It’s the start of a new school year, and for Shiloh Charter School, it’s also the start of new beginnings. The school has a new name — Independence Academy — and a new will have a brand-new home.
The new campus currently is under construction at McIntosh Road and U.S. 92. It is slated to be completed in December, just in time for students to move to the new location for the spring semester.
“It’s really going to be a great upgrade,” said Charles Harris, the president of the school’s board. “Everyone’s really excited about it.”
The school made the changes in preparation for the current location’s lease expiration. For now, Independence Academy is located on the property of Shiloh Baptist Church off Cason Street, in Plant City, where it has been since it opened in 2007. The lease will expire at the end of 2015.
The name change came with the move and because it will no longer be on Shiloh Baptist’s property.
It took a lot of preparation to clear the site after conducting a variety of traffic studies and other permitting measures. Construction started four months ago. MG3 Developer Group is overseeing the construction project and will lease the building to the school as an investment.
The walls went up last week, after the foundation was set. Two different buildings will be raised on the 13.5-acre property: a 20,000-square-foot building and a 50,000-square-foot building. The facility will be able to accommodate 650 students at the beginning. It has the capacity to accommodate up to 900 students. Right now, Independence Academy has 635 students.
“With the new location, we will be serving an expand community, also,” said Mike Strader, president of Charter School Associates, the company that manages Independence Academy. “We’ll be able to reach more in the Seffner area … many families are on the wait list will get in for the 2015-2016 school year.”
Besides a growing population, the school also will enjoy some technical advancements.
Interactive projectors will be in every newly furnished classroom. There will be several computer, art and science laps, a physical education area with a locker room, and a multipurpose room and cafeteria. The kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school will have enough space without portables. The buildings are designed to have an interior courtyard, which will serve as a gathering spot and also a safety feature.
“A lot of these facilities don’t exist at the current location,” Strader said.“It’s going to be a very pretty building.”
For more information about Independence Academy, visit iacademies.org.