Next year promises to be a big one for Kairos Public School, as the tuition-free public charter school builds a new campus in the Brighton Landing neighborhood, expands into high school and opens a new learning center. independent learning.
The latter is the first phase of this new era for Kairos, and ground was broken at its 27-acre site off Sunflower Street on Friday to signify the start of the construction process.
“Just six months ago, we were here launching a vision, receiving a $125,000 check from the Silicon Schools Fund to launch this project,” co-founder and executive director Jared Austin told the crowd. from Kairos. “(It) laid the foundation for us, now we’re gearing up to innovate.”
Austin told The Reporter the project started in 2018 when the school was approached by The New Home Company, developers of Brighton Landing, and told they had land that was zoned for a school in next to the neighborhood’s public park, Nashe Mesto Park.
“They heard a lot of good things about Kairos’ high quality curriculum, and they said they wanted to provide a high quality school in the Brighton Landing community area,” he said.
Kairos originally purchased 11 acres on the site for $700,000 and closed this week on an additional 16 acres for $1 million, giving an overall price of $1.8 million.
The overall construction will be done in three phases, with the first phase consisting of the new Kairos Innovative Scholars Program (KISP) learning center, the second phase focusing on the TK-8 campus which would either be relocated from its current location in Elm Street, to serve as the second location, and the third phase consisting of Kairos’ first-ever high school, with space available for a potential sports complex and possible teachers’ accommodation.
The learning center would provide larger permanent space for KISP, an independent study program that serves approximately 150 students.
“It’s a learning center where they can come and take part in workshops, meet teachers,” said KISP coordinator Leslie Shebley.
The program provides enrichment opportunities for students in disciplines such as art and science with the goal of “bringing students together so they can have fun with their learning and develop relationships,” Austin said. The program’s current building is across from the Three Oaks Community Center, but Austin said the program is maxed out. The new space would allow Kairos to serve twice as many students.
“We hope to have twice as many opportunities to build relationships and a great learning experience for the kids,” he said.
The campus design was created by Studio W Architects in San Jose, campus construction will be done by DesCor Builders in Rancho Cordova, and former NFL linebacker and Fairfield High School graduate Desmond Bishop and his wife, Geeta, provide advice on the sports complex.
Additionally, Austin said Kairos is working with Sustainable Solano on developing a community garden where students can grow vegetables and serve them in low-income areas on a weekly basis.
Austin hopes the entire project will be completed by next spring. Shebley encouraged families to walk past the site to see the process.
“We’re so glad you’re all here,” she said.
