“Big Things Start Little” is the motto of Kennesaw Charter Science and Math Academy, but it also personifies the school’s expansion on historic land owned by a former slave.
In a few weeks the public charter school will break ground on a new facility on about 33 acres of land along Cobb Parkway being purchased from the Bostick family, one of Kennesaw’s oldest African American families.
Not only are KCSMA students getting a new school, they will also be getting a history lesson.
The Bostick land dates back to at least 1847, when a family home was built on the land. Nina Bostick, a former Cobb County Schools bus driver, was the last family member to live on the land, until her death in 2009. After that the land was put up for sale.
The property was listed on real estate sites for a sale price of $2 million. The 33.4 acres of land was valued at $781,290 in 2010 according to county tax records.
At the same time, KCSMA was outgrowing its home along Lockhart Drive. Enrollment at the school, located alongside a strip of commercial companies, had grown to 540 students with the addition of a 6th grade academy this year and after breaking from management company, Imagine Schools of Arlington, Va., said Principal Kay Frey.
“We were spending lots of money on management fees that should have been spent on children,” said Frey of the split.
The school eventually restructured and kept its county charter.
“We had to get to what our charter values were, reduced class sizes and parental input,” Frey said.
With the Bostick property, the school's foundation president saw the property while driving along Cobb Parkway and contacted the realtor.
"The family didn’t want to sell to just anybody and they felt this was the best use for the land," said Kennesaw City Councilwoman Cris Eaton-Welsh.
In November the city council unanimously approved a zoning change for the land. Because KCSMA wanted to remain within the Kennesaw city limits, the council voted to annex the land from Cobb County, said Darryl Simmons, the city’s planning and zoning administrator.
“This had to be meant to be. The whole thing seemed so improbable," Frey said.
Construction for the new 100,000-square-foot school is expected to cost about $13 million and will be about five times as large as the current facility. The larger building will allow KCSMA to do away with its portable classrooms and house all students in one building. The school has secured bond funding with Denver-based, D.A. Davidson and Co., which has done similar financial deals with charters schools throughout the country.
To honor the Bostick family, the new school will be named Kennesaw Charter Science and Math Academy at the Nina Bostick Campus. The school also plans to restore the original family home, which still sits on the land, into a learning center and possible museum.
“Our kids deserve this, our parents deserve this, our supporters deserve this,” said Zoe Mallon, the school’s guidance counselor. “They’ve waited for so long and endured so much, including two floods. The [new building] will allow us to even better meet the needs of each student and that’s what it’s all about.”
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