Phoenix Academy plans to add programs on 48 nearby acres
Phoenix Academy, the High Point public charter school that is already in the midst of a major expansion, will partner with two nonprofits to add another 48 acres of outdoor facilities.
Paul Norcross, co-founder of Phoenix Academy, said the school has worked out a deal with 7 Degrees of Change Foundation and Horsepower Therapeutic Learning Center to purchase the acreage on Walpole Road. The parcel is about half a mile from the 42-acre lot on Clinard Farms Road where Phoenix Academy plans to open its Aerotropolis Academy high school.
Norcross said 7 Degrees and Horsepower will buy the property, and Phoenix Academy will pay them to provide programs for the charter school’s students. 7 Degrees will offer nontraditional programs such as archery, sailing, aviation and marksmanship, while Horsepower will provide equestrian programs geared toward developing leadership and literacy skills.
Both nonprofits will also offer their own programs at the property, for disabled children, veterans and others, he said.
Norcross said Phoenix Academy tried to buy the acreage in question back in 2008, intending to put the school now planned for Clinard Farms Road there. The school got as far as having the land annexed into the city of High Point and rezoned from its agricultural designation to allow for the campus, before the deal fell through due to an elevated per-acre price sought by its then-owner.
That setback proved fortunate financially, Norcross said, since the property subsequently went into receivership and into the hands of High Point Bank. The purchase price today will be around $10,000 per acre, he said, compared to the $80,000 that was being asked in 2008.
“The funny part … is because we had it rezoned, now we have to go back and unwind what we did five years ago and get it back to agricultural” zoning, Norcross said. That process is still underway, but “the city has been very receptive to what we’re doing, because of the programs we’re going to put out there.”
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