That will include developing curriculum, marketing the program and recruiting potential students, and hiring an additional 17 staff members.
GISA Director Josh Jennings said Anon was chosen from more than 25 candidates because she has a wealth of knowledge and experience in local education and was able to present a vision for the middle school program.
“She has a strong sense of community,” Jennings said. “She has a deep passion for the greater Springfield area.”
Anon has worked in education for 19 years. She previously worked at Lagonda Elementary School, Kenwood Elementary School and the former Springfield South High School, which now houses GISA.
She wants to see the middle school program prepare students for success once they reach high school level classes at the STEM school.
“It’s fast-paced and it’s different,” she said of the school’s hands-on, often self-paced curriculum. Students coming in from junior high school are often challenged by the focus on mastery level learning.
“I strongly believe in hands-on, technology-based learning, which is what Global Impact was founded on, and look forward to implementing the same philosophies in the middle school curriculum,” Anon said.
The middle school expansion will consist of enrolling 100 students in each grade, increasing the school’s overall enrollment to approximately 600 students by the 2017-18 school year, up from 50 freshmen its first year.
In order to accommodate the expansion, the school has secured $6.3 million through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission to renovate additional space on the third floor of the Springfield Center for Innovation: The Dome, with work beginning this summer, Jennings said.
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