R-7 and UCM recognize unique partnership setting stage for construction of shared educational facility at community event

Lee’s Summit community members celebrated a unique partnership opportunity involving the Lee’s Summit R-7 School District and the University of Central Missouri at a Jan. 28 ceremony and open house, held at Summit Technology Academy / Missouri Innovation Campus.At the special event, leaders from the two educational organizations officially signed a lease agreement that sets the stage for Lee’s Summit R-7 and UCM to develop a unique shared facility designed to serve both high-school and college students. During the ceremony, Dr. David McGehee, Lee’s Summit R-7 superintendent, and Dr. Charles Ambrose, UCM president, discussed the two entities’ successful partnership and plans for the shared building. The event also included presentations from Summit Technology Academy / Missouri Innovation Campus (STA / MIC) students Brett Burasco, Quinn Cosgrove and Annamarie Hurst as well as tours of STA / MIC.

Through the legal agreement, R-7 and UCM commit to coordinating and cooperating with one another in order to construct and operate a shared educational facility that will house R-7’s Summit Technology Academy, UCM programs currently located in the university’s Summit Center and the Missouri Innovation Campus. UCM and Lee’s Summit R-7 are partners with Metropolitan Community College (MCC) and a number of industry-leading businesses in the nationally recognized Missouri Innovation Campus (MIC). Through the MIC, located within R-7’s Summit Technology Academy, the partners are reshaping the way students experience education.

The new Summit Technology Academy / Missouri Innovation Campus is a part of the R-7 School District’s April 7 no-tax-increase bond issue, which also includes numerous school improvements and playground upgrades at all elementary schools. To read an expanded article on the partnership event as well as plans for the no-tax-increase bond issue, visit this R7 website.