State’s first STEM Academy to open in Canton

RIDGELAND, Miss. (WLBT) - Metro-area families will have a new option for learning in 2022.

Earlier this year, the Ridgeland-based non-profit organization SR1 submitted their plans for a charter school that will be located in Canton, and those plans were recently approved.

SR1 Chief Operating Officer Dorlisa Hutton told 3 On Your Side, the school will be called the SR1 College Preparatory and STEM Academy.

Hutton said it will be the state’s first STEM Academy.

“It will focus on providing K-5 students the skills needed for critical thinking and college readiness,” Hutton said. “We will start our school year in August 2022 with incoming Kindergarteners. We will enroll 75 kindergarteners and 75 first graders, and each year we will scale up until we’re at K-5.”

Hutton said the organization looks forward to opening the stem academy to help reduce disparities for Mississippi students.

“As an organization, we’ve been providing access to equitable education because we know a lot of the students we currently serve, who are K-12 students throughout Central Mississippi, just don’t have access to things such as robotics or engineering, which builds critical thinking. Collaboration and communication skills are vital for 21st-century learners.”

SR1 is currently looking for public and private partners, as well as educators.

“Partners can serve as mentors to our students and provide additional learning outlets both academically and socially,” Hutton said. “For a lot of students, especially students in Mississippi, unless they grew up in a household where they’re exposed to someone in a STEM major; a doctor or an engineer, they really don’t get to see the ins and outs of those fields. We want to expose our students early to those in the fields.”

SR1 currently serves students in Madison, Hinds, Scott, and Leake Counties.

For more information, call 601-206-4544 or email info@sr1tech.org

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