Former Tennis Great Marks New Charter School Campus

NEWARK, NJ—Former tennis champion Andre Agassi, Bobby Turner and other leaders from the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund marked the recent completion of the new campus for the University Heights Charter School here.

Its new 34,000-square-foot Upper School building consists of a renovated former button factory (opened in the fall of 2013) as well as a brand new building, which opened earlier this month. The Upper School serves 325 students in grades 3-8, and will grow to serve 450 students over the next five years.

The new campus was developed for University Heights Charter School by the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, an investment fund designed to accelerate the growth of high-performing charter schools throughout the United States. A joint venture of Turner Impact Capital and Agassi Ventures, the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund is positioned to invest more than $500 million to develop 70-75 school sites for up to 35,000 students. To date, 39 schools have been developed serving more than 17,000 students.

The University Heights Upper School building features 19 classrooms, a gym, outdoor turf field and performing arts space. The project's funding partners include M&T Bank and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

Founded in 2006, UHCS serves 625 students in neighboring locations from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade.

“We're thankful for our supportive partnership with the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, which has been instrumental in creating an Upper School designed to help students learn,” says Misha Simmonds, executive director of University Heights Charter School. “Not only will this campus build our capacity for growth, it will also help us instill the academic skills and character traits students need to be college-ready. We thank Turner-Agassi for investing in our school and our students.”

“I believe that it's our responsibility to support the work of successful schools in underserved communities like University Heights,” says Andre Agassi, the fund's co-managing partner and CEO of Agassi Ventures. “University Heights Charter School has made a difference for thousands of students here, and I'm excited this beautiful new building will help the school prepare even more students to excel in college and beyond.”