Since opening its doors in 2008, Urban Discovery Academy has garnered attention across San Diego with its project-based learning model, higher-than-average test scores, a vigorous fundraising appeal and annual wait lists for student enrollment.<\/p>\n
The privately run K-8 school \u2014 chartered by the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) \u2014 is about to enter a new chapter in its short existence. After seven years of bouncing between different venues, Urban Discovery Academy is going to kick off its 2015-16 school year next fall with new, permanent digs.<\/p>\n Approximately 400 people attended a groundbreaking ceremony Oct. 24 at 14th and F streets in East Village \u2014 the site where the new 36,000-square-foot facility will be located. Leaders of the school attended the event, as did organizers from a number of Downtown civic organizations. Also on hand were several city officials, including Council President Todd Gloria.<\/p>\n MaeLin Levine, Urban Discovery Academy\u2019s board president, said the multi-story complex is the realization of a long-held goal for the school\u2019s leaders. The project entails a hybrid mix of renovating an existing building and adding onto it with new construction.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been looking for a permanent home for quite some time,\u201d Levine said. \u201cWe had on and off discussions about several different sites.\u201d<\/p>\n While a permanent site has been in the works for several years, a number of factors recently came together and brought the project to fruition. The San Diego Community College District helped secure the new site, and Urban Discovery Academy\u2019s board sold $10.5 million in bonds to fund the construction and renovation work.<\/p>\n Urban Discovery Academy currently operates out of a vacant building owned by SDUSD on 45th Street in Chollas View. In the prior six years, the charter school also rented space on Sixth Avenue, across from Balboa Park. When it came to choosing a permanent location, a number of options were explored, but Levine said a Downtown spot was long on the wish-list.<\/p>\n While this year\u2019s class of 463 students hails from all across San Diego County, the bulk of the attendees live Downtown. The school attracts a waiting list annually, and preference is always given to youngsters living in the heart of the city.<\/p>\n Levine described the new facility as \u201cstate of the art\u201d and said the layout will give teachers and other staff members more of an opportunity to carry out some of school\u2019s missions, including an interactive style that enables younger students to mingle with middle schoolers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve heard, loud and clear, that people have wanted quality schools that they can choose from,\u201d Levine said. \u201cThey want more options.\u201d<\/p>\n Civic organizations, including Downtown San Diego Partnership (DSDP), have lauded the imminent move.<\/p>\n Kris Michell, president and CEO of DSDP, said Urban Discovery\u2019s permanent rooting in the community is the result of an oft-heard sentiment \u2014 residents have wanted a middle school in the Downtown area.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve talked to 6,000 San Diegans and held 38 town hall meetings, and this was something we kept hearing,\u201d Michell said. \u201cYoung millennials, who are moving Downtown, have said there is a need for this. So, we view this as a huge milestone.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the middle school factor, Michell said Urban Discovery Academy will fit perfectly into the Downtown landscape.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are an incredible charter school, and they are doing some really exciting things,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is something we had really hoped for. With the kinds of project-based learning activities they\u2019re doing, they\u2019re going to be able to use the Downtown area as their canvas.\u201d<\/p>\n Urban Discovery Academy\u2019s new location will be just a few blocks from the new central San Diego Public Library, which doubles as the venue for the recently-launched e3 Civic High School, which encompasses two full floors of the nine story library. Other nearby institutions include the NewSchool of Architecture and Design and San Diego City College.<\/p>\n Para m\u00e1s informaci\u00f3n visite urbansd.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Dave Fidlin has been a professional journalist for more than a dozen years. Throughout his career, he has contributed to a variety of newspapers, magazines and websites across the nation. He has a special affinity for San Diego and its people. Contact him at <\/i>dave.fidlin@thinkpost.net<\/a><\/i><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Por Dave Fidlin<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1022,"featured_media":237302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"\u2018Huge milestone\u2019 for Urban Academy","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11600,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-237301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-sdnews","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1022"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Current](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/IMG_3424web.jpg\")
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(Photo by Aliya Weise)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/a>