Forest Lake
Minnesota
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North Lakes Academy
History
In the late 1990’s, parents and educators began talking about the need for a smaller, more personalized school for middle school* students in the Forest Lake and Wyoming area. Those individuals had been dreaming of the concept for several years before they found each other – through the grapevine, as it were – and began holding meetings in the future director’s family room.
For nearly two years, these concerned parents and educators explored the possibility of opening a charter middle school. Wyoming Academy, as it was first called, was in hopes of being sponsored by the resident public school Dist. 831 – Forest Lake -- but that did not become a reality. Adverse reactions to the plan by the district sent the parent/educator group of NLA to the State of Minnesota, which ultimately provided sponsorship and a formal charter on April 13, 1999. From the original group of parents and educators came the founding board of NLA.
Many months of hard work, promotion, discussions with local and state officials, and a positive attitude about school choice (not school competition) paid off and NLA opened its doors in September 1999. The school’s landlord, BRUD, Inc., cooperated in amazing ways to provide space for the school – and has since assisted in the expansion of 2004. With major state support in the form of lease aid, NLA is able to offer students a high-quality physical learning environment next door to BRUD’s main business, Flyaways Gymnastics. The Forest Lake location brought the need for a new name at the time the charter was granted: North Lakes Academy was born.
The school opened under the direction of Jackie Saunders with about 120 students in the space occupied by classrooms #1 through #6. Mrs. Saunders office was in the hallway outside of the current Phy Ed room. The additional space, up to and including Room 9 located across from the commons (then Music and Math) room was completed by Dec. of 1999. That space was sufficient until 2004 when curriculum and enrollment plans (and a $75,000 grant) predicated the need for even more space. The final addition of 9000 sq. ft. (including the enclosed gym in what had been a courtyard) brings the total size of NLA to over 22,000 sq. ft. Enrollment in 2000-2004 ranged from 120 to 160 students. The building capacity – and the enrollment cap – is 200 students. The 2004-2005 schoolyear began with nearly that number of students in grades six through nine.
In the late 1990’s, parents and educators began talking about the need for a smaller, more personalized school for middle school* students in the Forest Lake and Wyoming area. Those individuals had been dreaming of the concept for several years before they found each other – through the grapevine, as it were – and began holding meetings in the future director’s family room.
For nearly two years, these concerned parents and educators explored the possibility of opening a charter middle school. Wyoming Academy, as it was first called, was in hopes of being sponsored by the resident public school Dist. 831 – Forest Lake -- but that did not become a reality. Adverse reactions to the plan by the district sent the parent/educator group of NLA to the State of Minnesota, which ultimately provided sponsorship and a formal charter on April 13, 1999. From the original group of parents and educators came the founding board of NLA.
Many months of hard work, promotion, discussions with local and state officials, and a positive attitude about school choice (not school competition) paid off and NLA opened its doors in September 1999. The school’s landlord, BRUD, Inc., cooperated in amazing ways to provide space for the school – and has since assisted in the expansion of 2004. With major state support in the form of lease aid, NLA is able to offer students a high-quality physical learning environment next door to BRUD’s main business, Flyaways Gymnastics. The Forest Lake location brought the need for a new name at the time the charter was granted: North Lakes Academy was born.
The school opened under the direction of Jackie Saunders with about 120 students in the space occupied by classrooms #1 through #6. Mrs. Saunders office was in the hallway outside of the current Phy Ed room. The additional space, up to and including Room 9 located across from the commons (then Music and Math) room was completed by Dec. of 1999. That space was sufficient until 2004 when curriculum and enrollment plans (and a $75,000 grant) predicated the need for even more space. The final addition of 9000 sq. ft. (including the enclosed gym in what had been a courtyard) brings the total size of NLA to over 22,000 sq. ft. Enrollment in 2000-2004 ranged from 120 to 160 students. The building capacity – and the enrollment cap – is 200 students. The 2004-2005 schoolyear began with nearly that number of students in grades six through nine.