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www.peartree.school OPEN HOUSE REGISTRATION > K-7 Elementary Theme-Based Healthy Hot Lunch 1hr Daily Phys. Ed. BC3.indd 1 9/20/2018 10:29:22 AM aspire to be as proactive as we can, but the pandemic reinforced the need and strengthened our capacity to be nimble and adaptive in reacting quickly and confidently." URBAN ACADEMY Anyone following the Urban Academy journey is not thinking about the pandemic. They would probably agree that the defining term for the 20-year-old school is growth, starting as a JK to grade 1 school in 2001, and growing the depth and breadth of the program to include JK to grade 12 students and parent body over these last two decades. "In the last seven years, UA has gone from one heritage campus to two, and finally to its own purpose-built facility that we moved into in March of 2019," says Mike Slinger, Urban Academy's head of school. "The building is currently four floors housing 365 students from JK to grade 12." As the school was being built, the rapid growth in the student population and interest from surrounding communities indicated that UA's leadership needed to think bigger. As the plans were being finalized, and the foundation was being dug, the writing was on the wall that four floors of urban school was not going to be enough. "Back to the drawing board we went, revising plans, to prepare for what we knew was coming," says Slinger. With a final (and so far unchanging) plan, the concluding stage of work at Urban Academy has begun. The fourth floor will open at some point this school year, while the fifth floor reaches completion inside, ready to open to students in September 2022. ■ PHOTO: URBAN ACADEMY