P R O B L E M STAT E M E N T
This high school will be designed and constructed on a 20 acre plot of land adjacent to the elementary and middle charter schools focusing on science, technology, math, engineering, and other trades for students living in the City of Portsmouth in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In Portsmouth, children are the most likely to be impacted by poverty, and nearly 1 in 3 children under 18 live in families below the poverty level. As an impact of this, children experiencing poverty are 4.5 times more likely to drop out of school than children from high-income families. Education attainment levels in Portsmouth are much lower than the rest of their surrounding region and the commonwealth. Because of these factors, there is a desperate need to provide the underprivileged, low income, and abused children of Portsmouth an equal chance to succeed, and a safe place to receive an education. These schools will provide students in-need with a high quality education and the opportunity to obtain a trade to better prepare them for employment in Portsmouth or a chance at a post-secondary education to beat the endless cycle of poverty and one day obtain stable employment with a living wage. The client of these schools is the City of Portsmouth, in hopes of strengthening their relationship with the local education system, to attract and retain families in the city.
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