Education Edition - 1736 Magazine, Fall 2019

TOP RIGHT: Heritage Academy students have their morning
snack. BOTTOM RIGHT: Heritage Academy students have some
quiet reading time during class. The faith-based academy
is one of three private schools in the urban core. [MICHAEL
HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE]
less on cybersecurity theory and tactics and more on backbone
architecture, such as hardware installation, network
management and computer coding.
“We’re a cyber city for the Southeast now,” she said.
“We’re at negative unemployment in that area and we
want children to be poised to get those types of jobs.”
THE FUTURE
The 50,000-square-foot building Heritage Academy
acquired in 2006 from Augusta businessman and philanthropist
Clay Boardman is starting to get crowded.
Both floors of the historic building – which operated as
the county’s John W. Houghton Elementary School from
1916-2000 – are fully occupied with classrooms, labs and
offices.
The 2-acre Greene Street property is landlocked, so
to alleviate crowding, the school hopes to raise money
to construct a small gymnasium behind the main school
building on the Ellis Street side that can double as additional
classroom space.
The school raised $2.5 million a decade ago to purchase
and renovate the original school building, which had
fallen into severe disrepair during the five-year period
it was left vacant in the heart of the city’s historic Olde
Town neighborhood.
“It had been vandalized, there were homeless people
living in the building,” Tucciarone said. “It cast an unfortunate
shadow over the neighborhood.”
The renovation of the main school building was primarily
accomplished with donated building material and
volunteer labor. The gym, which would be new construction,
does not yet have a price tag.
The school also is hoping to develop an “early learning
academy” for children as young as 2 years old. Such
centers are a hybrid between daycare centers and Pre-K
programs, where children can develop language and social
skills in a fun but structured environment.
Tucciarone sees the early learning academy as an
adjunct to the curriculum in the main school, where the
primary focus is providing young people the foundation
needed to “earn a family-sustainable wage.”
“While we offer a rigorous education, we have to
remember the end game is a job or a career that helps you
take care of your family,” she said. “We need to realize
that anyone who is going to be a contributing member to
this community needs to have a job and needs to take care
of their family. That is something to be valued.”
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