Students perform at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Quality Education Academy (QEA) held a groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 1 to mark the beginning of construction of a 36,000 square-foot addition to the QEA campus, which sits near the corner of Carver School Road and Lansing Drive.
Mayor Allen Joines and Mayor Pro Tempore Vivian Burke joined school leaders and officials from New Bridge Bank, which is financing the expansion, and Davie Construction for the ceremony.
Burke gave very passionate remarks about how blessed the community is to have a long-standing relationship with Carver Road Church of Christ and QEA, which was born from a church initiative. She praised the church and school for being “so professional, so structured, so well-organized.”
The expansion will house new classrooms, an auditorium, cafeteria, office space and a “Fighting Pharaohs” gymnasium with a state-of-the-art theater stage. The work is expected to be completed by spring 2013.
This is the third expansion for the charter school, which began in 1992 when Minister Cloys Cecil Sr. had a vision to exceed the educational expectations set by traditional public schools. Cecil was on hand for the ceremony and received a rousing round of applause from those on hand.
“I read that someone said this was a factory,” Cecil said, seemingly referencing criticism of the school’s successful athletics program. “Well it is. It is a factory of excellence! We keep producing excellence every year. Excellence in the classroom. Excellence on the basketball court. A factory for excellence!”
Joines applauded QEA for galvanizing the community and lauded the school as “a strong part of Winston-Salem’s fabric.”
