Springs Empower Academy announced a partnership with the Smyrna Boys & Girls Club to provide a temporary location while the K-5 public charter school’s permanent facility is under construction.
The Rutherford County School Board approved the public charter school last year with a plan to provide students with a hands-on, interest-driven, project-based learning education with Montessori-aligned approaches. The school also promises smaller adult-to-student ratios for more engagement between students and teachers.
Springs Empower Academy is currently in the process of building a new school on Enon Springs Road, but construction and financing delays are preventing that facility from being ready in time for students to start in the 2024/2025 school year.
“Our long-term goal remains to build and open our school on Enon Springs Road,” said Springs Empower Academy Executive Director, Jared McLeod. “We see this partnership with the Smyrna Boys & Girls Club as a win-win solution. We will begin serving students and families in the fall of 2024, which has been our primary goal, while also partnering with an outstanding community leader in the Boys & Girls Club.”
The school will operate 10 classrooms serving approximately 250 students at the Boys and Girls Club location on Culbertson Street next fall. That location is used by the Smyrna Boys and Girls Club for an afterschool program and unoccupied during school hours.
This partnership will allow Springs Empower Academy to take advantage of unused space, while also allowing its students and families to utilize the Boys & Girls Club’s afterschool programs.
“We are excited about this partnership,” said Sheryl Chestnutt, CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Rutherford County. “Not only is it a great use of our space, students may become Club members, and it helps us fulfill our mission. Like Springs Empower Academy, we invest in young people and strive to have a lasting impact in their lives.”
Springs Empower Academy is one of three public charter schools scheduled to open in Rutherford County during the 2024/2025 school year.
