A private middle school in inner-city Atlanta has received a $1.5 million dollar gift from Oprah Winfrey.

The Ron Clark Academy announced the donation Thursday. The innovative school has struggled to raise money this year amid the sagging economy to pay for its $2.8 million operating budget, which is bankrolled almost entirely by donors.

The school in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods is hoping to expand its campus by building a cafeteria, gymnasium and theater.

Winfrey, who has had school founder Ron Clark on her show twice, donated $365,000 to the school last December. Clark wrote the best-selling teaching book “The Essential 55.”