Innovation Academy STEAM magnet program applications for school year 2017-2018 were due Friday, February 24, 2017. Two-hundred-and-eighty-eight applications were submitted for the entire program, with 188 of those applying for sixth grade seats. One-hundred-and-twelve of those 188, applicants were from outside the Springfield Middle attendance zone.
“Due to the high demand for the program, we are excited to announce that we are adding two more sixth grade classrooms to the program; increasing the number of sixth grade seats from 80 to 120,” explained Lisa Anderson, Innovation Academy Coordinator. "Because 60% of seats must be reserved for those zoned to attend SMS, there are 48 total seats available for those 112 out of zone applicants."
Since for the second time, there are more applicants than seats available, a lottery will again determine who gets the available seats. “I wish every scholar that wanted to attend the Innovation Academy could attend. It was heartbreaking to have to turn anyone away last year,” stated Dr. Grant Bell, Springfield Middle School principal. Starting in the 2017-2018 school year there will be a total of 120 sixth grade scholars in the magnet program; 80 seventh graders and 60 in eighth grade. In 3 years, each grade will have 120 scholars.
Sixth grade applicants living in the Springfield Middle School zone, will have no lottery for the upcoming school year. A lottery for sixth grade out-of-zone seats, seventh grade in-zone and out-of-zone seats, and the single available eighth grade seat, will be held Tuesday, March 28, at 10 a.m., at the Robertson County Board of Education Central Office. Letters were mailed on March 10, to let applicants know of their status concerning the lottery. If anyone has questions about the process, please contact Lisa Anderson at:
[email protected].
The Innovation Academy was established in 2016 at Springfield Middle School with the goal of offering an exceptional Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math experience to scholars in Robertson County. The program is open to all rising sixth, seventh, and eighth grade scholars. Each scholar in the program is provided a laptop which holds their textbooks and is used for school assignments as well as communication with teachers and peers. The scholars also have access to Edgenuity, which allows them to take online courses to help supplement or enhance their learning in any given subject.