LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A boarding school in west Louisville is expanding to add twice as many students.
Since opening in 2005, it has been the West End School for boys but after 20 years and a 100% graduation rate, in a few weeks, they’ll break ground on a school for girls.
"I wish we could open our doors to every student within the west end," 5th grade teacher Michael Warren said.
Warren loves his job so much that he literally takes work home several days a week.
"We call ourselves dorm parents and I really truly do feel like a parent," Warren said.
The West End School at South 36th Street and Virginia Avenue in Louisville's Chickasaw neighborhood. (WDRB photo)
Warren is a dorm parents and lives on campus with students Monday through Thursday. They go home Friday afternoon.
The school opened its doors in 2005 with the goal of helping underserved children of all races.
"So our goal is not to just be homogeneous. Our goal is to represent Louisville," President Dr. Gregory Ross said.
And some of the students come from broken homes.
"A lot of our kids are here because they've experienced violence in their families or they've been a loss of a parent or a sibling, or even a home invasion. They have seeing that firsthand," Dr. Ross said.
But after nearly 20 years, the school has a 100% graduation rate and its students have stayed on track and out of trouble with the law.
"This makes a huge dent," Dr. Ross said. "Because what we're doing is we're assuring that our kids have a different experience, the connections that they have in this school avoids them having being put into certain groups."
Dr. Ross said after so much success with boys, they're building a girls school.
"We're excited about being able to open those opportunities for our students. It's an exciting time," Dr. Ross said.
In a few weeks, they'll break ground on the West End girls school. Back in 2023, the school originally launched a capital campaign to raise $10 million to build the girls' school campus.
But some neighbors voiced concerns during a meeting about the demolition, design and build.
"But we're super excited about this opportunity," Dr. Ross said. "We're going to start with pre K through second grade and work our way all the way up to eighth grade."
Right now, the West End girls school is scheduled to open in August of 2025.
Related Stories:
- Some neighbors push back on plans to expand West End School in Louisville's Chickasaw neighborhood
- West End School shares plans to expand reach in Louisville's Chickasaw neighborhood
- Louisville's West End School announces expansion to add girls to enrollment
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