Barton Academy for Advanced World Studies (BAAWS) is an innovative, internationally focused public middle school located in a severely distressed area in downtown Mobile, Alabama. AMCREF Capital Consulting sourced $12.5 million of federal NMTC allocation along with $4.3 million of federal and state historic tax credit equity to help finance the $13.2 million renovation of the first public school building in Alabama originally built in 1836. Vacant since 2007, The Barton Academy Foundation reopened the school’s doors in August 2021 as a model for 21st century learning with a focus on global studies and entrepreneurship, taught through a project-based curricular approach.