Education Edition - 1736 Magazine, Fall 2019

Heritage Academy, downtown
Augusta’s newest private school,
is bursting at the seams.
The 260-student school at 333
Greene St. will reach full capacity
once its current class of 6th graders reaches grade 8.
This is somewhat remarkable for a faith-based school
that started in 2001 with a class of 10 kindergartners and
a budget that – even today – is 85% donation-funded.
“The majority of those donations – in fact, more than
50% – are made by individuals,” Executive Director
Linda Tucciarone said. “To me, that just says amazing
things about this community.”
The school’s size has changed over the years, but its
mission has not; Heritage Academy’s “target market” is
low- to moderate-income families.
Tucciarone said roughly 60% of the school’s student
body resides in the city’s urban core and sections of
east and south Augusta – places where many traditional
public schools are perennial academic underperformers.
According to Private School Review, a third-party
research firm, nearly 90% of the student body is
African-American. About 15% of Heritage Academy’s
students live in public housing, Tucciarone said.
“Those families may be under-resourced, but it
doesn’t mean they’re under-motivated,” she said.
“They might have a family member, or even a pool of
people, who are helping a student to be here.”
HERE BY CHOICE
School choice, a buzzword in education circles in
recent years, is the Heritage Academy’s raison d’etre.
The school’s founders started laying the groundwork
for the inner-city Christian school in 1999, when
educational options for lower-income families were
practically nonexistent.
The academy’s concept was bolstered by the
landmark Supreme Court decision Zelman v. Simmons-
Harris – a 2002 case involving Cleveland public school
system – that upheld public vouchers for schools,
including religious ones, did not violate the First
Amendment’s Establishment Clause forbidding governments
from publicly promoting religious activity.
Heritage Academy saw another enrollment boost after
Georgia lawmakers passed 2008 legislation enabling
residents and corporations to receive dollar-for-dollar
tax credits on donations for student scholarships at
private schools.
Although Richmond County’s magnet school program
Students line the halls before heading off to class at Heritage
Academy. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE]
was created in the 1980s, Heritage Academy’s inception
predates the county’s “school choice” program enabling
parents to send children to schools outside their neighborhood
zones if seats are available.
“It wasn’t until the Cleveland voucher decision that
school choice sort of hit the headlines and people began
to think about something other than a ‘one-size-fitsall’
model,” Tucciarone said. “Parents are the best
advocates for their children; they know what they want
for their children. So bringing choice to this last place –
education – played a significant role.”
Tax-credit scholarships help fund roughly half the
student body at Heritage Academy, where tuition is
a sliding-scale based on a family’s ability to pay. The
school’s annual operating budget is $1.1 million, according
to GuideStar, a research firm that reports on nonprofits.
Aside from tuition, attendance at Heritage Academy
comes with four set-in-stone rules: children must bring
their own lunch (the school does not participate in the
National School Lunch Program); children must wear a
uniform; parents are responsible for getting their child
to school (there are no buses); and attendance at parentteacher
conferences are mandatory.
Heritage’s Christian-based philosophy is the cornerstone
of its goal to create future leaders with the strong
foundation described in Matthew 7:24.
“The scripture says, ‘the wise man built his house on a
rock,’ “ she said. “Foundations are critical. I don’t think
of this as an elementary school for the young boys and
girls under my care, I think of this as being foundational
to the rest of their lives.”
OPPOSITE PAGE: Heritage Academy Executive Director Linda Tucciarone, left, and Principal Jan Hitchcock stand at the entrance
to Heritage Academy, the newest of downtown’s three private schools. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE]
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