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TMSA Breaks Ground for $60M New Campus in Apex

[Video] TMSA Breaks Ground for $60M New Campus in Apex, NC
Posted on 12/17/2021
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Apex, NC – TMSA Public Charter Schools held a groundbreaking ceremony for a state-of-the-art new K-12 campus in Apex on Wednesday, December 15.

City and state elected officials and leaders, TMSA board members, staff, students, parents, project contractors, and other members of the TMSA community gathered at the corner of New Hill Olive Chapel Road and US 64 to celebrate the milestone of the $60M project.

“This campus is the embodiment of the fruits of collaboration, our belief in the future, and the unlimited potential of our young people,” said TMSA Board President Dr. Terrence Thomas. The new campus will not only allow TMSA’s tradition of excellence to continue but further enhance its ability to excel for students in a rapidly changing world.

Tremendous gratitude and reflections on the new campus were the main themes at the groundbreaking ceremony.

“This project is going to be absolutely amazing. This is exactly what all these high-tech companies are asking for us to go ahead and invest,” said Sydney Batch, a North Carolina State Senator. She also presented a commendation for the achievement of TMSA schools. “They have been rated very highly in all of the best public charters schools, and obviously, they have a recipe that is working for them, unlike other schools.”

Emphasizing the importance of STEM education for the state, North Carolina State Representative Gale Adcock said, “this project is very important not only for Apex but for the whole region because it prepares children for math and science careers that cannot be overstated.”

TMSA was granted approval early this year to replicate in Apex its high-achieving Triangle Math and Science Academy. "You already have an existing high-quality charter school, so why would we not want that high-quality charter school to replicate and add another campus?," said Dave Machado, Director of Office of Charter Schools at the NC Department of Public Institution. "We have a school as successful as TMSA we would like for them to be in multiple locations."

More than 2,000 families are waitlisted for Triangle Math and Science Academy.

The new campus will be completed in two phases. In Phase I, TMSA will build a brand-new school, The Math and Science Academy of Apex - TMSA Apex (K-8). In Phase II, TMSA will construct a new high school building for Triangle Math and Science Academy High School, currently located on the Cary campus.

The 200,000 square-foot facilities will feature a variety of advanced educational spaces along with spaces geared towards community engagement.

"We have an opportunity to work together with the visionaries of this project while strengthening our community, building young leaders through quality education of TMSA," said Apex Mayor Jacques Gilbert. "The goal of this project aligns with our strategic mission to cultivate opportunity for the individual and community to live, thrive, and reach their peak."

TMSA Apex will be constructed on 7.5 acres improved by a 72,000 square-foot two-story smart building for 900 K-8 students. The facility will include 39 smart classrooms, five special classrooms, a music room, library, two computer labs, two science labs, a conference room, café-gym, and offices. The school will open its doors in Fall 2022.

The new high school for Triangle Math and Science Academy will be constructed over an 18-acre campus area with a 120,000 square-foot smart facility that will host 800 high schoolers, thrice more than the existing Cary campus. The high school building will feature more than 50 cutting-edge classrooms, labs, a library, a media lab, and a conference center. The environmentally conscious building will be surrounded by outdoor educational fields. The high school campus is expected to be completed in Fall 2023.

TMSA has secured $29.6M tax-exempt bond financing with a 3.4% interest rate over 40 years for Phase I. The project’s financial advisor is Campanile Group, the bond counsel is McGuire Woods, and Truist is the underwriter. Legacy Impact Capital is the project developer, and LAI Group is the design and builder contractor.

TMSA is renowned for challenging students with high academic standards and expectations for achievement through innovative instruction, enhanced by the social-emotional and developmental support systems.

“TMSA is staying true and aligning to that mission of science, wisdom, and peace,” said NC Association for Public Charter Schools Executive Director Rhonda Dillingham. “The science piece is clear in the design of the school, the wisdom is going to be passed along from the leadership and the teachers, and then you give a sense of peace to this community because they have an option they wouldn’t have had before,” she continued. “I think that we can credit TMSA for staying true to that mission, that model, and that’s the key to success.”

TMSA has brought a dynamic of change to the quality of education in North Carolina. The schools provide a high-quality and enriching education that equips students with 21st-century skills in a safe, nurturing, and culturally-responsive learning environment. Triangle Math and Science Academy has been ranked by Niche as one of the top ten charter high schools in North Carolina for the last two years. Its elementary and middle schools are also ranked as the fifth- and sixth-best charters in the state.