Case Studies

The Academy of Math & Science (AMS) transitioned a former public school into a charter school, renovating an underutilized facility to expand its educational reach into Arkansas. The primary goal was to transform the outdated school into a vibrant learning environment that enhances academic achievement and student engagement. A key challenge was balancing modernization with the preservation of the building’s significance to the community. Given the community’s deep ties to the original structure, the renovation aimed to respect its legacy while implementing a future-focused design that meets the needs of today’s students.  

Approach 

The 31,245-square-foot building was modernized to support AMS’s academic programs: 

• Classroom and Facility Upgrades: Flexible classrooms provide teachers with the tools to foster student creativity and collaboration while supporting the individual learning strengths of each student. Common areas were updated to create an effective learning environment. 

• Exterior and Infrastructure Enhancements: The building’s exterior was revitalized, and infrastructure improvements were made. 

• Safety and Parent Engagement: The site’s traffic flow was reoriented for safety, a storm shelter large enough to accommodate the entire student body was added, and a new entrance focal wall was constructed. The welcoming visual experience immediately engages the public, giving AMS a strong sense of place within the community. 

Results 

• Space Utilization: The renovated facility accommodates 600 to 800 students. 

• Modern Learning Environment: The updated school provides improved classrooms and amenities that support student engagement and achievement. 

• Enhanced Safety and Accessibility: Infrastructure modifications ensure a secure environment for students, while the new entrance fosters a stronger connection between AMS and the community. 

Conclusion 

The renovation and transition to a charter school have enabled AMS – Little Rock to provide a functional learning environment, meeting the educational needs of the community while prioritizing safety, engagement, and academic excellence. 

Valor North Austin
Valor North Austin is a K-12 school situated on one of the smallest parcels of land for any K-12 institution in Austin, Texas. Despite its compact 5.27-acre campus, it accommodates a 95,000-square-foot facility and serves 1,200 students across all grade levels.

Opportunity
The development of Valor North Austin faced significant challenges due to the scarcity of suitable real estate in Austin’s densely developed urban landscape. Identifying a site that could support a K-12 school was particularly difficult, given the high demand for space and the associated affordability challenges in the region. A former medical technical college building offered a promising opportunity but required a comprehensive redevelopment plan to meet the needs of a growing K-12 student body.

Approach
The project was executed in two phases:

• Phase 1 (Opened 2021):
  The existing 44,000-square-foot medical college building underwent a complete renovation. This phase focused on creating functional classrooms and enhancing the building’s exterior to suit the needs of a K-12 environment.
• Phase 2 (Opened 2024):
  A new 50,000-square-foot facility was constructed and integrated with the renovated structure. Key features added in this phase included:
  • Classrooms and specialized spaces, such as a black box theater and science lab.
  • Recreational facilities, including a full gym with weight rooms, a covered turf space, and playgrounds.
  • Infrastructure improvements, such as parking areas, queuing zones, on-site stormwater detention, and plans for a future rooftop play area.

Results
The redevelopment of Valor North Austin transformed a compact urban site into a vibrant K-12 campus.

• The campus provides a high-quality learning environment, complete with state-of-the-art facilities and recreational spaces.
• It serves as a model of efficiency, demonstrating how careful planning and execution can make the most of limited space. Valor North Austin exemplifies exceptional efficiency in design and planning, maximizing the use of its small campus footprint.
• The phased approach ensured that the campus could open and operate while construction progressed, minimizing disruption to the school community.
• Overcoming the challenges of affordability and limited space required innovative design solutions and strategic negotiations to ensure budget adherence.

Valor North Austin continues to thrive, supporting the educational and extracurricular needs of its diverse student body while maintaining a flexible design to adapt to future growth.

IDEA Victory is a K-12 school located in Tampa, Florida, designed to serve a growing student body in an underserved community. Opened in 2021, the school features a 117,778-square-foot facility on a 9.27-acre campus. It has quickly become a vital educational resource, fostering community growth and providing essential learning opportunities to its students.

Opportunity

The development of IDEA Victory required the strategic acquisition of an off-market property and the adaptive reuse of a retail shopping center. With limited availability of large-scale properties capable of accommodating a 1,500-student school, InSite collaborated closely with local Tampa brokers to find and secure this “needle in a haystack” site. The acquisition process involved complex coordination, including amending parking and access agreements and working closely with other property owners within the shopping center. The project overcame these challenges, transforming a retail space into a thriving educational hub for the community.

Approach

The project was executed as Adaptive Re-Use:

• The 117,778-square-foot retail shopping center was transformed into a state-of-the-art K-12 facility, with modern classrooms, specialized spaces, and recreational facilities.
• Infrastructure improvements included the amendment of parking and access agreements, ensuring smooth operations for both the school and neighboring businesses.

Results

IDEA Victory has quickly become a cornerstone of the Tampa community, providing high-quality education and supporting the revitalization of the surrounding neighborhood.

• The adaptive reuse of the shopping center has maximized the potential of an existing structure, offering a modern and efficient educational space.
• The school has significantly impacted the local community, providing essential resources and educational opportunities in an area that had previously lacked them.
• IDEA Victory continues to thrive, playing a pivotal role in both the academic development of its students and the growth of the surrounding neighborhood.

BASIS Cedar Park is a cutting-edge K-12 school located in Cedar Park, Texas. The 9.8-acre campus features a 77,818-square-foot facility designed to deliver a rigorous, STEM-focused education. Opened in 2024, the school has quickly become a highly sought-after institution, with a waitlist exceeding 3,000 students, providing exceptional educational opportunities to the Cedar Park community.

Opportunity

The development of BASIS Cedar Park presented unique challenges, particularly in land acquisition and site development. The property was subdivided from a larger parcel, and an easement was secured from an adjacent landowner to construct a turn lane, ensuring proper transportation access. Despite these challenges, the school has thrived, meeting the growing demand for high-quality education in the area.

Approach

• The project was executed as Ground-up Development:
• The building was designed to accommodate a full K-12 curriculum, with a focus on STEM education.
• The campus includes specialized STEM labs, modern classrooms, gymnasiums, and outdoor recreational spaces.
• Infrastructure improvements, including the necessary turn lane, were completed to meet transportation and access requirements.

Results

BASIS Cedar Park has quickly become a cornerstone of the Cedar Park community, providing a top-tier educational environment.

• The campus supports a rigorous academic curriculum, preparing students for success inscience, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
• The development process successfully navigated complex land transactions and infrastructure challenges, creating a safe, efficient campus.
• With strong demand for enrollment, BASIS Cedar Park continues to offer exceptionallearning opportunities and remains a highly anticipated educational choice for local families.

About This Project

Living Springs Church is a small neighborhood church of less than 50 congregants with a total land size of approximately 2.5 acres (useable acreage 1.75). InSite EFS assisted in the church in forming a mutually beneficial partnership with College Preparatory Middle School, a nonprofit charter school with approximately 500 students.

Opportunity

• In 2014, 40-year-old Living Springs Church identified that with its dwindling congregation, the organization needed a new strategy for its property usage. However, the church, although relatively small, was still active and required a weekly place to meet on Sundays and one weekday night.
• In 2014, College Preparatory Middle School was a growing charter school organization located at a temporary campus not far from Living Springs Church. The school had outgrown its facility and needed to purchase a permanent property for its campus.

Approach

InSite EFS structured a partnership between the two organizations that allowed Living Springs Church to sell its property to College Preparatory Middle School, while also giving Living Springs a long-term permanent home at the property. Once sold, the property was redeveloped into a beautiful school campus with space for the church to meet.

Results

The proceeds of the sale allowed Living Springs Church to remain financially sustainable for many years to come, while still being able to have services at the newly redeveloped property for the long term. College Preparatory Middle School will be able to serve its 500-plus students and provide them a safe, productive, and inclusive permanent environment.

About This Project

One of the largest and most successful networks of public charter schools in the country needed to identify and secure a permanent facility for an approximate 600-student educational facility in an extremely dense urban market.

Challenge/Opportunity

KIPP SoCal retained InSite to help them identify and purchase a property that would be developed into a campus that would house one of its existing middle schools. This school was currently operating in a temporary facility.  The property needed to be within proximity to KIPP’s existing feeder school. The requirement was in East Los Angeles, a dense urban community.

Approach

Utilizing our proprietary process, we identified potential areas compatible with the development of the campus. By mapping out block-by-block properties within the search boundary, we located an off-market property that met the school’s criteria.

Results

KIPP SoCal acquired and then developed the property that InSite had identified, turning it into a functional and safe environment for the students it serves. The school now serves hundreds of neighborhood students and is a resource to the surrounding community.

About This Project

A large private school (800 students) looking to purchase and then develop a property to build a permanent campus in the heart of the Silicon Valley in less than two years.

Challenge/Opportunity

The highly acclaimed BASIS Independent school retained InSite to help them secure and develop their first campus in the country. Their target, Silicon Valley, known as one of the most competitive real estate markets in the country.

Approach

By implementing our proprietary search process, leveraging our knowledge and relationships in the region we were able to identify and help the school secure an extremely viable property.

Results

As a result of InSite efforts, BASIS Independent Silicon Valley was able to open its doors in 2014 to hundreds of students with one of the most successful private school openings ever.

About This Project

A well-established faith-based organization in Los Angeles, Eagle Rock Baptist Church (“ERBC”) needed to identify a tenant to lease existing educational space on its property

Challenge/Opportunity

Like many faith-based organizations, ERBC’s sustainability relies on revenue generated by the leasing of its existing real estate assets. ERBC came to InSite needing to immediately find a school tenant that could lease its educational facility in the upcoming school year.

Approach

InSite’s close relationship with the education community allowed us to quickly market the space to all public schools, private schools, preschools, and colleges in Los Angeles. Our expertise then allowed us to quickly assess the organizations that were interested in leasing the space and determine the most viable and well-suited organization for the church.

Results

After identifying the most viable tenant, InSite was integral in helping the church and its board negotiate a long-term lease with Judson International School.

The lease with Judson not only supported ERBC’s long-term financial health but created a partnership between two mission-aligned organizations for many years to come.

About This Project

Relocation of an entire 500-student campus in the saturated San Francisco Bay Area market, in less than 3-years from search to construction to occupancy.

Challenge/Opportunity

Stratford School, which is a part of the largest private school network in the country, was given notice that its landlord would not be renewing its lease on a campus that served over 500 students. Within a 3-year period, the school had to identify, secure, entitle, and build an entire campus for 500+ students in one of the most coveted real estate markets in the county.

Approach

InSite worked hand and hand with the City of Fremont to identify areas of the city that would be suitable for the school.  We implemented our proprietary process to identify all off-market opportunities within the identified area.  We helped the school secure an entitlement contingent agreement to purchase one of the off-market properties that we had identified.

Results

Stratford purchased the off-market property and was able to open their doors on time. InSite efforts, determination, and process helped to eliminate the need for the school to find a temporary site.  Stratford was able to build a beautiful state of the art facility that will house its students for decades to come.

About This Project

Great Hearts – a nonprofit network of charter schools established in Arizona in 2007 – was seeking to expand into the Texas area. This would not only involve finding the real estate to accommodate the students but InSite EFS would also need to provide them with a strategic analysis of potential student demographics. Using the demographics to narrow the search would be the key to this project’s success.

Challenges/Opportunity

Established Charter School operator in Arizona sought growth in Texas, as they saw the need for strategic growth in a new region.

Approach

A focused real estate search combined with strategic demographics to find the most ideal location for their facilities.

Results

InSite EFS closed on multiple locations, with each one opening with a stronger initial enrollment and waiting list growth than the last. Our attention to market study and demographic analysis allowed us to find not only the most viable site for the location but also the one that was most conducive to the school’s success. Great Hearts now operates 28 charter schools throughout Arizona and Texas with more schools opening soon.