Shining Rock hits pause on building expansion plans
Jul. 19—Although Shining Rock Classical Academy will grow by nearly 100 additional students come August, the school will not proceed with a planned building expansion, due to high interest rates and climbing construction costs.
Expansion plans have been in the works since 2021, even before the school opened the doors of its new school building in August of that year.
The school had outgrown the modular units it previously occupied, but school leaders suspected even more space would soon be needed to accommodate continued enrollment growth — growth stemming not only from increased demand but also the addition of high school grades.
Phase II called for additional 28,000 square feet with a new wing and third floor added to the existing Russ Avenue building. The expansion was estimated to cost $8 million in 2022, but rising interest rates and building costs have pushed the estimate to just north of $9 million.
"We have to wait things out a little bit," said SRCA Head of School Josh Morgan.
The SRCA Board of Directors decided to push pause on Phase II expansion until it can decide on the best path forward.
"We have to be good stewards with the resources that we have," Morgan said. "We don't have the luxury of throwing a couple million dollars for a few acres of land."
Shining Rock, which started with elementary grades, and later added middle school grades, has been incrementally adding high school grades as well — adding one new grade each year as students advance in their high school career.
This coming school year, Shining Rock will add 11th grade, and the 12th grade the following year.
Until the expansion could come on line, the high school grades have been housed in the old modular units around the corner on Dellwood Road, which Shining Rock kept as a satellite campus after opening its new building.
"It's always been there as a contingency to add high school enrollment," Morgan said. "It may be that we have to expand more of the SRCA programming down to Dellwood. If we continue to have the interest that we have at the elementary and middle school grades, we will utilize what we have and maximize it," Morgan said.
The only problem, however, is that the modular unit campus also houses the Shining Rock Junior Academy preschool. There isn't enough room for all four high school grades plus the preschool, Morgan wagered.
"It very well could impact the junior academy," he said. "We've been very transparent with the parents."
