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Monument Academy update
Benn Farrell/The Tribune From left, principal Julie Seymour, board president Melanie Strop, previous board president Mark McWilliams and chief operations officer Christianna Herrera perform the ceremonial ribbon-cutting at a celebration of the newly completed Monument Academy East Campus in the Black Forest area of Colorado Springs on Aug. 29.
its challenges and reflects the true testimony of the miracle that can arise from a people with a vision,” said Christianna Herrera, the academy’s chief operating officer.
Since the charter school’s East Campus opened, it has been operating with in-person classes four days a week to all students across both campuses.
“Our students and families really appreciate and value the in-person learning,” said Amy Torrence, communications specialist.
Torrence said the middle and high school students at Monument Academy East campus rave about their beautiful new building. 96% of the inaugural freshmen have chosen to return to for their sophomore year.
“Our freshman student survey results showed that students value the personal investment their teachers make, as well as feeling like they are part of a family at MA,” Torrence said.
Seeing students thrive and experience the vision for the new school during a pandemic has been middle school and high school principal Julie Seymour’s favorite part of the year thus far.
“We educate all students in the journey of becoming well-rounded, flourishing individuals,” Seymour said. “Our students
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Courtesy of Monument Academy Despite the pandemic, Monument Academy East Campus’ fine arts department made adjustments to still give virtual performances.
are succeeding despite the challenges of it not being a normal school year.”
Herrera said she is excited to add concurrent enrollment for the fall 2021. Students will have the opportunity to begin incurring college credits through college and university partners while attending Monument Academy.
“Our incoming freshman class for 2021 is double our inaugural class,” Herrera said. “With more students, we will be able to expand electives offerings and eventually build out our high school wing for Phase Two of our building.”
With the $27 million East Campus having met a goal for opening on time despite the construction adversity caused by the pandemic, Torrence said the main goal now is to let families know the opportunity to attend Monument Academy has broadened. Traditionally, the school has a
Benn Farrell/The Tribune Monument Academy East Campus assistant principal Carol Skinner leads a tour through the newly completed building Aug. 29 in Black Forest after a ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of the school.
waitlist. But because of the new building and increased seating capacity, Monument Academy is able to offer seats this year across all grades, Torrence said.
As for electives, the school’s fine arts department has made several adjustments and students were able to perform virtually for stakeholders. This included the annual fall play, which was also presented virtually.
Even with delayed and shortened seasons in the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, the academy continues to support its athletic programs with all opportunities available to students, Torrence said. In fact, the school’s girls cross country team won the Central Colorado Athletic League championship for a sixth straight year last fall, while the boys crosscountry team took its second championship in a row.
In addition to the large majority of freshmen intending to return next academic year, 98.8% of students in the middle school have also committed to return, Torrence said.
“Parents cite character education, academic rigor and dedicated teachers as the top reasons they choose Monument Academy,” she said. “We have done well in preserving our niche as ‘traditional education for modern times.’ ”
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Changes to the landscape of Tri-Lakes region abound
By Benn Farrell
There’s been a visible shift in the landscape of the TriLakes region in recent years.
As new residential developments continue to move into later phases and additional multi-family housing and commercial developments get underway, what was once open land from North Gate Boulevard to County Line Road has become a growing pasture of soil work, heavy construction equipment and acres of commercial land for sale zoned for mixed uses.
While concerns grow regarding the region’s communities maintaining a small-town
Courtesy of Creekside Developers Among the developments looking to be welcomed by the Town of Monument is The Village at Jackson Creek, one of several mixed-use developments with its sights set on the Tri-Lakes region.
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