Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts will grow its student body next year. The K-8 school will add a ninth grade class of 50 students, made up of current eighth grade students at CSLA along with students who will be selected from a lottery later this month.
Some of CSLA’s current eighth grade class of 49 students will continue there for ninth grade, while others will move on to different schools, Principal Krystal Scarbrough said. For the open seats, families can apply for students to be entered into a lottery.
For the 2021-22 school year, the ninth graders and 99 magnet students from Lakeside Academy will attend school at CSLA’s current campus. Meanwhile, renovation and construction will take place at Lakeside Academy’s current campus before CSLA moves there the following school year.
The new CSLA campus, opening in August 2022, will consist of Lakeside Academy’s building and a new building located nearby. Some magnet students at Lakeside will start at CSLA next year, while zoned students living near Lakeside will start at the newly opened Harrison Elementary School.
For the upcoming school year, the school is repurposing portable units for the added students and putting them on the tennis court, Scarbrough said. The portable units come from East Hamilton High School and were previously used for students of East Hamilton Middle School before they moved into their new building.