See Fayette’s newest school, and the 6 others that are planned in the long-term

The new $58-plus-million Rise STEM Academy for Girls opened in Lexington Monday.

A few hundred people, including Rise students, were at the ribbon cutting.

Ke’Ala Barber, mother of second-grader Kayson Barber and fifth-grader Rowan Barber, said the difference between the former Linlee Elementary on Spurr Road where Rise was located last year and the new building was significant.

“We didn’t even have a gym and now we have this massive gym that’s going to hold 900 students. I’m excited,” she said.

Rise currently includes grades K-6.

With that school opening, six other new schools are either under construction or included in a state-required long-term district facilities plan.

The K-5 George Washington Carver Stem Academy for Boys is currently also in the new building that opened at 988 Mason Headley Road, a decision that was controversial because Rise parents wanted their own building. But the Fayette County Public Schools facilities plan through 2029, which was approved by the Kentucky Department of Education last year, includes a proposed new $18.7 million building for the Carver Academy at an undetermined location.

Other proposed schools included in the 2025 district facilities plan — but not yet voted on by the Fayette County Board of Education — include a $28.7 million Pre-K through 5th grade school on Polo Club Boulevard, a new $28. 7 million K-5 Maxwell Spanish Immersion Elementary School to replace the existing building, and a new $38 million 4-8 grade SCAPA of the Bluegrass school to replace the existing building.

The new $178.9 million 9-12 grade Henry Clay High School on Fontaine Road is under construction and scheduled to be completed June 2028. The new $50.5 million Helen Caise Elementary on Greendale Road also is under construction and scheduled to be completed July 2027.

A $9 million Paul Laurence Dunbar High School roof and turf/track replacement is currently underway and scheduled to be completed December 2026.

On the long-term facilities plan, renovations are planned through 2029 for several buildings including Lafayette High School, and Beaumont, Southern, and Winburn Middle schools.

‘New space represents possibility’

On Monday, Acting Fayette Superintendent Bill Bradford, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, Fayette County Board of Education Chair Tyler Murphy, and Rise Principal Cynthia Bruno were at the Rise Academy ribbon cutting at the school.

“This new space represents possibility,” Bruno said. “It’s a place where every girl who walks through our doors will know that she belongs. She belongs in science labs, in engineering classrooms. She belongs behind a microscope, at a robotics table, in a design studio, on a stage presenting her ideas and one day, in boardrooms, research facilities, hospitals, startups, and anywhere that her dreams take her. Every space in this building was designed with purpose.”

When Rise STEM Academy opened in 2020 with 150 girls in kindergarten, first, and second grade, it was with the understanding that its current location on Spurr Road was temporary, said district spokesperson Miranda Scully.

A permanent building for Rise was one of the top priorities in a previous district’s facilities plan.

In the spring of 2022, the Fayette County Board of Education voted to initiate steps to buy the 35-acre Versailles Road property.

In August 2023, district officials formally initiated the paperwork to seek approval for the project.

After almost a year of applications, construction, planning, and listening to students, staff, and families to help inform the design of a state-of-the-art building, construction began in the summer of 2024.

Monday’s ribbon cutting brings that project full circle from a seedling program to a $58.5 million world-class facility “worthy of the education program that will be housed here,” district officials said.

The design and final product is derived from feedback, Scully said. It includes flexible furniture options requested by students and specialized maker-space layouts refined by STEM educators.

Each decision in the design of the building reflects an instructional purpose, Scully said, such as the grade-level pods with shared collaboration areas to maximize instructional engagement.

Students will have class in the new academy for the first time on Aug. 12, FCPS’ first day of school.

This story was originally published August 3, 2026 at 9:14 AM with the headline "See Fayette’s newest school, and the 6 others that are planned in the long-term."