KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The old Derrick Thomas Academy at 201 E. Armour Blvd. will soon be the new Academie Lafayette High School.
In February, the Academie Lafayette Board of Directors presented an expansion plan that included increasing kindergarten enrollment and opening an International Baccalaureate high school.
The expansion project will move forward in two phases now that the board has finalized the purchase on the building located on Armour Boulevard, just a block away from the Cherry campus.
The building has enough space to accommodate up to 900 students at full capacity.
Elimane Mbengue is the head of the schools. He said the expansion has been in the works for years and they are pleased to finally have a building.
"It's like eating an elephant. We're eating two-thirds of the elephant now with an expansion of a K-8," Mbengue said.
Starting in the fall, Academie Lafayette will add three additional kindergarten classrooms, which equated to 66 more students.
Each year more than a hundred students are put on a waiting list following the application process because there are not enough slots.
Jacqueline Golden applied for the 2017-18 school year, and her daughter Morgan got in.
"I know more parents that didn't get in than did. This is what they wanted also. So the expansion is going to open the doors for so many more families. I am so excited," Golden said.
Academie Lafayette will receive a $1.5 million grant from SchoolSmartKC to help fund the K-8 expansion. They will have to secure more funding as they move forward with opening and operating the high school.
A timeline for opening the high school has not been finalized. The school is holding an information session for parents on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. at the Oak campus auditorium.
