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The new $18 million Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy (TCJA) Upper Campus rivals many small collegiate campuses, said a spokesperson at the school. School staff, administrators and high school students are in classes in the new facility and the public is invited to tour the new school.
Tours can be scheduled by visiting www.TJCA.ORG and click the Enrollment tab and then Request a Tour link. Open House for both the Grammar and the Upper Campus is March 4 from from 5 to 7 p.m. and Sunday March 7 from 2 to 4 p.m.
"The excitement around here is palpable," Dianna Bridges, principal of the Thomas Jefferson upper school, said in a recent interview with a reporter at The Shelby Star.
The new school is two-story and includes 29 classrooms, a media center, student lounge, a history hall, two art classrooms, and four state of the Art Science labs with lecture space and a computer center across a little more than 53,000 square feet. It will house the school's roughly 400 high school students.
The gymnasium is 18,500 square feet with eight basketball baskets, training room, locker rooms, coaching offices and bleachers surrounding the main court.
The new athletic facilities will provide space for competition in NCHSAA A/2A combined division.
There will also be baseball, basketball, soccer and softball facilities.
Phase II of TJCA's vision includes tennis courts which will be located above the current football stadium and a track which will surround the new soccer field.
The chairman of the TJCA board of directors, Ray Maxwell was quoted recently, saying, "This will keep them away from the flow of traffic when they are being dropped off. It is much safer for the students."
The Upper Campus creased increased from 25.71 acres to approximately 69 acres.
Thomas Jefferson plans to move its middle school operations into the old high school building once the move and transition into the new high school is complete. The middle school location will be renovated in the future to be the school's dedicated arts building.
