Snowy Range Academy is excited to announce plans to expand by renovating an adjacent unit in its facility starting this summer. The expansion will allow the charter school to accommodate its increasing student population.

Snowy Range Academy, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, has experienced steady growth during the last five years, especially in its middle school. The first phase of the expansion project will include construction of three new classrooms, additional bathrooms, a large multi-purpose space and an updated facade. Future phases will include meeting rooms, special education facilities, offices and more classrooms.

The expansion project was approved by the Albany County School District Board of Education during its March meeting. SRA is a free K-8 public charter school with about 260 students that operates within the district.

SRA’s facility, located on East Grand Avenue and once the home of Laramie’s Walmart, was purchased in 2014 with the intention that it would be used for education. Since then, the school has leased units in the building it isn’t using, with an eye on future expansion. Dollar Tree will be leaving the location at the end of May.

The move into the adjacent space has been in the works for several years and was coordinated to coincide with the end of Dollar Tree’s most recent lease agreement, which was negotiated a year ago.

SRA Board Chair Lindsay Schumaker said the school will miss having Dollar Tree next door.

“We’ve had a great partnership with Dollar Tree over the years, and we’ve enjoyed being their neighbor,” she said.

Schumaker said the expansion project became necessary because of SRA’s sustained growth.

“Without this expansion, SRA’s middle school would have extreme difficulty accommodating current longstanding elementary students starting in the fall of 2024. There is simply not enough classroom, bathroom and special education space at the school,” she said. “Additionally, this expansion will address significant space challenges associated with class-rotation scheduling, all-school events and indoor recess.”

Snowy Range Academy is the oldest charter school in Wyoming, founded by a group of parents who believed in high expectations, character education and fairness for all students. The school employs the Core Knowledge curriculum, which emphasizes educational excellence as an avenue for empowering children in a diverse democracy.

Music teacher Amy Cowell said she loves SRA’s community of supportive parents and teachers, and she’s looking forward to more space as the school continues to grow.

“I am very excited to have a larger community space for assemblies, back-to-school nights and evening events,” she said.