JCPS eyes permanent school site for Grace James Academy

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Jefferson County Public School currently located in Louisville's west end could have a permanent home.

Since Grace James Academy of Excellence opened in 2020, the school that teaches middle and high school students has been promised a new building. The school has occupied two different facilities in the past four years. Grace James is currently located at 1615 West Broadway in the Russell neighborhood, the former Roosevelt-Perry Elementary School.

But JCPS now has a site that could become a permanent home for the school. While JCPS didn't give a precise location, the school district is looking at property along Terry Road to build a new school.

Terry Road goes through southwest Louisville, predominantly in Pleasure Ridge Park. But the site JCPS is interested in, does not have the required amount of acreage the Kentucky Department of Education requires for a school its size.

The state requires more than 20 acres, but the property JCPS is looking at only has 17 acres, according to Tuesday's board meeting agenda. The state's largest school district is asking the state to make an exception.

JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said its best practice to keep magnet schools in an urban core. The issue becomes finding enough room for the new school.

"That's been our biggest challenge all along finding a big enough plot of land not in a floodplain," Pollio said. "Unfortunately, a lot of land in this area is that, it's been difficult but we think we found some spots."

If the Kentucky Department of Education grants JCPS the exception, the Jefferson County Board of Education would still need to approve it.

Grace James Academy is an all-girls STEAM academy serving middle school and freshman and sophomores in the 2024-2025 school year.

JCPS also said its fairly close to breaking ground on Okolona Elementary, which will be built behind the existing school. Seneca High School is also expected to break ground on its new building, which will also be built next to the existing school.

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