KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knoxville Preparatory School has signed a lease with the Boys & Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley, they announced Wednesday.
Knoxville Prep will be an all-boys public charter school. It is expected to open in fall 2024, starting with a sixth-grade class. The new charter school will operate at the Boys and Girls Club building located at 957 and 967 Irwin Street.
The Boys and Girls Club will also provide after-school programming for students on-site.
"The [Boys and Girls Club] Board of Directors chose to place their people and programs close to where young people live and go to school daily," the club said.
According to the organization, this new model will allow them to serve more kids daily and annually. They will also continue to serve K-12 students for the 2023-24, 24-25, and 25-26 school years in the Regal and Haslam buildings.
They are working with KCS, the City of Knoxville and other local school districts to find new school-based and shared space opportunities to serve more kids at a lower cost per child.
The mission of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley is "to inspire and enable all young people, especially those that need us most, to reach their full potential as responsible, productive, caring citizens" compels our organization to respond to the needs of kids across our region.