FAITH — Faith Academy expects to spend about $450,000 on furniture to get its facility ready for the coming school year.

Academy Board Chair George Wilhelm said Rowan-Salisbury Schools is taking the furniture from the soon-to-be former Faith Elementary School. As a result, the charter school has already purchased $350,000 in new furnishings for its staff and 500-person student population.

Wilhelm estimated the school has another $100,000-$150,000 to spend to get all the furniture it needs to start the school year. The charter has paid $300,000 to purchase the building and a finalized contract is expected to be approved by the RSS Board of Education next week.

Wilhelm said the school is taking input from teachers on their own furniture, which it has yet to purchase.

The charter school was initially hoping to keep some of the furniture, but in the past RSS opted to take furniture from its closed schools and distribute the usable pieces to other facilities as needed. Wilhelm said one advantage of refurnishing is students will come to a school with brand-new furniture.

The school has also been going through the state’s ready-to-open process and is purchasing curriculum.

Wake Forest-based firm Charter Success Partners has worked with Faith Academy since 2019. The idea to create a charter school was fomented by the proposed closing of Faith Elementary by Rowan-Salisbury Schools at the time. The firm guided the school’s board through applying for its charter, handled its enrollment lottery, the school’s finances and recently hired an employee to serve as liaison between the school and the firm.

“We looked at this and researched and saw what a big, big deal this is and what you have to do to get a charter school,” Wilhelm said. “With our group, we knew what we wanted, but there are so many things that you don’t know.”

Wilhelm said he and academy administrator Sarah Hensley still meet with Charter Success Partners staff every week to review the week’s progress.

The school, which will open to grades K-7 and add a grade level each year, plans to offer middle school athletics programs. When the academy reaches high school grades, it plans to host high school sports as well.

Hensley said she’s almost finished hiring the school’s staff. She hired 47 staff and is working on substitutes now. Hensley, a retired RSS administrator, has been interviewing candidates for months now.

“I like it. I look forward to coming down here every day. If I wasn’t excited, I wouldn’t be here,” Hensley said.

Hensley said the faculty is made up of people with wide range of experience. There are teachers with bachelor’s and master’s degrees, folks who have just finished college and veteran educators with more than 20 years of experience. The applicants are a combination of people in and outside the county.

“I’ve had a lot of interest,” Hensley said. “I hired a teacher not too long ago from Colorado.”

The school will begin classes on Aug. 23. Families can still apply to have their students placed on the wait list for the school. Charter schools are considered independent public schools in North Carolina. They do not charge tuition and are funded by the state.