ANDERSON, Ind. — The Anderson Impact Center and Excel Center plan to open their doors in late July or early August.

To celebrate charter approval, the Impact Center board of directors plans to throw a public celebration and informational session Jan. 11 at 2:30 p.m. at the Flagship Enterprise Center.

The Rev. Earlie Dixon, chief operating officer of the Impact Center board, said having the school approved by the Indiana State Charter Board to open for 2012-13 “is a joy after all the work, after all the community people involved with this.”

“It’s something (we) hope can give the community hope and a chance ... a good selling point for Anderson,” he said.

The charter school is also something Dixon said he believes will help rejuvenate the west side of the city.

The Anderson Community School Corp. school board approved a resolution to sell the Robinson School building, 630 Nichol Ave., to the Impact Center for $100 on Oct. 11. ACS will be working with the center.

The Indiana State Charter Board approved the school Dec. 9.

Together, the Impact Center and its partner, Goodwill Education Initiatives’ Excel Center, will work to help low-performance and at-risk students — helping to raise graduation rates — as well as those who have dropped out or been expelled from the public school system.

Dixon said their goal is to then get them back into Anderson Community Schools.

The Excel Center is leasing space from the Impact Center and will run the charter school while the Impact Center will provide social support and training, community resources and student referrals, said Scott Bess, GEI chief operating officer.

The charter school will serve a maximum of 300 students a year grades 7 through 12 and will also offer students the chance to begin a post-secondary education tuition-free.

Bess said they will offer college credit classes and certification training for those not interested in a post-secondary education.  

The charter school will not only serve teenagers, but adults who never received a high school degree. They will be given the chance to get their diplomas, not just a GED, Dixon said.

As for having teenagers and adults together, Bess said it’s really not an issue.

He said younger students help the adults with technology while the adults can share life experiences to learn from, like living during the Vietnam War.

It’s what Bess calls an “interesting dynamic.”

So the layout will be “almost like a college campus,” Dixon said.

The center will be open year-round, open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., so students can learn around their schedules.

Of course, there has to be some structure, Dixon said. There will be student coaches working with the students.  

“We are hoping that this place leaves lives restored, hope revitalized in each and every one,” Dixon said, “a difference in community by education and training.”

To prove that Anderson is progressing.

The economy is already tough enough in Anderson, Bess said, and without a high school diploma, life is a lot rougher.

He said the Impact Center and Excel Center will help those “hit hardest by the economy to have a fighting chance.”

It could also help the community in other ways.

Bess said businesses look for an educated work force, so the better educated, the more economically attractive a community is.

“(From an) economic standpoint, neighborhood perspective, community perspective, having this in place to recapture people is critical,” he said.

In other charter school news, the Anderson Learning Academy pulled its application from the Ball State University charter process to make modifications.

Lindsay Brown, chairman of the academy’s committee, said they are working on a new curriculum and more innovative approach and will resubmit their application in February.

More town halls will then be held for community interaction, likely beginning in March, he said.

Contact Dani Palmer: 640-4847, dani.palmer@heraldbulletin.com