About Rise Stem Academy for Girls:

Mission

Our mission is to empower girls with a robust education by developing authentic STEM and leadership experiences through inquiry and performance-based learning, ones that bring the classroom into the real world.

Vision

Our vision is to be a collaborative academy community, where young women thrive and are poised and prepared to be global leaders.  Further, our mission is to revolutionize the face of the STEM industry.

Why are we advocating for Rise?  Why we need your support.

Rise STEM Academy for Girls was conceived by this district as a strategic investment in equity.  This school would provide a representative community from across our district where evidence-based solutions can be implemented, improved, and assessed for efficacy.  These solutions could then be used across the district to drive access to equitable learning opportunities for our diverse body of learners and families.

When Rise opened in the fall of 2020, parents were told we would be in our temporary space for three years while a new home for Rise was built. Our Director shared about meetings with the architect to plan the new building at PTA meetings. Indeed, at the October 27th, 2020 FCPS Board of Education meeting the following action item was passed:

Approval for the Design Consultant for the construction of the New Girl's STEM School (K-8) Site to be determined.

This item states that bids are scheduled to be received in November 2021 and construction is to begin in January 2022 and would be completed in July 2023.

Property for the Rise building was secured this fall on Versailles Rd.  The next steps are to request bids, approve the proposal, and break ground for our building.  This is exactly what was done with the Polo Club Middle school which was moving at the same pace as Rise’s new building. 

We realize that only one Member of the Board remains from when those meetings took place.  This lack of continuity, along with Covid-19, seems to have pushed the intent and progress of our school aside.   We believe that this information taken together clearly indicates that it was the intention of the district, board, and our community to have a new facility and provide meaningful support for our school.

Unless you plan to close our school, then delaying this process is only causing undue stress on the program and wasting taxpayer money.  Rise is a school meant to serve the entire Fayette county community.  Letting down this program perpetuates the same inequities this school is meant to alleviate.

Will you stand with Rise?  #embraceequity

Why does Rise need a new building?  Here is how Rise falls into the three criteria for the FCPS Facilities Plan:

1.     Modernization: 2420 Spurr Rd facility was first built around the 1900s and closed/deemed surplus in 2008 due to the age and insufficiencies of the facility as an elementary school.   A quarter of this space is occupied by Jr. Achievement of the Bluegrass which exacerbates the space limitations of this facility.   This facility lacks a proper Gymnasium/Auditorium, Library, and playground.  There are no indoor spaces that accommodate all school assemblies which also limits family engagement events.  Classrooms are very small, with limited bathroom stalls and generally a lack of sufficient space.  This is compounded by the age and suitability of the facility. 

2.     Growth:  Rise is supposed to serve 900 scholars across the district.  It is now housing 250 but should be at 500 but is severely limited by the facility.

3.     Innovation:  This school was created to address the historic inequities in our district for girls, especially those of underrepresented minority groups.  Although the focus is addressing inequities in STEMS for these girls, these inequities are clearly documented across the district in other areas including reading, writing, discipline measures, and family engagement to mention a few.  This is one of the clear focus areas outlined by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights as well. 

STEM classes are critical to preparing students for college and careers in the 21st century. Ensuring access to STEM for all students is an important priority for the Office for Civil Rights. The Office for Civil Rights continuously strives to provide guidance and support to schools and colleges to bolster access to STEM courses and programs for all students.

From: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) resources. Home. (2020, January 10). Retrieved March 7, 2023, from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/stem-resources.html

We want the Board of Education to see how our community values Rise, its scholars, staff, and families. Will you stand with Rise?   #embraceequity