Grant Humphreys and Kirk Humphreys, Founders of Carlton Landing, along with Rodney Karch, Superintendent of Canadian Public Schools, will host a public meeting at 3:00pm this Sunday, November 13th. The purpose of the meeting is to present initial plans for the Carlton Landing Academy, a public magnet classical school to be located in Carlton Landing as part of the Canadian Public School District. The meeting will be held at the Meeting House in Carlton Landing. Directional signage will be provided from the community’s main entrance on Highway 9A (located 1.3 miles west of Highway 9). The meeting will consist of a 30 minute presentation followed by a question and answer period. All are welcome to attend.

Scheduled to open in August, 2012, the Carlton Landing Academy will initially include Kindergarten through 5th Grade. The Academy will add additional grades as student demand warrants. As the school is a public school, there is no cost for tuition. Students from outside Carlton Landing or outside Canadian Public School District may attend as space is available. During the 2012-13 school year, openings in the school will be limited to the first 60 students.

The school will be located in the heart of Carlton Landing, across the street from a public park and within walking distance from hundreds of planned home sites. This location allows for children to walk to school and for the school facility to serve a broader civic function. “We want Carlton Landing to be a complete community with a great quality of life for its residents,” said Grant Humphreys. “The Carlton Landing Academy will help us accomplish that goal.”

The architectural design of the Academy will be handled by Carlton Landing’s Town Architect, Jim Hasenbeck, and Tom Low, Director of the Charlotte office of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, the urban planners of Carlton Landing. The original design concept, developed by Tom Low, was called the ‘Learning Cottage’ and offers public schools the ability to expand their school campus in a way that is green, durable and efficient. The Academy will be the first of the Learning Cottages built in the nation.  

“Carlton Landing is an ideal community to introduce the ‘Learning Cottage’ initiative,” said Tom Low. ”It’s is a complete community offering - offering a quality of life for all life stages, starting with the children.” The buildings will feature an Oklahoma vernacular design reminiscent of schoolhouses built in the territorial days.

The Carlton Landing Academy will feature a design vernacular inspired by school houses built originally in Oklahoma Territory. (Concept by Tom Low of DPZ.)

“We look forward to working with Canadian Public Schools in this exciting project,” said Kirk Humphreys. “The district’s academic success under Rodney Karch has been impressive.” According to the 2011 Oklahoma Academic Performance Index, which ranks schools and districts based on standardized test scores, Canadian School District is in the top 10 percent of the state’s school districts and has the highest test scores of any district in Pittsburg County and all surrounding counties. Rodney Karch is pleased with the progress, stating, “This is a team effort. Our teachers are committed to academic excellence. Our students are dedicated to work hard and raise the bar of academic achievement.”

Background on Carlton Landing:

Carlton Landing began in 2008 when the Humphreys engaged Andres Duany of Duany Plater-Zyberk, or “DPZ”, to design a walkable community on the shores of Lake Eufaula. DPZ is known for creating more than 300 communities such as Seaside, Florida and Rosemary Beach. Duany assembled an international team of design professionals to create the master plan for Carlton Landing which covers almost 1,000 acres. The plan includes walkable streets, community pools, parks, a school, retail and restaurant areas and an organic farm. The community will be both “real” and “resort” with a mix of full-time residents and secondary home owners.

For more information about Carlton Landing, visit www.carltonlanding.com or call (888) 619-1889.

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