Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Jason Cooper, director of River Gate High School, a dropout prevention and recovery public charter school in Warren, left, and Tom Conley, president / CEO of the Greater Warren-Youngstown Urban League and president of River Gate’s school board, stand inside a multimedia and technology classroom under construction Monday at the school’s new location, the former Albert Guarnieri and Co. warehouse on East Market Street in Warren. The school is investing about $3 million to transform the site to be ready for the 2025-26 school year.

WARREN — A school that helps local youth and young adults at risk of dropping out has invested in a new building that, its leaders believe, will pay handsome dividends in the education and future of their students.

Work is underway to transform a former warehouse for Albert Guarnieri and Co. east of downtown into a new River Gate High School, which plans to relocate from its Franklin Street SE building to the East Market Street site for the start of the 2025-26 school year.

“From a warehouse to a full, bonafide building, it’s been a journey,” said River Gate school board president Tom Conley, president / chief executive of the Greater Warren-Youngstown Urban League, a partner in the school.

THE PROJECT

Construction began in January. When it’s completed, the 25,000- to 30,000-square-foot facility will have been remade into a 44-room educational center.

There are four nearly identical classrooms for the main subjects of English, science, social studies and math, plus other rooms for multimedia and technology, manufacturing and construction, space for intervention, a career exploration lab and a room for health care training and certification, specifically state tested nurse aide professionals.

The structure has received a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, roof, exterior facade with signage on the way and drop ceiling inside.

There’s also a new asphalt parking lot.

“Everything is brand new … everything you see, it’s a brand new facility basically,” Jason Cooper, school director, said during a recent tour of the building at 1133 E. Market St.

Said Conley, “This is really a legacy move for education and for us, and this will go way past our time.”

“We needed a new everything. There were some things that we didn’t know that we needed, a lot of things that we didn’t know that we needed,” Conley said.

The investment is about $3 million. Much of the equipment at River Gate, 458 Franklin St., where the school has been since it formed in 2000 as Life Skills, will be relocated to the East Market Street site.

The multimedia and technology lab is far and away the largest of the classrooms. Cooper said he envisions rows of desks and computers and other high-tech equipment, including a large vinyl printing machine and 3D printing technology.

“We’re going to be able to get our kids to do a lot of extra things now with the extra space we have,” Cooper said.

Space on the west side of the building — the side nearest Charles Avenue NE — is being remade into a construction and manufacturing center to give students a credentialed pathway into those industries. Because it’s near the warehouse’s dock bays, students can work outside, too, Cooper said.

The school will need to hire a credentialed construction teacher and acquire supplies for the center, Cooper said.

THE SCHOOL

At the moment, the high school has about 190 students.

It serves students who would be traditionally enrolled in grades nine to 12 between the ages of 15 to 21 from Trumbull County and from immediately adjacent counties. It employs 14 staff members.

The students, according to the school’s website, may have fallen behind in earning credits, are at risk of dropping out, have trouble passing state tests or need a new learning environment.

They are served free breakfast and lunch and can choose to attend one of two sessions Monday to Friday — 7:30 a.m to 1 p.m. or 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Most often, the students are referred to River Gate from friends, family, other students and from other districts.

The programs are state and nationally accredited. Students who graduate do so with a high school diploma, Cooper said.

“Once we get them into the system, we get them right into their own individual education plan and academic success plan that shows every last thing they need to do to reach graduation,” Cooper said.

River Gate High School acquired the building and land from Albert Guarnieri and Co. for $475,000 in June 2022, according to records at the Trumbull County Auditor’s Office.

Conley said River Gate hasn’t outgrown its Franklin Street address but wanted to purchase the building rather than rent. The owner, he said, wasn’t inclined to sell, so a search was begun to find a new location the school could own.

Conley said the East Market Street warehouse was identified as a possible location “and we just saw a vision from that point.”

The relationship between the urban league and high school goes back to 2000, when the organization was approached and asked if it was willing to partner to get a school — Life Skills — started, Conley said.

Conley said he was drawn to the idea because of his father’s background in education — he was a former superintendent of Youngstown City School District — and his own background as a school board member in Liberty.

Reducing the dropout rate also served as motivation.

“Education is a change agent for the community, so I was looking at it from that perspective and what we can do to fill in that gap,” Conley said.

A management company at first managed the school, which became River Gate in 2015. It is now self-managed, Conley said.

Since 2000, the school has graduated 1,200 students, Cooper said. It also has won a Silver Star Award from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce for its PBIS (positive behavioral intervention and supports) initiatives.

PBIS is “how we are rewarding and awarding students, recognizing good things, the positive things they are doing and also modeling those behaviors as well,” Cooper said.

The school also has a specialist who helps students with vocational skills, including applying for jobs and mock interviews. A career exploration course there allows students “to learn about a lot of different careers,” Cooper said. “We bring in a lot of different speakers, so we’re always focusing on that next stage in life after they graduate.”