Students at a local academy will soon all be located on the same campus.
Countryside Academy announced it will break ground on a new elementary building October 31 at 1 p.m. on the Meadowbrook campus, 4800 Meadowbrook Road, Benton Harbor. The new building will house Young Fives through 5th grade students, as well as a K-12 cafeteria where meals will be prepared for students.
Countryside lead administrator Sarah Brookshire says will feature a total of 19 classrooms, and the old building on the Millburg campus has been sold to become a Tri-County Head Start location.
“Currently our early learning center is about five miles away,” Brookshire said. “Especially with staffing shortages, that makes it difficult when staff are traveling between both campuses. Also, we’re physically maxed out of space on both campuses. It will be nice to have some extra space.”
The Meadowbrook campus’ main building will become a six-twelfth grade building. This transition allows for all students and staff to be located on one campus and grade-level bands to be housed in one building.
Brookshire also said that having the early learning center on the main campus will allow for more agricultural learning opportunities on their 100-plus-acre campus.
Additionally, Countryside Academy’s Board of Directors has tentative plans to add an air dome structure for physical education classes and athletic teams.
“The goal is between 40,000 square feet and over 100,000 square feet,” said Brookshire, adding that part of the project is not finalized. “The 100,000 square foot would have the ability to have a full-size turf soccer field.”
The elementary building is scheduled to be completed by the start of the 2023-2024 school year. Building renderings can be located on at countrysideacademy.org.
