Community members are invited to attend the ribbon cutting for the Wyoming Classical Academy (WCA) in Alpine on Thursday, June 25. The event begins at 6 p.m. with a formal ceremony at 6:30 p.m. at the Wyoming Classical Academy building.

The open-house style event will also have fun activities for families including an outdoor barbecue with hamburgers and hot dogs, along with a bounce house for kids.

RELATED: RADIO INTERVIEW WITH DR. ALEX OLIVER – 

Event speakers include Alpine Mayor Eric Green, Dave Jenkins, Alpine Education Foundation Chair, and Headmaster Dr. Alex Oliver. With the school planned to open this fall on August 20, those involved have been busy getting everything ready for the students, including the planning of the upcoming open house.

“There have been so many people that have worked countless hours to make this happen. Lots of families have taken the leap and trusted us with their child’s education and this is a time to celebrate a monumental occasion,” said Meredith Leonard, Alpine Education Foundation (AEF) President. The AEF is a private 501(c)3 that owns the building the school is in and have leased the land it is on from the Town of Alpine. Leonard emphasized that the charter school is tuition-free and focuses on classical education. “We are offering a classical education that is rooted in truth, goodness, and beauty,” said Leonard.

Credit is given greatly to the Headmaster, Dr. Alex Oliver. Described as the “backbone” to the school, Dr. Oliver has been hiring staff, managing enrollment, overseeing school setup, developing curriculum, and more.

Dr. Oliver spoke with SVI Media on Tuesday, June 16 during the Weekday Wake-up to go over some of the details.

“It’s been about 10 years in the works trying to get this school up and running in the town of Alpine, and we finally have it coming together,” said Oliver.

The focus is on the children who will be attending. ““We want to bring in those Socratic conversations, allow students to engage in those conversations that’s only going to deepen their knowledge and embrace that critical thinking that we want to see from every kid that walks through our doors.”

With faculty desks being delivered this week, the headmaster shared that “it’s all truly coming together”

The modular buildings may not convey the words “school buildings,” but the inside is entirely different. “They have these preconceptions when you’re walking up because you see the modular buildings, but the minute you walk through those doors, you truly embrace that you are walking into a school building.” Oliver said that is the reaction they get from people who come to see the school.

As students enter the school, one of the focuses is for the students to feel confident. This is one of the reasons WCA will have school uniforms for the students. Oliver explained, “it provides an opportunity for a little bit of structure and rigidity that we want  to see in the community. While the kids are a little iffy on the idea of having to wear a polo [shirt] with the little emblem on it every day, the parents are very embracing of the idea. We want to provide that extra little element to make sure students feel confident in themselves every single day that they walk into the school building.”

The school will begin Kindergarten through sixth grade, with additional grades to be gradually added each year.

“The intention is to, every year in the future, add an additional grade level,” said Oliver. “So for the 26-27 will be K-6, 27-28 K-7, and then so on and so forth until we have a full K-12 institution in the town of Alpine.”

As the future brings in more grades, Oliver stated that a brick and mortar school will be constructed as they begin implementing high school grades. They are currently looking for a location for this, and have it on the agenda for discussion and continued planning.

Everyone is invited to the June 25 open house. “We invite the community to come in to see what we are doing, what we’re planning… We want to embrace the community as much as possible to have their voice and all the ideas that they would like to see about the school heard and valued.”