Bryan Allen Stevenson School of Excellence: Dream finally comes true

With more than 200 community members, families and staff members in attendance, the Bryan Allen Stevenson School of Excellence celebrated its opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 22.

The ceremony featured messages from the school’s namesake Bryan Allen Stevenson, the Stevenson family, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, former NFL player Duron Harmon, Secretary of Education Mark Holodick, Charter School Network Executive Director Kendall Masset, student Russell Ellis, and members of the school’s founding team.

“I’m very excited to welcome our students in the 2024 school year,” said Founding School Leader Chantalle Ashford. “The board, our inaugural staff and our youth leaders from our summer program built a strong foundation for our school community. We will continue to build on their work during our inaugural year.”

The school is definitely a family affair, with relatives of Bryan Stevenson serving as its founders. Members of the Stevenson, Berry and Golden families all took part in the ceremony. Family members started talking about creating the school seven years ago.

“It is unbelievable that we are standing here today,” said founder Alonna Berry. “It’s a story of hope, connections, family and love. Our dream is that this might just change the world.”

The school will start with grades six through eight for the 2024-25 school year. The school is a Georgetown-based free, public charter school focused on service learning.

More than 230 students will start classes Tuesday, Sept. 3, and follow the Indian River School District calendar. The building is the former Howard T. Ennis School.

"We planted the seeds with our students, families, staff and community. Today, our seed has blossomed, and we are cutting the ribbon for the Bryan Allen School of Excellence," said Teresa Berry, board chair.

The mission of BASSE, inspired by Stevenson’s words, “Proximity is a pathway through which we learn the kind of things we need to know to make healthier communities,” is to provide opportunities for students through a service-learning lens combined with academic rigor.

Stevenson, originally from Milton, is a widely acclaimed social justice activist, lawyer, and the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Ala. Stevenson continues to be lauded for his work and is the author of the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller, “Just Mercy.” He was portrayed by Michael B. Jordan in the 2019 feature film, which also starred Jamie Foxx, that was adapted from the book. Earlier this year, Stevenson donated $100,000 to the initiative.

"The Bryan Stevenson School of Excellence will not just create the next Bryan Stevenson, but will usher in the next generation of Bryan Stevensons, fighting for a better tomorrow with the understanding that, in the words of Bryan Stevenson, 'We all have a responsibility to create a just society,’" said Teresa Berry.

Howard T. Ennis students and staff moved to a new campus on Patriots Way in Georgetown in 2023. Ennis is a school for students with moderate to severe disabilities. 

For more information about the Bryan Allen Stevenson School of Excellence, go to basseinc.org.