Jean Massieu Academy Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
24 10 2004
Misty and I went to Jean Massieu Academy (JMA) Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony last Saturday in Arlington, Texas. It’s hard to believe they have been able to achieve so much since they started up about six years ago.
The purpose for ribbon-cutting ceremony is that they finally purchased their own building which it used to be church. We get to look around outside and inside their building during the tours. This place is awesome – a lot of room to expand in long run. This place they purchased for approximately $850,000 (value over $2 millions) and it comes with two extra houses and some empty spaces where they used it for school bus parking lots. They have more than 15 small school buses.
Of course they had to meet state law to modify entirely building for safety reason. They had to spend approximately $300,000 on safety water sprinkler and fire alarm system alone. Whoa – that’s expensive but it will be worth in long run.
“Jean Massieu Academy (JMA) is an open-enrollment charter school that was opened in August 1999 to serve deaf or hard of hearing students and their non-deaf siblings or peers. JMA is unique because we are a school of choice providing all instruction in American Sign Language (ASL) creates an equitable communication environment for our students and staff.”
They have huge auditorium where it used to be for church. More likely they will use it for drama, group meeting, special events, and etc. It could use more lighting but otherwise it’s very nice. They said it can be used for wedding or another outside activity on weekend to help paying their bills.
I did not ask how many classroom they have now but apparently it does meet their needs for now with approximately 250 students (both deaf and hearing) from around Dallas – Fort Worth area.
I took plenty of pictures during the ceremony and tours – hope you will find it very interesting to look at pictures and get idea how much they have worked hard in past six years. You will see that they gave nice speech and presentation from Jean Massieu Foundation (JMF) officers & board members and JMA management.
Bottom line, I think they did outstanding job to make JMA possible today. Of course, they will always have challenge with fundraising & grants to keep school operating smoothly and as well as and complying with state & federal law all the times.
To learn more about Jean Massieu Academy:
http://www.jeanmassieu.com
To view JMA Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony photo gallery:
http://gallery.deafnetwork.com/jma_ribbon_cutting
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