The History

E.A. Young Academy launched during the 2011-2012 academic year with a pilot group of six 6th-grade scholars in a historic one-room schoolhouse in Old Town Keller, Texas. Through the work of a small group of gifted and talented advocates, teachers, and parents, an environment where scholars encountered a one-of-a-kind experience that met the unique needs of their creative minds emerged.

The original strategic initiative provided direction to add one grade level/cluster each year on each side of that sixth-grade pilot group to ultimately serve a K-12 student body. However, the plan for growth accelerated due to need and interest.  Subsequently, before the 2012-2013 academic year, Young Academy relocated to its second campus, serving scholars in 3rd through 7th grade. By 2018 E.A. Young Academy had grown to approximately 100 scholars in grades K-12, and a search for a new campus began. Working with Glacier Commercial Realty, a viable option was identified in 2020 that would support a growing student body and increased need for flexible and specialized learning spaces.
 

The Process
Meetings began with the city of Roanoke initiating the acquisition of a special use permit, rezoning, and general permitting for an existing structure located at 608 Henrietta Creek in Roanoke, Texas. Concurrently, the architectural firm Oxley, Williams and Tharpe joined our team to design the layout and function of the educational environment. As multiple educational facility design requirements, codes, and safety measures were addressed, the search for a general contractor commenced. The contract was awarded to RJ Miller Contractors, and the physical renovation began.
 

The Vision
Inspired by projects such as Stanford’s d. School, the new campus incorporates specialized spaces such as a black box theatre, a dedicated science lab, a maker space, an art studio, and flexible, independent learning hubs. Classrooms, or Learning Labs, will be scholar-centric, technology-infused, and built for direct instruction, collaborative work, project-based learning, and independent inquiry. 

Most importantly, our new campus design allows us to maintain and expand our mission to empower gifted and talented scholars to explore passions, talents, and abilities to their fullest ability.