Stories

Dear Charlotte Prep Community,

I want to open this message with a quote that succinctly summarizes the past three months and the future we are developing at Charlotte Prep:

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. - Francis of Assisi

I am so proud of our incredible Charlotte Prep faculty and staff, and of Chris Marblo’s steady leadership, over these past few months. They started by doing what was necessary – finding a solution to housing lower school classrooms in the interim until a new building is ready. Nobody expected this to be easy, and it wasn’t, evolving into a two-stage approach, with the first stage requiring extraordinary cooperation and commitment from our teachers – especially the specials teachers. The second phase will result in a more comfortable environment for all and allow us to return to a normal routine. Installation of the modular facilities has required a lot of attention from our administrative team and has presented many time-consuming hurdles that simply cannot be avoided, but we are making great progress, and these facilities should be ready for occupancy soon.

Then do what’s possible. Our insurance covers the replacement cost of the lower school building, so clearly building a new lower school is possible, and we are 100% committed to doing so. Following a competitive process, the Board of Directors recently approved a proposal by Little Diversified Architectural Consulting to serve as the architect engineer for our new building. This represents an expansion of our existing relationship with Little; you may recall they are already working on the Campus Master Plan. The next step is to select a construction manager. We plan to have a construction manager under contract before the end of November.

If someone had told me in May that by 2025 Charlotte Prep could have new state-of-the-art lower school facilities AND have addressed other long-standing needs (e.g., replacement of the temporary trailers with permanent facilities), I might have said that’s impossible. Yet the Board is now debating doing just that, based on input that will be coming soon from the Campus Master Plan process and financial considerations. Over the coming months, we will make final decisions regarding the size, purpose, and functionality of the new building, to be followed by design concepts from Little and a final design early next year. Then suddenly perhaps we will be doing what we might have previously considered to be impossible.

I continue to be amazed at the positivity and resiliency of our Charlotte Prep community, and at how eager everyone is to contribute to making our school even better. From parents supporting teacher needs in the classroom to participation in the Campus Master Plan process and so much more, your enthusiasm is contagious and a core part of our culture. It is why I believe we can achieve such great things for our school.

Robert L Frost, Ph.D.
Board Chair