Doral Academy and Turner-Agassi Education Facilities Fund celebrate “Founders Day” for New Charter School in Buda

Staff Reports

BUDA – Tennis champion Andre Agassi joined leaders from Doral Academy and the Turner-Agassi Education Facilities Fund along with parents and community members today to celebrate “Founders Day” for Doral Academy – a new STEM-focused public charter school in Buda opening in August.

Today’s community celebration showcased the 58,000-square-foot school facility currently being developed at 1333 Firecracker Drive, which will initially serve 590 students from pre-K4 through sixth grade. The school is expected to grow to a full pre-K4 through 12th grade campus at maturity. The school will provide tuition free education to students from the Hays, San Marcos, Wimberley and Lockhart Independent School  Districts.  

Participants and attendees capped off the event by signing a large steel beam, which will become a  permanent part of the campus and a time capsule-type marker of those students, families and community members who were part of the school’s beginnings. 

“We are extremely excited to be opening the doors of this beautiful facility in just a few months to provide a rigorous and relevant STEM curriculum to the students of Buda and many nearby communities,” said Jennifer M. DeSousa, Superintendent and Principal of Doral Academy. “Today’s event helped generated positive momentum toward our opening and helped spread the word to families that this exceptional academic option is available to local students.” 

Open-enrollment applications are available now for entering students at www.doralacademytx.com.  Application and enrollment are free, though subject to waitlist availability. Doral Academy of Texas is part of the nationally acclaimed Doral Academy, Inc. network of charter schools. The public is invited to visit a model classroom and school leaders area at Sunfield Station, located at 2610 Main Street, Suite #105 in Buda.  

Doral Academy is an investment of the Turner-Agassi Education Facilities Fund, a mission-driven social impact investment fund managed by Turner Impact Capital that accelerates the growth of high-performing charter schools by providing resources and real estate expertise to top school operators across the nation. At maturity, the two-story school will feature 50 classrooms as well as STEM lab, state-of-the-art educational technology, and flexible classroom designs. On-campus sports enrichment will also be available for students at all grade levels.

“Young people in the Greater Austin area and throughout the country deserve access to high-performing,  learning-friendly public schools,” said Andre Agassi, co-Managing Partner of the Turner-Agassi Education  Facilities Fund. “The impressive facility being developed right now in Buda for Doral Academy holds  extraordinary promise for students throughout this region, and represents exactly what we created our Fund to accomplish.”

The Austin area offers an abundance of career opportunities in the STEM fields. Not only is the region home  to Tesla’s Gigafactory and a future $17 billion Samsung semiconductor factory, but Kyle and Buda are science and tech powerhouses in their own right. Known as Texas’ “Innovation Corridor,” Doral Academy’s service area includes state-of-the-art hospital systems, colleges, massive logistics centers, as well as innovative enterprises like ENF Technology, Infarm, Redbird Flight Simulations, Chem-Energy Corp.’s battery and solar power plants, and more.  

“Doral Academy aims to be a key strategic partner for our booming ‘Innovation Corridor,’ growing our region’s next generation of tech, engineering and science professionals,” said Krista Piferrer, Chair of Doral Academy’s local Board of Directors.  

Securing high-quality, long-term facilities is often one of the greatest impediments faced by charter school  leaders. Turner-Agassi provides resources, development experience, and a passion for educational excellence to help top school operators focus on their first priority: helping students succeed. 

Turner-Agassi is backed by a world-class group of institutional investors who share a commitment to effecting positive societal change in urban centers across the United States. To date, the Fund has developed and delivered more than 115 schools for best-in-class charter school operators, serving nearly 60,000 students in communities around the United States. 

“Doral Academy has been a wonderful partner for Turner-Agassi, and we are eagerly looking forward to  celebrating the opening of this landmark charter school campus in August as it begins to serve the future  leaders of this community,” said Glenn Pierce, Turner Impact Capital’s President of Education Initiatives.  

About Doral Academy 

Doral Academy is a system of high-quality K-12 public charter schools serving families for over 15 years with  some of the highest-performing schools in the nation. The network’s first school in Texas will open later this  year, joining schools in Florida, Nevada and North Carolina. Doral Academy promotes a culture that maximizes student achievement and is a three-time National Blue Ribbon School designee. 

About the Turner-Agassi Education Facilities Fund 

The Turner-Agassi Education Facilities Fund is a mission-driven impact investment fund managed by Turner  Impact Capital that provides resources and expertise to high-performing charter school operators across the nation, enabling them to access top-quality facilities. For more information, please visit www.turnerimpact.com.