Support LFLA » Capital Campaigns

Capital Campaigns

Current Capital Campaign

 

Despite rising labor costs, supply chain challenges, and a return to in-person learning over the past year, the air has been buzzing with the sounds of construction encompassing two city blocks along South Broadway.

The elementary school, which opened in 2019 and serves 200 students in Kindergarten through 4th grade,  is more than 22,600 square feet of educational space including ten classrooms, a large flex space that contains a maker space, special education classrooms, a reading and literacy office, full-service cafeteria with small gym, outdoor activity area (that includes both hard surface and green spaces), and administrative offices.

With the purchase of the property immediately to the north in 2021, LFLA now has another new building with more than 20,000 square feet for expanded arts, physical education (weight room and exercise equipment on the ground floor), and flexible classrooms in addition to administrative offices and an expanded health care facility through its ongoing partnership with Affinia health.

The gym, which opened in 2018, will finally have locker rooms with showers by the end of 2022. As part of this construction project, a lobby link opened in 2022, connecting the gym to the main (original) LFLA building. The shell of a studio theater was roughed in and will connect to the lobby and gym when completed. Assuming successful fundraising, the theater will open by the end of 2023. Click here for more details about the theater and locker room project.

Across the street from the main complex will be a newly constructed 5th and 6th Grade Center specifically designed to meet the unique emotional, physical, and educational needs of students as they enter adolescence as part of the transition from elementary to middle school. This Center opens in August 2023 when LFLA becomes a kindergarten through 12th grade Academy serving more than 900 St. Louis city students.

None of these projects would be possible without the generosity of our donors

Phase III of LFLA Elementary School

Phase III of the elementary school represents the final, major construction of the master plan for the school.  This addition includes, on the second floor, the final set of modern, spacious classrooms to round-out the number needed for the K-4 population.  A science lab, designed for this age group is a component of the second-floor rooms.  The first floor will provide the school with a large, flexible, multiuse room suitable for recess during inclimate weather, large gatherings, indoor sports, etc.  This room is designed to also serve as a safe haven storm shelter to withstand tornados.

 

If you would like to tour these new facilities and learn more about how you can help us, please contact Susan Kelter at [email protected].

Concrete Strategies crew working on the
theatre and locker room construction site.
 
 

 

Completed Capital Campaigns

 

Cast of "The Wiz"

 

Completed in Spring 2023, this area includes an all-new foyer, theater, and classroom! With 190 seats, the theater serves as a multi-purpose space where students can produce & perform theatrical and musical arts, engage in speech and debate, and hold classes. We celebrated the opening of our theater with a student-led production of “The Wiz.”

Completed in Fall 2022, the 5th and 6th Grade Center serves as a bridge for students making the transition from elementary school to middle school. Recognizing that puberty begins around that time, school leaders determined that a separate learning center for 5th and 6th graders would meet the unique needs of the students and provide extra classrooms for 5th graders.
Elementary PlaygroundOur elementary school opened in Fall 2019, to provide young students with a strong academic foundation and set them up for success at our middle and high school communities. Our elementary school features brand- new art and music classrooms; a state-of-the-art science room (with a full kitchen), working garden, and chicken coop in support of “Our Planet,” the school’s gardening and sustainability program; and space in the basement for athletics at all grade levels.
outside gymAfter recognizing the need to have a gym on campus after years of bussing our students to other locations for athletic events, the Dennis and Judy Jones Health and Wellness Center was completed in September 2018. Since then, the gym has been home to a variety of events for Lift athletic teams, including volleyball, wrestling and basketball.
 
Our Lady Hawks won the 2021 Girls State Basketball Championship – a first for any public charter school in the City of St. Louis!
Gym Ribbon CuttingState Champs