April 2025
Dear Parents/Guardians of The Crest Academy & Horizons Exploratory Academy,
As I’m sure you are well aware at this point, both of the non-traditional schools of the Salida School District are going to be on the same campus located at 627 Oak Street. While there are many details and logistics to still work out I wanted to take this opportunity to name a few things…
We are so grateful to the Board of Education and the Salida community for supporting and investing in all students. Students and staff are super excited about this new space!
The Crest Academy and Horizons Exploratory Academy will not become one school. Both schools will continue to be separate, unique entities with one Principal (me!) overseeing them both. Developmentally, 10 year olds are much different than 18 year olds, so we have no intention of combining the 2 programs.
We do have some Crest 8th graders who are at advanced Math levels, so they will walk to HEA side of campus for Algebra I and Geometry with Mr. Lapp. This is something we have been doing for years and we will continue to do as we want to support our Crest students who are ready for high school math.
Crest staff and HEA staff will collaborate in ways that work for them. For example, our Science teachers are already sharing resources to establish aquaponics systems at both schools, etc. All teachers at both Crest and HEA are incredibly strong, so it makes sense to share ideas and resources.
As one campus, we will run emergency drills at the same time - because if one side of the building is on fire, the other side will need to evacuate, etc.
The official ribbon cutting for the new part of the building will be at the June 10th Board of Education meeting. Then, in the Fall, we will have an Open House so you get to see the beautiful new HEA space. Stay tuned for details!
If you have any immediate/urgent questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Thanks,
Kristie Servis
Principal
719-207-1401