Thomas Furnace Elementary School one of the lesser know schools in Birmingham, Alabama. This news article will explain what Thomas Furnace Elementary School was.
Thomas Furnace Elementary School was built as a one-room schoolhouse in rural Alabama which was widely known as the Thomas Furnace School around 1910. This particular school was named the “Thomas Furnace School” because of its proximity to a furnace that was the primary source of employment for many Birmingham residents. Many students came to school barefoot at times given the school was located in rural Alabama. (Ref: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-life-banker-frederick-hudson)
Thomas Furnace Elementary School was built to serve the mostly black community that grew up around a now abandoned steel mill. That is why the student population was 75% black. (Ref: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Wee+Care+Academy%3A+the+challenges+and+triumphs+of+launching...-a014651219)
Mrs. Gamalia Chandler Cole was the principal who was also the teacher in charge of educating students in 2nd grade and 3rd grade classes. (Ref: https://bplonline.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16044coll12/id/4013/)
Thomas Furnace Elementary School was a 1-5 school which served the first five grades of elementary school in 1923. The enrollment was 127 students. Thomas Furnace Elementary School was described as a “scattered group of old dwellings housing the first five grades of school”. (Ref: https://books.google.com/books?id=HivfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA127&lpg=PA127)
The enrollment of Thomas Furnace Elementary School was 1,269 which the capacity of the building for students was 720. Conditions at the school were overcrowded. (Ref: https://books.google.com/books?id=HivfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA136&lpg=PA136)
Gaynell Hendricks and Elias Hendricks rented the former Thomas Furnace Elementary School from Birmingham Board of Education (Birmingham Public Schools) when they started their first business called Wee Care Academy. Gaynell Hendricks and Elias Hendricks started their first business called Wee Care Academy inside this one-room schoolhouse in 1988. (Ref: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Wee+Care+Academy%3A+the+challenges+and+triumphs+of+launching...-a014651219)
The Birmingham Board of Education (Birmingham Public Schools) was willing to charge them a mere $400 a month to lease the building. They were happy to have a tenant who would use the building for educational purposes, and would include in the lease an option to buy.
[It was the old Thomas Furnace School, built to serve the mostly black community that grew up around a now abandoned steel mill. The Birmingham Board of Education was willing to charge them a mere $400 a month to lease the building. They were happy to have a tenant who would use the building for educational purposes, and would include in the lease an option to buy.
Despite its affordability, the Hendrickses were apprehensive, since the Thomas Furnace School isn't easy to find if you don't live in the neighborhood. But Gaynell looked on the positive side: "Parents will travel great distances to make sure their children are getting quality care. Although the school was not in a great neighborhood, it was easily accessible from most of the routes blacks in more affluent areas would take to work."
Deciding to go for it was easy, but getting financing was not. "We knew that starting a day care with no prior history of experience in that area was something a bank would not look favorably at," says Gaynell. So, the couple used personal savings and credit cards to come up with $20,000 to pay for new equipment, fresh paint, flowers, a security system, even salaries and insurance for the first months of operation. The Hendrickses also did a lot of talking to vendors, begging their indulgence until they could be paid. And they made a point of working with other small businesses, establishing relationships that benefited both parties.]
ASBIC (Alabama Small Business Investment Co.). helped Gaynell Hendricks and Elias Hendricks purchase the Thomas Furnace School from Birmingham Board of Education (Birmingham Public Schools) for a price of $63,000, which they had been renting from, in the year of 1989. (Ref: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Wee+Care+Academy%3A+the+challenges+and+triumphs+of+launching...-a014651219)
[They were glad to get the loan, but criticize ASBIC's interest rate, which they say was about two percentage points above the prime. Harold Gilchrist, whose investment firm, Gilchrist & Co., manages ASBIC, says its rates do vary between one and four percentage points above the prime interest rate. But, he adds, "with the degree of risk involved, we can't [always] compete with the major banks on interest rates." Elias rejects the high-risk label, noting that Wee Care never asked for more than $100,000 from ASBIC at any time, "and our books were in perfect order and we were profitable."]
Thomas Furnace Elementary School was located somewhere near 833 8th Ave W Birmingham, Alabama, US 35204.
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