LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY)-- The Lafayette Renaissance Charter Academy is expanding because of an increase in student enrollment.

At the high school location, both middle school and high school students are being housed in the same building at Lafayette Renaissance High School. Because of this, a middle school location is being built next to the high school.

Dr. Ronnie Harrison, the head of schools for Lafayette Renaissance Charter Academy, said the high school location is reaching its capacity because of student enrollment.

"The great thing about our schools is that we have pre-K through 12th grade," Harrison said.

Although the students are in different sites, the staff is still able to help kids grow. Designed to hold 900 students, the current student count is nearly 800 middle and high school students, with more on the waiting list.

"It's a great thing that we have a lot of interested people and families that want to come to our school. That's why we are continuing to expand," Harrison said.

Harrison said because his goal is to build culture, create a safe and nurturing environment, as well as produce productive students, expanding with the building of Lafayette Renaissance Charter Middle School will allow his staff and administration to continue doing that.

In addition to cultivating an educational space for students, Harrison said being able to give families the option to choose whether the Lafayette Renaissance Charter Academy is a school to enroll their child in amidst recent changes to some schools in Lafayette Parish is beneficial.

"I'm proud to live in a community where parents have the opportunity to choose the best educational opportunity for their children," he said.

Dr. Nikaliste Sellers, who will be the principal of Lafayette Renaissance Charter Middle School, said she's excited about the opening of the school.

"Having that expansion from K-12 now we're really going to have that linear process for our students so they're not having to choose options between every school," she said.

Sellers said she's hopeful that once enrolled at Lafayette Renaissance Charter Middle School, students could earn high school credits so "they will have a better opportunity to finish high school early, to graduate early, to start college early."

She says it's a way they can get credits for free and decrease the financial burden of college.

"We're very excited about this because we're going to have an opportunity now for our kids to have a bridge between that elementary lifestyle to high school. So now when they're on that campus, you know, middle school is there's a lot of growing during that time frame of the adolescent life," Sellers said.

Construction is expected to be completed sometime next year. Although a waiting list is in place, enrollment for Lafayette Renaissance Academy is open now until Dec. 30.

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