Libertas Academy Executive Director and Founder Modesto Montero-Forman stands in front of the school’s sign inside its new state-of-the-art building at 262 Liberty St.
Reminder Publishing photo by Ryan Feyre
SPRINGFIELD — A return from winter break means a different kind of fresh start for Libertas Academy Charter School.
After almost eight years of residing at a 39,000-square-foot space on 146 Chestnut St., the college preparatory public school officially unveiled its new and improved state-of-the-art building at 262 Liberty St. for its grades 6-12 students that offers more space and opportunity for students to succeed.
The new building, which sits at around 67,000 square feet, boasts a range of new facilities, according to the school, including a cafeteria, library, fitness center, art, music and dance studios, a theatre, two science labs, a college and career readiness suite and a gymnasium.
The first floor of the new building is mainly dedicated to middle school students, and the second floor serves the high school students.
“The fact that we have dedicated spaces for our enrichment programs is really special,” said Yanela Cruz, the middle school principal at Libertas. “The fact that we can say this room is for theater, this room is for music and drumline, and this room is for dance; I don’t think a lot of schools can say that.”
Cruz has been a part of the charter school since it opened in 2017 with only a few classrooms and an initial sixth grade class of 90 students. She started as the school’s sixth grade founding science teacher, then taught seventh grade math, did some culture work for the school and then eventually became the school’s middle school principal in 2020.
Since it opened, the school’s enrollment has expanded to one additional grade each year, which means the school now serves a little more than 600 students across grades 6-12. According to its website, Libertas officially welcomed its first ever 12th grade student body for the 2024-25 school year.
The new building at Liberty Street accommodates this bigger student population and includes dedicated rooms like a media space and a college and career readiness suite, along with a “state-of-the-art” gym that can be partitioned into two spaces.
Cruz said the college and career readiness suite is particularly important because it offers a home base for Libertas students to talk about their future or to receive help on writing their college statements.
“The fact that we have a space where kids can go and they know that’s where they are going to receive those supports is really exciting,” Cruz said.
Since opening in 2017, Libertas has achieved its mission by offering “three core things” to students, according to Cruz: a rigorous academic experience, strategic supports to increase access for all learners and thoughtful character development.
She added that the school is not only able to get students “to college” but also “through college” because of its versatility and ability to offer a plethora of courses to spark students’ interests.
“Not only do we work to really support students … we also offer them extracurricular activities or enrichment activities to be able to get them to explore interests outside of the classroom,” Cruz said.
Plans for the new Libertas building began in 2015, and the project really took off in 2020. Cruz said that the school, which was founded by Executive Director Modesto Montero-Forman, spent its first three years “getting [its] sea legs under us” and growing the middle school to full capacity.
By 2020, the school was ready to actively pursue a new building, so Montero-Forman and staff spent a lot of time designing, planning consulting and fundraising over the last four to five years.
Cruz said the school ran a fundraising project with a goal of raising $1.7 million for the new school, but due to generous donations and support from the school’s board, Libertas raised $2.4 million for the new school project, which allowed the school’s staff to make additional upgrades.
“I think we’ve been really blessed,” Cruz said. “And that is a direct result of a lot of work we’ve done over the last four years to get our academic program right.”
In preparation for this transition into the new building, Cruz said students took pictures of their old home rooms as a send off to the old building and spent the end of last week learning about the new school’s classrooms and routines through an orientation process.
The school officially went live with its approximately 600 students on March 3.
“I’m eager to see how we continue to write our story,” Cruz said of the new school. “I think that this building is really going to be an opportunity for us to continue to remove barriers from kids having access that they’re truly deserving of. Our kids deserve a building like this.”
Readers can learn more about Libertas Academy by visiting libertasacademy.org.
