TALLAHASSEE, FL (#WTXLDigital) -- As the former Tallahassee Mall continues to transform into the Centre of Tallahassee, a new tenant has been announced.
The School of Arts and Sciences is set to open an 8,600-square foot charter school on the ground floor of the mall, at the site of the existing Dillards building.
With a waiting list of over 1,000 students, the school on Thomasville Road is adding a second campus to accommodate more students, according to Leon Kung, chair of the board of directors of the School of Arts and Sciences Foundation.
The school, which will be called the School of Arts and Sciences at the Centre, opens this August with 148 students from kindergarten to second grade. The school will add grades up to eighth grade as the students move up each year, Kung said. A lottery process to fill this year's enrollment has been completed.
Kung said the same board of directors will supervise the new school, but there will be a new principal. The charter for the new school has already been approved by Leon County Schools.
The school is working with the City of Tallahassee and Blackwater Resources, the mall's new owner, to determine lease and permit regulations.
