History
Intentional Excellence, Centered in Community
The Main Street Academy (TMSA) began with a vision from a small group of residents from the cities of College Park, East Point, and Hapeville who wanted to bring a high-quality educational option to South Fulton. In December of 2006, the TMSA Founding Committee held its first public meeting and worked tirelessly over the next three years to obtain a charter. On May 21, 2009, the Fulton County Board of Education considered TMSA’s charter petition. Busloads of families attended the meeting to support the vote that was decided in TMSA’s favor. With a new charter in hand, the Founding Committee established TMSA as a 501c3 non-profit organization and set about the work of building a school. Actually, two schools. TMSA's first home was in two red brick schoolhouses, one connected to College Park First United Methodist Church and the other to St. John’s Episcopal Church. Both campuses were located on East Main Street in College Park, about half a mile apart. After a national search, the Founding Committee hired Raine Hackler as TMSA's first principal and Virginia Smith as the school’s first operations manager, and then worked with them to hire the inaugural teachers and staff to serve approximately 600 students who registered in the spring of 2010 to attend TMSA grades K-5.
After an exciting, yet intense, summer in which volunteers painted classrooms, moved furniture, and built playgrounds, TMSA opened its doors on the first day of school on August 23, 2010. Over the next two years, TMSA grew from 600 to 700 students as it added sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The school’s growth outpaced the capacity of the initial two schoolhouses. In 2011, TMSA leased the Fellowship Hall from College Park First United Methodist Church and created temporary classrooms for use when students were not eating lunch. Other space was appropriated—the faculty/staff break room served as a library, and the art room transitioned into a classroom. In 2012, TMSA's Governing Board voted to add portable classrooms to accommodate TMSA's middle school grades. With waiting lists still long for most grades, the search for a permanent facility was initiated shortly thereafter!
TMSA grew academically, as well as physically. In 2014, TMSA adopted the Renzulli Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) proposed and implemented by TMSA teachers. The SEM model ensures that enrichment is a part of everyday education, whether it is in bringing experts and artists to speak to students, planning special projects, or going on field trips. Teachers also developed special elective classes based on their own interests and expertise. Also in 2014, TMSA received accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and was approved for a five-year extension of its charter by the Fulton County Board of Education. In 2015, the Georgia Department of Education approved TMSA's charter application for a second five-year term.
In August 2015, TMSA relocated from the two small educational buildings on E. Main Street to the former Lakeshore High School and Harriet Tubman Elementary School campuses. Nestled in a historic College Park neighborhood amongst tall oak and magnolia trees, the 38-acre campus encompasses a 155,000 square-foot educational building which includes a library media center, art, band room, and music rooms, gymnasium, baseball diamond, football stadium, playgrounds, and track & field.
In June 2022, the TMSA Governing Board hired TMSA's first Executive Director & CEO, Dr. Chad Owes, who was charged with taking TMSA to the next level. Additionally, in June 2022, TMSA renovated and opened its lower terrace level into a state of the art innovation center, which now house TMSA's STEAM labs, flight simulation & aviation lab, design & 3D print shop, band room, drama theater, CTAE labs, science labs, electric car racing workshop, agriculture science labs, and gifted/talented classroom. In April 2024, TMSA completed the construction of the outdoor basketball and pickleball courts.
Today, TMSA is a thriving and dynamic STEM/STEAM Cognia Certified charter school that serves over 850 scholars. TMSA's STEM/STEAM certification was first approved in June 2024. To support TMSA's innovative educational programs, the campus also has small & large animal pastures, a beehive sanctuary, a pollinator garden, and vegetable & herb gardens. In June 2025, the Georgia Department of Education approved TMSA's charter application for a fourth consecutive term through June 30, 2028.
