Star Pointe becoming reality

Published 10:07 pm Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Star Pointe Academy is in the final stages of hiring teachers.

Although the keys aren’t in hand yet, the new high-tech Christian school in North Suffolk finally has a physical address: 7007 Harbour View Blvd., across from the Lockheed Martin Center for Innovation and Northrop Grumman Inc. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for June.

“I’m excited,” said Brena Daniels, a program specialist with Portsmouth Public Schools and founder and principal of Star Pointe. “It’s almost surreal to think that something that started as inkling four years ago is finally becoming brick-and-mortar.”

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The school will use out-of-the-box methods to teach science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics subjects and skills that will cultivate students’ entrepreneurial and leadership skills.

According to Daniels, Star Pointe will be the only Christian school in Virginia offering full-year courses in entrepreneurship, computer science, Chinese and engineering. All students will attend interactive morning worship, learn Mandarin Chinese or Spanish, and will be issued iPads and Bibles, she said.

Star Pointe hopes to have 85 to 100 students between sixth and ninth grades in its inaugural class starting Sept. 6. Although the school will eventually serve sixth through 12th grades, a grade level per year will be added until it is fully accredited, she said.

So far, Star Pointe has 69 students enrolled who will be traveling from Suffolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News and Southampton County, Daniels said. The school does not offer transportation, although she is talking with parents about some “creative carpooling” solutions.

Now that she has a building, Daniels says she expects enrollment will grow.

“There’s a buzz out there and people are getting excited,” she said. “We are going to be pumping up our social media presence now.”

She has also reached out to several local churches and set up information booths at ball games to communicate with local parents.

Although Star Pointe has signed a six-year lease, the school is already looking for property where it can build a larger facility as high school classes are phased in, according to Daniels. Jerry Wade, an architect with Tidewater Community College and member of Star Pointe’s Board of Directors, is heading up that process.

This summer, Star Pointe will offer camps for rising fifth- through- ninth-graders from June 20 to July 29.The school’s camp program, Summer@Star Pointe, will offer programs including film production, digital photography, fashion design, crime scene investigation, Minecraft Xtreme gaming and coding.

The school will have parent information nights at 7 p.m. April 18 and 7 p.m. April 20 at Comfort Suites Hotel, 5409 Plummer Blvd. For information on admissions or summer camp programs, go to schooloftheirdreams.com.