Local private school dreams bigger, plans for new building at Sprigg and Lexington

Prodigy Leadership Academy is planning a new building in Cape Girardeau.

Although it’s not clear when that will happen, stakeholders have been meeting since March to come up with a master plan for the structure that will stand at Sprigg Street and Lexington Avenue.

Russell Grammer, the school’s founder and executive director, said the not-for-profit entity bought nine acres at that location in March, with hopes of building a new, permanent facility there.

“We have some wonderful planning opportunities happening right now,” he said.

The school has moved three times since its founding in 2009 and serves about 85 students — more than quadruple the number that attended the first year, when it was housed at True Vine Ministries on Bloomfield Road.

Pat Fanger works on her lesson plans Friday at Prodigy Leadership Academy in Cape Girardeau. Fanger teaches fifth and sixth grade at the academy. "It is a blessing to be here," Fanger said.Laura Simon

During its second and third years of operation, Prodigy operated out of the activity center belonging to First Presbyterian Church on Broadway. Now it is at Red Star Baptist Church on Main Street.

Since planning and brainstorming still are underway for the new building, its design and square footage have not been established. Neither has the overall project budget.

“Those are the things we still need to work out,” Grammer said.

The 12 to 15 core committee members who have been working to finish the plan have some specific ideas about what the school should do, however.

One point of emphasis will be agriculture, or what Grammer referred to as an “edible schoolyard,” where students can grow food they later will eat in the cafeteria.

Clinton Walker works on a marketing strategy Friday at Prodigy Leadership Academy in Cape Girardeau. Walker teaches math to grades five to 10, and science to grades seven to 10.Laura Simon

In that way, they can learn more about how food makes its way from farm to table.

Animal husbandry is being considered as well, with students possibly being able to raise goats, sheep and chickens.

“We like for students to understand the process of life,” Grammer said.

More fine arts will be incorporated into students’ learning, and the school will have a “maker” space where children can disassemble old machinery and use the parts to create new things.

“A large component of this facility is going to be workshop-oriented,” Grammer said.

Stakeholders also want the building to be energy-efficient, possibly using solar power.

The reason for all of this is Prodigy is designed to develop individual students’ talents, and much of the learning is project-based.

Good stewardship is woven throughout every lesson.

Building relationships and fostering cooperation are equally important, Grammer said.

Amee Boettcher, the architect who has been helping guide teachers, parents and students through the planning, said she has been most impressed with how involved students are in deciding what they would like to see in the new building.

“This is such a great group to work with, and they have a special way of looking at things,” she said.

One of the items Boettcher has been considering is how the school building will flow with the land around it.

She’s also mindful students at Prodigy don’t just sit at desks being told what adults feel they should know; instead, the children have plenty of say in what interests them.

All of these points will play into the final design, which could be ready in the next few weeks.

“Right now, we’re looking at the total package,” she said.

To Julie Albertson, a mother of two Prodigy students who has been involved in helping plan the new building since day one, the most important aspect of any school should be how well its environment fosters learning.

She also said it’s been fun to think big — and dream big, too.

“You don’t get to be creative like that every day,” she said.

Ultimately, the building will need to suit a growing student body, but Grammer said he doesn’t expect the population to become so large, it becomes impersonal.

He anticipates about 150 students attending the new facility, and this year, the school has added a pre-K and grades nine and 10.

“We like the idea that people know each other,” he said.

ljones@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3652

Pertinent address:

1301 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.