Liu said that his family wanted to continue the dreams of his brother: to build a school that blended music and arts with academics for students who might not otherwise have access to these costly extracurricular activities.
The school was inspired by a summer camp that Frank Liu Jr. started a decade before he died on New Year’s Day in 2022. The camp, called “Camp Culture” was housed in Houston ISD’s Bruce Elementary and taught underserved students music and performing arts. It planted a seed for Liu Jr. to one-day expand that model into a full-day school.
“Something that was intuitive to my brother was talent is everywhere, but access is not,” Liu said Thursday. “When it comes to opportunity being foreclosed on our children, we will try like hell to bust those damn doors down.”
While the charter will be open for children in grades K-8 from across Houston, the founders say they will prioritize students who come from low-income backgrounds and they plan to have children from the East End attend the school as well. The school may eventually house pre-K for 60 students, pending approval from the TEA.
School leaders hope to enroll 200 students in kindergarten and first grade next year, phasing to 875 students from there, Allen said.
“The first thing that gets cut from schools are the arts,” Liu said. “From a neuroscience standpoint, it’s also proven how arts can really expand, particularly children’s focus, and their ability to read and quantitative ability as well.”
Allen said his experience at HSPVA showed him that “the arts change lives,” and he wanted to bring music and arts to younger students.
“Music and arts give children powerful ways to think, create, communicate, collaborate, practice, persevere,” Allen said. “Those experiences will work hand in hand with strong instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, science, social studies, Spanish, and the knowledge and skills our students need for the future.”
He said leaders hope the school will be full of “joy,” from the design to the education, for which they will begin hiring staff later this year.