Lexington’s new, all-male public elementary school expected to open fall 2021

Lexington’s next new specialized elementary school is expected to open in fall 2021, expanding the existing Carter G. Woodson Academy, an all-male middle and high school college preparatory program.

The new Carter G. Woodson Preparatory Academy would ultimately offer grades K-5 solely for male students, district officials announced at Monday’s Fayette County Public Schools’ board planning meeting.

The new school would begin next year only with kindergarten through second grade with 150 students and would be temporarily housed in the former Johnson Elementary school building at East Sixth Street, said Vee Pryor, who works with the district’s special and magnet programs.

There initially would be 50 students at each grade level, adding a grade level each year. The district hopes to have 450 students in the new program by the year 2024. District officials expect to hire a program director who would start in January 2021.

The Rise STEM Academy for Girls, which opened this fall in the former Linlee Elementary building, was rolled out in much the same way.

The existing Carter G. Woodson Academy, which opened in 2012, is housed at Frederick Douglas High School and has 265 middle and high school male students enrolled.

The Kentucky Department of Education 2019-2020 School Report Card for the existing Carter G. Woodson Academy said nearly seventy percent of the students were economically disadvantaged. 76.9 percent were black, 13.6 percent were Hispanic or Latino, 5.9 percent were two or more races and 3.6 percent were categorized as other.

The existing Academy’s Dean of Scholars Roz Akins said that program had been “a game changer” and had created a model for a similar school in Louisville and for planned schools in other Kentucky counties.

In discussing the new program Monday, Fayette Superintendent Manny Caulk said that innovation will drive equity.

“We have the opportunity. ... to be the lead dog when it comes to being innovative and creative and making a difference in the life of every young man,’ Akins said. “We dare to be different.”