Former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders achieved just about all of his childhood dreams during an athletic career that included two Super Bowl titles, playing in the World Series with the Atlanta Braves and induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He was driven to those accomplishments by a desire to provide a better way of life for his family.Today, Sanders is motivated about what he hopes to achieve for the area's children with the opening of Prime Prep Academy, a tuition-free charter school with campuses in Fort Worth and Dallas."It's been a three-year process and it has finally come to pass," Sanders said. "Nothing I have ever done compares to this. We are going to have the best teachers and coaches. These schools will have no color and no boundaries. We plan to educate and influence kids to go on and make a true difference in their community."There will be an open house at the Fort Worth campus at 4400 Panola Ave. today from 6:30 to 8 p.m.Sanders and his business partner, D.L. Wallace, will be on hand to greet prospective parents and students and answer questions about the school, which will open in the fall of 2012 for kindergarten to fifth grade.A similar event is scheduled Thursday for the Dallas campus at 330 East Ann Arbor, which will house sixth- through 12th-graders.Open enrollment begins March 1. That's also the day the academies begin the process of hiring more than 100 teachers, administrators and coaches.Sanders said the schools will prepare students to work in the 21st century by using cutting-edge technology and the VSSCHOOLZ eLearning Solutions model.According to Wallace, every student in the schools will have a laptop computer on their desk because the textbooks are digital."With a 1-to-1 laptop-to-student ratio, each child enrolled in Prime Prep Academy can enjoy a classroom environment that exposes them to cutting-edge technology," said Wallace, who is also executive director and chairman of the board of Prime Prep Academy. "We are offering 21st century technology in communities that have been underserved for so long. We need success stories in our communities. This will gives kids the opportunity to compete and give them a sense of pride in the schools they attend."What this will mean to our students will be powerful because as they are learning the educational content they will also be gaining the skills necessary to be productive in a 21st century learning and work environment."Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
