Garland Can Academy celebrated the opening of its new campus to meet the shifting population needs of its students with a Ribbon Cutting and student led campus tours. The Garland campus will be the sixth Dallas-area Texans Can Academies campus and is located at 2256 Arapaho Road, Garland, Texas, 75044.
The Garland campus has an enrollment of approximately 165 students and has room to grow to 300 students. Located inside Arapaho Baptist Church near the intersection of North Garland Road and North Shiloh Road, the campus is a 24,746-square-foot building that includes a 5,400-square-feet gymnasium and full cafeteria.
Richland Community College participated in the festivities and explained the free and open-to-the-community English as a Second Language courses that are offered in the school’s classrooms. Registration information is available by contacting the church, the school or Richland Community College.
The ceremony featured remarks by Paul Mayer, CEO of Garland Chamber of Commerce; Dr. David Rogers, Lead Pastor of Arapaho Road Baptist Church; Donna McClintock, President/COO of Lionheart Children’s Academy; Zarina Blankenbaker, Executive Vice President for Academic and Student Success of Richland Community College and Richard Marquez, CEO of Texans Can Academies. A ribbon cutting ceremony with all the guests and students from Garland Can Academy followed the remarks.
Students led tours of the school, sharing their stories and why they are prospering in the small campus environment while they took guests into classrooms. Richland Community College representatives were available to answer questions about their ESL classes and other curriculum opportunities. Lionheart Children’s Academy offered tours of their classrooms caring for preschool children and had delicious refreshments available for everyone.
Arapaho Baptist Church has dedicated space in their church building to offer resources to the community they serve. Lead Pastor David Rogers spoke at the event about the question the church posed six years ago: If Arapaho Road Baptist Church ceased to exist would anybody in the community notice or care? His response to their questions is that the community partnerships they have established and welcomed in to the church facilities indicate a resounding “yes.”
Garland Can Academy, whose mascot is the Jaguar, plans to offer dual credit classes to students with Richland Community College so they may enter college with credits that will push them ahead in their required course count, saving them money and time away from work and/or family. The high school also plans to offer endorsements for career certifications, adult literacy classes, computer and job training and English Second Language courses.
The students of Garland Can have overcome obstacles to complete their education. They realize the value of returning to high school and working to earn their diplomas. The mission of Garland Can is to provide a second chance for at-risk youth and their families to achieve economic independence and hope for a better life.