On Oct. 25, Grand Peak Academy, a charter school in El Paso County Colorado School District 49, hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new location at 7036 Cowpoke Road in Colorado Springs. Hundreds of GPA†families and staff members, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers and members of the D 49 leadership and community attended the event.Chris Dempsey, president of GPAís board of directors, said the school is essentially the same as it was when it was known as Imagine Classical Academy at its former location, but is no longer overseen by the Imagine†Schools organization. The school is self-managed, and Dempsey said the new state-of-the-art building is larger by 25,000 square feet and provides more opportunities for the students.Scott Hunter, principal, said, ìThis is huge for our students and their families. The new location puts us at the heart of the neighborhood.îWith 6 more acres of space and three times the amount of parking than the previous location, both Dempsey and Hunter agreed the move was the best thing for the school.††According to the website, the goal of the†school is to provide a ìClassical Education with a focus on Character Development and Core Virtues.î†The school officially opened its doors for the first days of school on Oct. 28; Hunter said the school boasts a student body of about 800 kids in kindergarten through eighth grade, up from the 680 students enrolled in the†2018-2019 school year.ìWe are going to be able to do so much more for the kids now,î Dempsey said.
