Freshman Academy: What's the Purpose?
By Coby Elliott
The Freshman Academy has more than doubled in size, from around 50,000 square feet to over 133,800 square feet, with a recent addition this past year to accommodate more students. But why is more space needed? With more freshmen enrolling each year, it became evident that more classrooms would be needed.
The Freshman Academy was opened in 1999; before that, it was an elementary school and then a middle school. The reason there is a freshman academy is because of the philosophy at that time it was built.
When asked about this, Freshman principal Luke Gray said, “The philosophy of the FA is to have a transition stage between schools”
The FA has a lot of ways to help students transition into high school. With the building functioning as its own campus, it allows the teachers to be more empathetic and understanding towards the students.
“We do expect more, but we’ll hold your hand”, Freshman biology teacher Rebecca Rabun said.
It’s a big change from middle school to high school; the academic expectation is higher, Classes can be failed from missing enough days, and now we have the credit system.
“We try to make the big school feel small,” Principal Gray said.
Now back to the new additions, the FA renovation has been going on for 6 years in 3 separate stages. The first was the math wing, the second stage was the english wing, and the third was the science wing that brought lots of needed rooms to the FA.
The freshman academy now has 55 classrooms and can fit over 1,000 students. Multiple new classrooms were added, from 10 biology labs to a tornado shelter. Now more than enough teachers have classrooms and space to teach and be successful.
A picture of the FA commons, where students can study with peers
Last year there were freshman classes in other parts of the school, but now all of the freshman classes except PE are in the FA. And most importantly, a new and bigger library was added to the FA, so now students can get books on campus.
A picture of the FA Library, with tables for studying and chairs for reading
The FA serves as a transition point for new students, that's why our school has one. It's a big leap from middle school to high school, so students need a year to get used to things. The new space helps with this, adding some much-needed room for teachers and students alike, making the building feel more like its own campus.
