On Tuesday, June 14, 2022 The Main Street Academy (TMSA) celebrated the opening of it’s new Innovation Center! Over 50 people from the TMSA community, including representatives from Fulton County Schools district and the City of College Park’s Mayor Bianca Motley Broom, attended the grand opening event. Previously referred to as the TMSA Basement Renovation Project, the new Innovation Center was officially named based on the majority of feedback received from the TMSA community by way of a survey that was deployed earlier this spring.
The Innovation Center offers 10,000 additional square feet of instructional and learning space to TMSA’s teachers and students. The center encompasses six classrooms, an e-sport room, additional office space, a teacher workroom, and student and adult restrooms. TMSA’s K – 8 scholars will focus on S.T.E.A.M. (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) initiatives at the Innovation Center. Principal Abdul-Salaam is excited about future TMSA partnerships with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Georgia Institute of Technology.
TMSA’s Governing Board approved the landmark $2M renovation project during the 2020 – 2021 school year and the groundbreaking ceremony was hosted on April 19, 2021. The renovation project was led by The Main Street Academy's Executive Director, Virginia Smith, in partnership with Triad Construction and Metrocorp Development Enterprises. The renovation project provides several benefits to the TMSA community including:
- Students achieving academic improvement
- Students experiencing updated technology
- Enhancing the overall learning environment
- Attracting new families, students and teachers
- Enhancing the learning environment
Salford University conducted research over a year with 3766 pupils to discover how design and environmental factors for school buildings and inside classrooms can affect children’s results. It was found that “well-designed primary schools can boost children’s academic performance”. Based on the results of the HEAD Project (Holistic Evidence and Design), it was found that there is “clear evidence that well-designed primary schools boost children’s academic performance in reading, writing and math.
TMSA’s administrators, teachers and staff look forward to welcoming scholars back to school this fall and introducing them S.T.E.A.M.-based academics inside the new Innovation Center!