Taking Back Our Neighborhoods: Memphis Business Academy - Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee

Taking Back Our Neighborhoods: Memphis Business Academy

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By Joe Birch - bio | email

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - The old K-Mart building in Frayser has something greater than a 'blue light special' glowing these days.

In fact, if the Reverend Anthony Anderson has his way, the building could soon house a beacon of hope for the entire Frayser community.

Anderson's vision is the Memphis Business Academy, a public school that feels like it's private.  Anderson is the Methodist minister who opened the charter middle school and then high school five and a half years ago.  

Last August, the Memphis Business Academy bought the old Frayser K-Mart for $1 million, with the dream of uniting MBA's middle and high school campuses.

But Anderson projects it will cost the school another $1.5 million to renovate the old store, including an expensive roof repair that created a quarter million dollar shortfall.

"We're falling short on some of the funds to renovate the building," Anderson said. "If we don't raise the money we need, we'll have to cut some of the technology and other areas, and we don't want to do that. We want to give these kids of Frayser every opportunity they deserve."

Anderson believes MBA will be on an educational par with private schools like Hutchinson, and public high schools like White Station, giving parents of city schools children an option like never before.

"To see the classrooms coming to fruition, it's just beautiful, exciting, amazing," Principal Dr. Menthia Clark said. "I can't wait to see the students in there learning, developing and growing. It's going to be very exciting."

And it's happening in Frayser, the north end of the city that has suffered so much blight and neglect, and has never enjoyed a first class educational bargain like the one that will come to a former K-Mart this August.

You can call Reverend Anderson at 901-412-0465, or click here to learn more about the Memphis Business Academy.

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