The Rise Academy for Adult Achievement held its ribbon-cutting on Thursday, celebrating its new location that has been open since August 11.
This Academy is the Washoe County School District's adult school, and the hours of operation are flexible for their students.
"We create our schedule to work around busy adults' lives," said Steve Constantino, the principal at RiSE Academy for Adult Achievement. "We are very keenly aware that adults are juggling jobs and family responsibilities, so we offer classes in the morning, and we offer classes in the evenings. We have virtual options, and we have in-class options. We do a lot of events and programming on Saturdays to make it feasible for adults to attend."
Constantino adds, "Last year we served over 1,000 students, and this new building provides us with 14 new classrooms with childcare, which is a real game changer for us. So yeah, we're capable of taking on more than 1,000 students each year. We never have 1,000 students on campus at the same time just because of our unique schedule, but we have plenty of space now, and that's all because of Washoe County School District's prioritizing this space for adults."
He also discussed how excited they are for the new building.
"The building is beautiful, and it's brand new," he said. "It validates our adults. it's safe, it's secure, it's clean, it's brand new, and it's technology-rich in all the classrooms to validate our adults and what they do."
At the academy the students have the opportunity to learn English, which is their largest program. They can also take their high school equivalency test and pick up where they left off in school.
"Never too late. We have students on our campus who are teenagers or in their 60s and 70s here to learn English," he said. "Maybe they've never touched a computer. We are here to be helpful and supportive and meet them where they are at to make sure their journey is successful."
