This year, Academy at the Lakes’ Founders’ Day included a special twist.
On October 9, the school continued its tradition of celebrating Academy’s founding year (1992) and honoring long-time employees at an annual assembly. However, following the Founders’ Day assembly, the festivities spilled out onto the newly renovated Upper Division patio for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The celebration was the culmination of Academy’s summer construction project that produced two spacious, new classrooms and a 2,000+ square foot patio with both covered and uncovered social spaces for students.
Our growth in the Upper Division created a need for more classrooms, and as we developed the plan to meet that need, the Board kept our school culture very much in mind,” said Head of School Mark Heller. “Thus, the new patio we built creates an improved space that still serves as the center of Upper Division life, only it’s an improvement over what we had before.”
Academy’s families helped turn the Board of Trustees’ vision for the project into a reality.
“Through a combination of cash gifts and in-kind giving, our families made this project possible,” said Director of Development Beth Hult. “These families really, truly stepped up, and their giving, I believe, speaks to how much this school means to them.”
“My daughter, Mikayla ’16, was asked by Mark Heller to act as a student representative on the Upper Division school expansion project,” said Tom Owen of Albright Roofing. “She was asked to attend several planning meetings and I could see how excited and engaged she was in the project, and she was even reviewing architectural drawings. When she asked if I would be willing to help with the roofing, it was a no brainer: you could feel the excitement of everyone involved and see the tangible improvements this project would deliver.”
The Upper Division expansion was made possible by the generous support of the following families:
Jennifer and Kent Falby (Kendra ’21 and Miley ’25)
Cindy and David Gilleland (Nicole ’21)
Paula and Michael Kretzinger (Matthew ’10, Kathryn ’11, Alexis ’12, Makenzie ’13, and Nicholas ’16)
Vicki and William O’Donnell (Shannon ’11 and James ’17)
Sheryl and Tom Owen (Mikayla ’16 and Charles ’19)
Kathryn and Kevin Quayle (Kenneth ’16 and Kolby ’20)
Mara Ricci and Bret Gaboardi (Lyra ’18)
Lora and Steven Riggs (Hanley ’19 and Nataley ’20)
The lead contractor for the project was Academy’s Facilities Director Maynard Baker.
