By Mike Hazlip—
On Wednesday, Citrus Heights planning commissioners will hold a public hearing and review revised plans for a proposed charter school on a 3-acre site at Antelope Road and Old Auburn Road.
Public documents available online show the plan includes development of the American River Collegiate Academy, a charter school for kindergarten through sixth grade students. The school will have a 25,000-square-foot, two-story building with 22 classrooms along with administrative offices. A 5,500-square-foot multi-purpose building is also planned for the site.
The publicly funded charter school is part of the Rocklin Academy Family of Schools, which includes Rocklin Academy, Rocklin Academy Gateway, Rocklin Academy Preschool, and Western Sierra Collegiate Academy.
Traffic flow is designed to travel around the site in a circular pattern, with pick-up and drop-off at the north end of the property. Access to the school would be through an existing parking lot of Antelope Road Christian Fellowship. One building on church property would need to be demolished to provide entrance to the school.
A projected enrollment chart in the document shows the school will add a grade level each year until the 2027-28 school year when the final sixth grade class opens. Projected enrollment begins at just under 100 students for the 2021-22 school year and tops out at 558 for the 2027-28 school year.
“Although enrollment is open to all students, and a preference is given to students who reside in San Juan Unified School District,” the charter school says in documents submitted to the city. “Rocklin Academy is committed to serving families in the Citrus Heights community. All of its current outreach efforts for student recruitment for the school has been in the City of Citrus Heights, especially the 3-mile radius around the Project Site.”
The planned site includes almost 60 on-site parking spaces with an additional 48 off-site spaces to accommodate the projected total demand of over 100 spaces.
Associated landscaping and recreational improvements are also part of the new development, according to documents.
The Sentinel previously reported the school plans to open for the school year beginning in Fall 2022.
The charter school is currently using classroom facilities at the Temple Or Rishon in Orangevale near Hazel and Oak avenues, after school officials couldn’t find a suitable existing facility within Citrus Heights.
Plans for the school’s new facility in Citrus Heights were formally submitted to the city in October 2020, with modified plans resubmitted in March. Numerous modifications and clarifications have been made regarding building height, landscaping, traffic flow, and other items.
