TVCA Progress Report
Dear Parents, Friends, and Supporters,
Greetings from the…er…”Old School” in Fruitland! In the very near future, we shall no longer be calling it the “Old School”–instead it will be the home of Treasure Valley Classical Academy! As we bring our school to life, we will fondly remember and preserve our past…while forging ahead by boldly forming future citizens.
Speaking of Citizens
I was recently reminded of one of our nation’s first important proclamations about public education. On July 13, 1787, Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance, providing for the government of a large region called the Northwest Territory (the current states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and parts of Minnesota). In the Northwest Ordinance, Congress set aside land for the purpose of public education. The ordinance states the following: “Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged.” This serves a poignant reminder that virtue and knowledge are essential to the well being of our Republic–and it ties directly to Treasure Valley Classical Academy’s mission to form citizens of virtue and knowledge.
The Last 30 Days at TVCA…
We have been very busy preparing for our inaugural school year. During the last thirty days, we held our first public lottery (with oversight from the State Department of Education and our educational partner Bluum); signed a purchase order for four brand new school buses; put the finishing touches on our school uniform; accepted a bid from a local food service provider to operate our kitchen and school lunch program; signed an e-rate contract for our school’s IT architecture and wireless network; accepted proposals for our security system, camera system, access control system, visitor control system, and VoiP phone system; prepared purchase orders for almost $79,000 in curriculum and school supplies (with more to come); authored, vetted, and submitted an application for an $800,000 federal charter school implementation grant; signed a multi-year copier contract; vetted bids from two venders for $117,000 in school furnishings; and conducted a site survey, local area security assessment, and synchronization meetings with Fruitland law enforcement and emergency response officials in preparation for our school’s emergency operations plan. Radix Construction continues to forge ahead with our $3.2M building renovation, which includes major electrical upgrades, a new HVAC system, school-wide LED lighting, a modern fire-suppression system, a brand new commercial kitchen, new roofs, many new windows and doors, new internal classroom configurations, and numerous other code-related enhancements. Finally, we are building a terrific team of faculty and staff for our school–so far we have hired over 3/4 of our faculty and staff, and we look forward to closing out our hiring process in early May.
How do I Stay Informed?
To keep up-to-date on pre-opening information, please refer to the Pre-Opening Informationpage on our website here. We will update this page with new information as it becomes available, so please check back from time-to-time.
Don’t Miss These Meetings!
We will host monthly pre-opening information sessions for parents who have accepted an offer of enrollment:
- May: Wednesday, May 15, 7:00pm – 8:00pm (our uniform vendor will be present)
- June: Saturday, June 22, 10:00am – 11:00am (uniform sale and vendor pop-up shop)
- July: Tuesday, July 16, 7:00pm – 8:00pm
Due to the fact that our school is under renovation, these meetings will be held at an alternate location. Please stay tuned–we will announce the location as soon as possible.
Thank you for your forbearance as we diligently work to launch our inaugural 2019-2020 school year!
Sincerely,
S. P. Lambert