A 300-acre cattle and equestrian farm set amid woods and a creek in Ooltewah may soon be home to a new environmental-focused charter school modeled after Ivy Academy in Soddy-Daisy.
“Everything is looking good,” Ivy Academy Executive Director Holly Slater said in a phone interview Thursday.
She and other planners have met with Hamilton County Schools and Superintendent Justin Robertson, and are set to submit a letter of intent to apply for authorization of a Tennessee public charter school by Dec. 1.
If approved, Ivy Academy’s J&S Ranch Campus would open in fall 2028 to 200 elementary school students in kindergarten through fourth grade. It would reach max capacity as a K-12 school in its eighth year, with three classes per grade and 883 students. The application deadline for students is Feb. 1, 2027.
About three months ago, J&S Ranch owners Joe Palmer and his wife, Sarah Simpson, called Slater to propose a long-term lease of 30 acres for the campus on the edge of his farm on Ooltewah-Georgetown Road.