PCA celebrates paying off elementary school loan

Board members, administrators, faculty, and students at Pinnacle Classical Academy held a "note burning" celebration at Pinnacle Classical Academy's elementary school campus on South Post Road in Shelby to commemorate the payoff of the $1.1-million loan that funded the purchase of the campus. The school also added a $2.2 million addition for classroom space, and through several years of savings, was able to pay cash for the addition.

Pinnacle’s elementary campus will serve 509 students in grades K-3 as the tenth anniversary year begins in August. 

Debbie Clary and Wes Westmoreland, the board's chair and vice-chair, spoke at the event, as did David Clary, the general contractor who funded the design and renovation of the original building until the school could afford to pay him; Jayson Philbeck, the Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending at Alliance Bank & Trust; and Mike Philbeck of Coldwell Banker Commercial Dominion Real Estate.

"It’s an enormous success when a public charter school gains full ownership of its school buildings," Debbie Clary said. "Public charter schools do not receive funding for capital, and a traditional public school is allowed to keep approximately 26% of the funding that is not allowed to follow a student to a public charter school."

“We are expected to do more with much less, and we prove every day that it can be done when you have dedicated teachers and support staff, with a board that is dedicated and focused," she added. "We build our buildings, and educate students who are scoring above every public school district in North Carolina.”

Westmoreland thanked the stakeholders for their ‘buy-in’ ten years ago and constant support today.

“This school has been built by a dedicated group of people that have given their time and money to make it a great success, and to each of you we say thank you!”, he said, as he paid tribute to many of the original faculty, staff, board members, and business partners who have been associated with the school since its founding in 2013.

"When our school opened its doors in 2013, we were a K-6 school with 308 students," added Dr. Shelly Bullard, the school's headmaster. "This year, we are a K-12 school with 1,077 students from five counties. I am incredibly grateful for the hard work of our faculty and staff and the support of our families and our community."