The GLOBE Academy, a free dual language immersion public charter school in DeKalb County, unveiled its new lower campus in Decatur.
The Decide DeKalb Development Authority board voted to aid the GLOBE Academy secure a $25 million bond to buy and upgrade the new lower campus back in July 2023, and now it is finally open.
The academy debuted the new campus just in time for the beginning of the upcoming school year. They will welcome Kindergarten through fourth-grade students on August 6th, and fifth-grade students will move to the new campus in 2026.
The new 7.5-acre property allows GLOBE to combine grades K-5 on one campus and free up space for meaningful growth at its Upper Campus, located on Briarcliff Road, which will become GLOBE Middle.
Established in 2013, the GLOBE Academy, or Global Learning Opportunities through Balanced Education, offers placement for kindergarten through eighth-grade students via random lottery or proficiency tests, depending on grade level.
With a focus on a dual-language immersion, an experimental-learning model and a constructivist approach, GLOBE inspires students to be high-performing lifelong learners equipped to make a positive impact on the world.
Additionally, the academy has a student enrollment of approximately 1,200 students, a dual-language model that features French, Chinese, Mandarin, and Spanish.
Christi Elliot-Earby, executive director of the GLOBE Academy, said the transition from their former location was needed.
“We knew we needed a new building. We were in a DeKalb County School District building that was literally crumbling underneath our feet,” she said. “2022 is when we first got the call where this idea turned into what you saw today.”
Elliot-Earby also said they weren’t exactly sure where the facility would be located, so with the help of the Claremont Presbyterian Church, who owned the property of the new location, the lower campus found a new home.
“I don’t think they wanted to sell it to a developer, so they wanted to either find a school or another church, and they chose us, and we were able to buy these two buildings and all the land behind,” she said.
She also said the new building is what she has been looking forward to once the new school year starts.
“I know it sounds funny, but this building feels like a real school, and I feel like we finally made it,” she said. “We did it because there’s a lot of private and charter schools that struggle within that first 10-year period, some close and some don’t make it, but we did, so it’s just a great feeling.”
Also, despite the new building, Elliot-Earby says budget constraints led to the gym lacking air conditioning, prompting a capital campaign to raise funds for this improvement.
The GLOBE Academy lower campus is at 1985 Azalea Circle, Decatur.
For more information, visit https://theglobeacademy.org.
