History of the Barney Charter School Initiative – Jacksonville Classical Academy

Rendering of the Jacksonville classical academy

We end our series on the history of BCSI in Jacksonville, Florida at the brand new home of Jacksonville Classical Academy.

Jacksonville Classical Academy opened in 2020 in an urban area of the city. They are situated on a site that used to be a trash incinerator but has now become the center of major urban renewal project. Their 90,000 square foot facility can accommodate approximately 1,400 students and each kindergarten classroom has direct access to outdoor space and its own palm tree! Jacksonville Classical is part of the growing collection of schools initiated by The Optima Foundation. This includes Treasure Coast Classical Academy which opened in 2019 and Naples Classical Academy which is scheduled to open in 2021. Other BCSI-affiliated schools in Florida include St. Johns Classical Academy, Pineapple Cove Classical Academy at Palm Bay, Pineapple Cove Classical Academy at West Melbourne and Tallahassee Classical Academy which, like Jacksonville Classical Academy, opened this year.

Given the fact that they opened this year they have not yet been awarded a state report card by the Florida Department of Education, but based upon the success of other Florida BCSI-affiliated schools (and indeed BCSI-affiliated schools in general), we expect they’ll do exceptionally well.

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