education for 34 years and my first opportunity to build a school from the ground up. I can't tell you how excited we actually are,” said Patricia Thibodeaux, principal of Vermilion Charter Academy. “Plus the interest, the community involvement, and just the enrollment process. It's been very gratifying for me as an educator.” 

Thibodeaux said Vermilion Charter Academy’s entrance into the area will address present challenges in the North Vermilion area regarding overcrowding and lack of access to STEAM-related curriculum. 

“In Vermilion Parish, we have wonderful schools and I can attest to that because I worked in the district for many years,” she said. “With that comes, you know, some budgetary issues and not being able to build schools for the future. So this is just the opportunity to assist in mitigating that issue here in the North Vermilion area and hoping to be able to build for the future for sure.” 

Jacy Ashby, the assistant principal, told News 10 you can expect the same things that you would expect with a traditional public school.

“As far as you're going to have great teachers, you're going to have the same type of curriculum, but you're also going to have a Steams model. So you’re going to have your technology, you're going to have your STEM, you're going to have your arts, your music, and you're also going to have the choice to be able to choose to come to this school,” she said. 

The school will serve approximately about 40 teachers and hopes to reach a goal of 960 students come August of 2024. 

“The opportunity to be able to service the whole child and offer a personal learning plan for every student in our building, where we look at the data, where a student is, and we offer opportunities to either intervene or enrich and bring them to the needs that they actually possess,” Ashby said 

“Once the school is actually open, it's going to be a state-of-the-art facility, brand new with many opportunities, with 1 to 1 devices, with all of our students, very technology-rich, and the opportunity to enrich our student's lives as well as the safety measures that we will put into place," Thibodeaux said. "No more butler buildings and cameras and a very, very secure school site.” 

“Open enrollment began back in October, but it's never too late, and we do encourage everyone to apply, no matter what the situation may be. We do have a waitlist currently in many of the grade levels. However, if we have a robust waitlist, then that just means that we have the opportunity to build further and expand possibly later in the future,” she concluded. 

To those interested in enrollment in Vermilion Charter Academy can apply on the website.

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