Roseville commission approves John Adams Academy expansion

Roseville officials last month approved the campus expansion of John Adams Academy charter school near Interstate 80 and Lead Hill Boulevard. The Roseville Planning Commission unanimously approved the project June 26. The 1,650-student John Adams Academy is located in the Sierra Gate Plaza office complex north of Lead Hill Boulevard, east of Harding Boulevard, south of Dry Creek and west of Interstate 80. John Adams has operated a transitional kindergarten through 12th-grade program at the campus since 2011. The school expanded into four of the original eight buildings at Sierra Gate and wants to further expand into the first floor of 5 Sierra Gate Plaza. Ultimately, school officials want to convert a significant portion of the first-floor office space into more classrooms and a performing arts rehearsal space. The plan would increase the existing 117,000 square-foot Adams campus to 151,496 square feet total, staff said. "The proposed expansion will not increase the student capacity of 1,650 students or change the drop-off and pick-up procedures in place," staff announced in the planning commission report. Adams operates Northern California's only tuition-free, TK-12 "American Classical Education" charter schools at three local locations – El Dorado Hills, Lincoln and Roseville. The charter aims to prepare "future leaders and statesmen through principle-based education centered in classics and great mentors." Students enjoy a classical liberal arts curriculum of history, English, math, visual and performing arts, laboratory science, foreign language, physical education and college prep electives, according to the website. "The expansion into the first floor of 5 Sierra Gate Plaza with classrooms and performing arts rehearsal space will allow JAA to provide more after-school programming and before- and after-school care opportunities," staff said in the report. JAA was founded in 2010 with the first academy campus in Roseville in 2011. The academy expanded to El Dorado Hills and Lincoln in 2017, staff said. All campuses and programs are fully accredited by Cognia, which serves more than 36,000 public and private institutions in more than 90 countries.