Heritage Charter breaks ground for new campus
$23 million school will serve more students K-8
A Cape Coral charter school broke ground on a new facility that will allow it to expand the programs it provides, as well as prepare for larger enrollment as the city continues to grow.
Heritage Charter Academy has purchased land on Northeast 19th Avenue, where a $23 million campus, including a 43,000-square-foot school, will be built on 10 acres.
Chief Operating Officer of CHOICE Charter School Angela Combs said the state-of-the-art facility will bring a myriad of new opportunities to Heritage Charter students. CHOICE is the managing company for Heritage Charter. The building will have all-new technology for students and teachers alike.
“It’s very important to us,” she said. “We’re currently leasing…We don’t have a playground, and we don’t have a sports field. The new facility will have a playground, a covered area for lunches, and a soccer field so we can add sports.”
Heritage Charter educates children from K through 8th grade, and currently has 255 enrolled students. Combs said the new building will allow for the school to teach 750 students, which they expect to bring in year-over-year in a fast-growing community.
“It will be a slow growth over five years,” Combs said. “Next year, we’re trying to get to about 300 students before we move in, and add the following year. Cape Coral is growing, and that particular area — we’ve done a growth study. It’s a good location for a new school in that area.”
Combs said the school will hire new teachers and staff along the way.
The new school is being paid for via a bond loan with a total cost of the building and land being $23 million.
Heritage Charter works with more than 100 community partners, such as local nursing homes that read to students, Children’s Network, Cape Coral Police, and the Chamber of Commerce.
Combs said the new school will allow them to expand upon those partnerships, and allow entities such as the Boy Scouts and local cheer and sport groups to use the facility. The new school will also include an indoor basketball/volleyball court.
The concept at Heritage Charter is the “whole child” approach.
“We’re an experience-immersion type school,” Combs said. “We have a social worker that works with the students. We’re doing a technology program using 3-D printers for our middle school. Once we get to the new building, that will be its own technology lab in itself.”
Combs said the school’s approach is what sets it apart. Class sizes are under the state average, and that’s something Heritage Charter will continue to provide moving forward.
“Our theme is, ‘where school is family,'” she said. “We want all students to have a sense of belonging. Our teachers and the way that we manage the student looks at all the needs of the child. We make sure all the basic needs of the child is met.
“We have ongoing progress monitoring to make sure the students are achieving for state tests. This year academically, our students showed many (educational) gains.”
Other positive outcomes from the building include students having one building to traverse, instead of two at the current facility on Santa Barbara Boulevard, as well as being back off of the main road.
“Just the safety improvements are such a big thing,” Combs said
Combs said they are hopeful construction will be completed by December, with plans for moving in to be no later than spring break next year should any setbacks take place. LAI Construction are the builders on the project.
Heritage Charter is a free public charter school. The new building is at 1429 N.E. 15th Ave. For more information, visit heritagecharteracademy.org.