“I have been selected and approved to open my own school in St. Louis that will open next school year. This has been my goal since I’ve been at IWU and in a few months, I will make that goal a reality. Thanks IWU for providing me a solid foundation to grow from.” – Aaron Massey ’10

Please join me in congratulating Aaron in reaching his goal! Great job Aaron!

UPDATE from Aaron Massey:

“My school’s name is Eagle College Prep Gravois Park. It’s a tuition-free public charter school in South St. Louis. I’m originally from East St. Louis. Although it’s 5 minutes across the bridge in Illinois, I consider it home. I’ve spent my entire career planning to move home and open a school.  So this opportunity is exciting.

Opening a school starts with securing funding,  a building,  a charter,  etc. but that part is already done.  My job now is to recruit scholars (I’m going to have 180 scholars in my first year so I’m going to have to recruit even more than that), recruiting a teaching and office staff, and refining my vision for specific school level systems like how I coach teachers,  my philosophy about discipline, etc.”

Please stay tuned for an interview with Aaron Massey later this month.