Schaumburg, IL
Four Ohio campuses of the Concept Schools network were recently awarded grants for significant facility expansion and campus modernization projects. Horizon Science Academy Columbus Elementary/Westerville, Horizon Science Academy Columbus High School, Horizon Science Academy Springfield North, and Horizon Science Academy Dayton Elementary will receive over $7.6 million in combined funding over the next 2 to 3 years, with financial allocations for these projects awarded through a Charter Schools Facilities Incentive Grant.
Plans are in place to implement critical infrastructure improvements, along with creating permanent instructional space that will enable the campuses to support the addition of up to 489 new students. The campuses selected as recipients of this grant funding will benefit their students through strengthened learning environments to support their continued, lifelong journeys towards success.
“This is a breakthrough, for these schools, for the state of Ohio, as well as for Concept Schools,” said Sedat Duman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Concept Schools, the charter school network that manages the Horizon Science Academy campuses that were awarded the grant funding. “Every dollar invested in education yields dividends multiple times over, which carry over from generation to generation to generation. These campuses will be better equipped to operate at a higher level, to adhere to greater standards of excellence, for which the beneficiaries will ultimately be the incoming generation of students. This is why we work so diligently for our schools and our students, because we know their academic success equates to progress that uplifts entire communities.”
HSA Columbus Elementary, as well as the satellite HSA Westerville campus, will receive over $3 million, distributed over the next three years. The grant will support a major facility expansion and modernization project, including a new and permanent instructional space to connect the main and primary school campuses. Additional infrastructure developments include the replacement of modular classrooms, exterior building upgrades, the expansion of STEM/robotics/Makerspace learning environments, in addition to improvements for Career and Technical Education. This project is expected to increase student seats by 200, and will add approximately 18,000 square feet of instructional space.
HSA Columbus High School – one of the top 10 charter public high schools in the Columbus, Ohio region according to US News and World Report Best High School rankings – is the recipient of $2.69 million in grant funds over the next three years. Funding will support the enhancement of Career and Technical Education (CTE) and workforce-development facilities for both the Morse Road and Corporate Drive campuses. CTE labs, the development of Health Science and Nursing instructional areas, and infrastructure/facility enhancements are some of the key components of the campus modernization plan. The project anticipates adding 100 student seats and strengthening workforce learning environments to serve approximately 750 students annually. The school currently has a graduation rate of 95%.
HSA Springfield North is set to receive just over $433,000 per year for the next three years, to a sum of $1.29 million. The awarded grant funding will support acquisition and modernization of a campus on Victory Avenue. Included in the plan for this campus are infrastructure improvements and upgrades. Additionally, the project will support the creation of a dedicated early-learning environment. In total, the plan is expected to create space for the acceptance of approximately 125 additional student seats across the school’s dual-campus model.
An investment of more than $540,000 to HSA Dayton Elementary will be received over a period of two years. Over half a million dollars of grant support will enable the development of an outdoor STEM and Environmental Learning Center, will provide for STEM Makerspace enhancements, and will allow improvements to multipurpose rooms, among other campus enhancements. The project anticipates the addition of 64 student seats while expanding STEM curriculum, further developing robotics education and participation, improving project-based learning, and empowering students for discovering career-awareness opportunities.
Combined, the allocation of grant funding will enable the expansion in enrollment at each campus while implementing critical infrastructural necessities, creating permanent instructional space, and expanding STEM, CTE, workforce-development, and early-learning opportunities.
This considerable investment in the education of students in Ohio represents a major advancement in academic resources for families in the surrounding communities, with improvements and enhancements scheduled to begin in the coming weeks and set to endure for years to come.
“We plan for the present as well as for the future of these communities,” said Murat Efe, Ohio Regional Superintendent for Concept Schools, “to address the immediate concerns of our families while implementing an academic environment whereby students progress towards a more prominent future. We wish to open doors of opportunity, many of which may not even yet exist, and we hope that our students take full advantage of the many offerings that will stem as a result of our planned improvements.”
