Lowndes County charter school continues with K-12 expansion

VALDOSTA, Ga. (WALB) - The only charter school in Lowndes County has announced that they have another expansion in the works.

In 2021, Scintilla Charter Academy (SCA) expanded adding seventh and eighth grades to their academy. In the fall of 2023, they have another expansion coming adding ninth grade for their students.

“Our current scholars and their families are pleased to be at Scintilla. As we’ve grown, we never really intended to go into high school, and we never intended not to go into high school. But there was a high demand by our families and our community — to see their children continue in the same culture that they have been supported in, in early grades,” Mandy Brewington, superintendent of SCA, said.

When WALB spoke with some of Scintilla’s middle schoolers about the expansion, they all had the same response. They couldn’t be more excited.

“This is a great community. Everybody here has a nice attitude. The morale with sports and athletes is very up, and we always have hope with everything we do. I just like to exceed with this program,” Cory Sims, a 7th grader at SCA, said. “This is a great opportunity for classroom academics, and just a great opportunity overall to come here. You’re always welcome.”

In fall 2023, they will begin serving ninth grade. Each year after that, they will add an additional grade level. By 2027, they will have completed their K-12 expansion. School leaders say they want their students to continue getting a high-quality education.

“So expanding to K-12 will allow our scholars the unique opportunity to experience, what we believe, an educational experience should look like from kindergarten through 12th grade,” Amanda Miller, assistant superintendent for SCA, said.

Leaders from Scintilla Charter Academy, parents and grandparents say they believe this expansion will not only benefit the academy but the current students as well.

“We place a high emphasis on character, habits of character, culture and giving each child a unique opportunity to be loved and supported as a whole child. So I think it would benefit them immensely to stay here in a culture that they’ve been used to since kindergarten,” Brewington said.

“This will benefit students a lot. It also helps build better relationships within the school. It gives a sense of community,” Iesha Byron, parent of an SCA student, said.

That’s something one seventh grader, Colby Lee, at SCA agrees with.

“I’m real happy because all of the teachers give me support everywhere I go. They always help me focus and study,” Lee said.

SCA says this expansion will bring a lot of opportunities in academics and athletics for their middle and upper school moving forward.

“SCA is going to offer a variety of AP courses. We’ll also offer numerous career pathways for our scholars, and we have applied for candidacy for the International Bachelorette.” Matt McCoy, dean of middle and upper school, said. “We will have a full rollout of athletics. We have recruited some very high-quality individuals to lead our sports programs. They’re going to bring a lot of different strengths and they’re going to be able to offer some great opportunities for our kids interested in sports.”

In less than 10 years, this academy has seen multiple expansions. When it first opened, it served only kindergarten through fourth grades. In the coming years, it will serve from grade school through high school.

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