Tuesday, February 2, 2010 — Now in its eighth year of excellence in education, Gray Stone Day School (GSDS) will officially break ground on a new 50,000-square-foot school building very soon. Closing on the $7.2 million project was held late last Friday afternoon, according to GSDS Director Helen Nance.

GSDS’s new facility will be built on the Pfeiffer University campus behind Merner Gym on 18 acres of land, which was donated by Pfeiffer. Currently, the charter school is housed in the Harris Classroom Building on the Pfeiffer campus.

“We receive no funding either state or federal to build the building,” Nance said.

“The building will be owned by the Gray Stone Educational Foundation, Inc., which has received lots of community and family support.”

Design and construction of the new GSDS will be by John S. Clark Construction Company of Mt. Airy. The building will include administrative offices, 11 classrooms, biology and chemistry labs, an art room and a gym with locker rooms. There will also be a school store, concession stand, greenhouse and an indoor pavilion or commons area for students.

“Students will eat their lunches in the commons area,” said Nance.

“We’ll likely have meals catered in. Also, the commons area will be available to the community for receptions and meetings.”

In addition, there will be a traditional computer lab plus an independent computer lab for students who need to work alone on a given project. In addition, there will be an interactive distance learning center where students can connect with individuals all over the world. The school will have wireless connectivity all over the building.

“As with our commons area, we will allow community organizations to utilize the learning center for training classes and other activities,” Nance said.

The technology infrastructure was paid for by a $330,000 federal grant.

Currently, GSDS has 290 students while the new building will allow for approximately 400. Currently, students come from seven counties — Stanly, Montgomery, Randolph, Rowan, Cabarrus, Davidson and Mecklenburg — with an average one-way drive time of 35 minutes. The longest one-way drive is 70 minutes from Huntersville.

“We have students from all types of backgrounds. Some come to us from public schools, some from private or home schooled,” Nance said.

Nance proudly points to the schools high academic achievements. On end-of-course testing, GSDS has scored above 90 percent on seven of its eight years and has been in the state’s top five percent each year. More than 95 percent of its graduates go on to college. To date, its 196 graduates have received in excess of $3 million in scholarships.

Along with excellence in academics, GSDS has also shown major growth in student enrollment each year. From its initial graduation class of 20 in 2005, today there are 64 in the Class of 2010.

Work will begin immediately on a new road to the building site. Included in this work will be a new bridge leading directly to Merner Gym.

Pfeiffer University President Chuck Ambrose regards the development as the “single most important driver for the economy of northern Stanly County.”

“Even without a facility of its own and with a 45-minute drive cycle for its students, Gray Stone Day has set a totally different aspiration and breath of choice for college among its students. It is truly a unique public-private partnership,” Ambrose said.

Last Wednesday, Stanly County Commissioners agreed to act as a middle man for the $600,000 construction funds for the new road. The commissioners accepted a check from the Gray Stone Foundation for that amount. Should any Department of Transportation discretionary funds become available for the road project, the commissioners will apply for these funds on GSDS’s behave and reimburse the school for any funds received. As a school, GSDS would not be eligible for any funding, thus the need for the commissioners to act as a go-between.

Construction on the building will begin as soon as possible and is expected to begin by March 1. Completion is projected within nine months.