Four hundred high school students in Kansas City, MO, will attend class this fall in a facility larger by 65 percent as a result of growing demand for Alta Vista Charter School.
Primarily serving English language learners and low-income students, Alta Vista has a great curriculum, with its students achieving the highest math scores of any high school in Kansas City, MO. In its new home — a former high school building with a regulation-size basketball court and full-size gym — Alta Vista will experience a 14 percent increase in student capacity.
IFF is providing Guadalupe Centers Inc. with a $1.7 million loan to cover the purchase price and make improvements, which include renovating art and science labs, upgrading security and technology, and furnishing the facility. The location is in an area near a high-need neighborhood identified in IFF’s 2010 Kansas City schools study.
Founded in 1990 by Guadalupe Centers Inc., an organization dedicated to serving Latinos in the Kansas City area, Alta Vista has since expanded to grades kindergarten through third grade and sixth through 12th. Its middle school will be relocated to its former high school building, which Guadalupe Centers Inc. bought and renovated in 2013 with IFF’s help through $3 million in new markets tax credits.