TYLER, Texas —
Starting immediately, Cumberland Academy will begin construction on a new middle school campus where the former East Texas Christian Academy campus was located on Roy Road.
Upon opening in 2021-2022, it will accommodate approximately 400 7th and 8th grade students and will include a cafeteria, gymnasium, baseball field and soccer/lacrosse field.
It will also house classrooms for band, orchestra, choir, dance, and theater. An enclosed courtyard will have games, areas to eat outdoors, and an amphitheater. It will be environmentally friendly and economically efficient with solar panels, an independent water source, and waste disposal. Of utmost importance to the Cumberland leadership is security and safety. The school will have a basic quadrangular design, singular daytime entrance, and security cameras (in conjunction with the Texas Guardian Program) which will make it one of the safest campuses in East Texas.
The new middle school will allow for a reorganization and expansion of the Elementary School on Shiloh road into two campuses. The current elementary school will house kindergarten through third grade and the present middle school will have 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. Each campus will have their own Principal and administrative staff. The kindergarten building will have expanded space for Cumberland staff’s children daycare and a new pre-K program which will start this coming 2020-2021 school year.
All of these changes will allow Cumberland Academy to accommodate over 250 new elementary aged students, significantly reducing the elementary school waiting list which averages 300-500 prospective students each year.