Top:  Fresno Grizzlies mascot Parker (left) and principal of the Academy for Civic and Entrepreneurial Leadership swap shirts at a press conference announcing the school’s move to the historic Fresno Station Office Complex in downtown Fresno.

Bottom:  Craig Scharton, director of the city of Fresno’s Downtown and Community Revitalization Department (left) speaks with James “JR” Richardson of EHS Medical Group in the entryway of the Station, which is currently being renovated for ACEL’s opening.

(Photos by Ralph Berrett)

Fresno, CA (June 11, 2010) – As announced at a press conference this morning, a high school will be one of the latest additions to the downtown Fresno area.

The Academy for Civic and Entrepreneurial Leadership (ACEL-Fresno High School) just wrapped up its first year located at the Boys & Girls Club on Belmont Ave, and the staff and students are eager to begin their second year in the historic Fresno Station Office Complex.

“We’ve always known that that was a one-year agreement,” said ACEL Principal Dave Childers.  “So now to come somewhere where we get to have our own space and really grow our program in the heart of downtown Fresno is just incredibly exciting for us.”

ACEL is a project-based school that utilizes cutting-edge technologies and unique instructional practices to educate its students.  The students are encouraged to become involved in the community, and the school will now be close to the Fulton Mall, Chinatown and the Lowell community.



“You can’t get a much better central location in terms of being involved in the Fresno community than where we’re at right here, Tulare and H Street,” Childers said.

Owner of the property are Robert Ellis of Robert Ellis Leasing & Investment, and the Ellis family.  The Ellis Family Partnership is currently renovating the Fresno Station Office Complex, which was constructed in 1889, using only private funds.  

“They’re making a huge investment with this historic building,” said Victoria Gonzales of Downtown Properties.

Spacio Design helped with the design process for the school.  Spacio considered different locations in downtown before the Station was chosen, and held design workshops with ACEL’s students so they could have a say in what their new school building would be like.  The plans are being implemented, with walls being pulled out in the entryway to create a multi-purpose room, and some office walls being removed to make larger spaces for classrooms.

“In a lot of ways it’s kind of being moved back to the way it was as a train station, requiring a lot more open space than offices did,” said Kiel Famellos-Schmidt of Spacio Design.

Spacio also helped the school obtain a conditional use permit from the city of Fresno.  Director of the city’s Downtown and Community Revitalization Department Craig Scharton has taken students on a tour of the Fulton Mall and the surrounding area.

“It’s just a great location,” Scharton said of the Station.  “It’s especially thrilling to know that we’re going to have not just vitality occurring here, but the kind of vitality that will be youthful and fun and exciting, and create a whole new generation of people that know and love downtown Fresno.”

Student Alondra Cruz will be entering her sophomore year at ACEL.  Cruz liked the fact that her mother, who works downtown, will be closer to her school, and is eager for school to open so that she can see if some of her ideas were used.

“I think it’s really great because there’s a lot of things we could do down here, and the new building is really open, it’s a historical building, and it’s gonna be cool,” Cruz said.

Childers said attendance during the school’s first year was about 50, and the projected attendance for the next school year is 100-120.  ACEL currently has openings for the 9th and 10th grades for the next school year.  More information may be found by visiting www.acelfresno.org, or by calling (559) 286-0133.

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