BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J BTR ULY 26-AUGUST 1, 2019 3
This is an artist rendering of the new school building being constructed.
Photo courtesy of South Bronx Classical Academy IV
S. Bronx Classical IV
School breaks ground
in Concourse Village
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
South Bronx Classical IV Charter
School held a groundbreaking ceremony
on Thursday, July 18 on a new
building at 757 Concourse Village West
that will allow for the expansion of the
school to serve grades Kindergarten
through eighth grade.
The school is currently open and
housed in a temporary location at East
167th Street and Third Avenue, presently
the home of another school that’s
part of Classical Charter Schools, said
Lestor Long, executive director of the
school network.
Long said that the new building
will be 54,000 square feet with a fullsize
gymnasium with a basketball
court and will be completely wired for
Wi-Fi and the internet.
The classrooms will be larger than
typical classrooms, at about 700 square
feet each for a class size of about 20
students each, said Long, adding that
there will be a fully insulated music
room with a premiere sound system
and an art room.
As part of the classical (Greek and
Roman) theme of the school, students
will receive gym every day, along with
two and a half units of both music and
art each week, said Long.
Student and parent demand for
Classical Charter Schools’ rigorous
academic standards and longer school
days, which last from 8 a.m. to 4:30
p.m., and the organization’s desire to
expand into more borough communities,
drove the decision to build in Concourse
Village.
“We have identifi ed seven neighborhoods
in the Bronx particularly
in need,” said Long. “This will be our
fourth school and we hope in the next
fi ve to ten years to start three new
schools.”
South Bronx Classical IV Charter
School has been in existence since 2017
and will ultimately educate 500 students
per year, said the charter school
network executive director.
Classical opened its fi rst school on
Fox Street in 2006 and was so inundated
with parent demand that in 2013
they opened a second school in Port
Morris, said Long.
The charter school waited to fi netune
its curriculum and teaching
methods before opening its second location,
he said.
In 2015, it opened a 53,000 square
foot new school building in Morrisania
to house its third school, he added.
The latest building should open in
August 2020.
Classical Charter Schools may look
to expand into other communities
around the borough, as many students
are currently being bused to their
current locations from other nearby
neighborhoods.
The school’s focus is on a back-tobasics
education in the tradition of
classical education. Latin and Debate
are taught, said Long.
“The demand has been so overwhelming
high and we get about 15
applications for every available seat,
so we are doing everything we can to
start more schools,” said Long. “We
really want to cover the south Bronx
because we want to make sure every
parent and student can walk to a great
school.”
Possible areas of expansion include
Soundview, Tremont and Fordham,
said Long.
The new Concourse Village building
will feature classically-themed
paint accents, use of Roman numerals
in signs and other back-to-basics features.