Independence Academy Completes Event Center through Creative Funding & Community Partnerships

Independence Academy recently celebrated the grand opening of its 600-seat auditorium, gymnasium and student art gallery—highlighting the extra effort charter schools must make to create community-serving facilities in the absence of traditional district funding.

Solving the Shared Facilities Challenge

The new event center addresses a challenge many charter schools face: building spaces that don't generate additional per-pupil revenue but are essential for whole-child education. Independence Academy's solution? Make it a true community asset through sharing agreements.

The facility is large enough for all the students to gather in one place at the same time and will also host:

• Theater and performance-based community partners
• Gymnasium access for smaller private schools
• Meeting space for community organizations like the Western Colorado Guitar Society
• The valley's largest K-8 arts program (their art teacher is a League Teacher of the Year recipient)

“These spaces traditionally spend a lot of time unused,” explains Independence Academy Executive Director Lisa Gonsalves. “We wanted to help smaller schools have quality facilities through sharing agreements.”

Creative Funding Model

To fund the new event center, Independence Academy issued its own bond (not district-supported) and secured competitive grants from Mesa County Federal Mineral Lease District and the Gates Foundation.

With 40 acres available to develop, the school has been adding to its campus incrementally, leveraging strong credit to grow responsibly over time.

Results That Matter

The new arts and culture space supports Independence Academy’s whole-child approach and delivers measurable academic outcomes. Students recently won a statewide Prodigy contest for solving the most math problems, while maintaining the highest science and math scores in their area.

The results challenge commonly held assumptions about academic rigor. Independence Academy operates the largest arts program in the valley—with robust music, art and performance offerings—yet outperforms traditional schools in core academics. Their model demonstrates that integrating arts and expeditionary learning doesn't dilute academic excellence; it enhances it. Students who engage in creative expression, global citizenship projects and performance alongside rigorous coursework aren't just well-rounded, they're academically competitive at the highest levels.

“Each charter school manages their facilities differently,” says Gonsalves. “It depends on what you want to solve for and where your priorities are.”

Learn more: www.independenceacademygj.com.