American Leadership Academy opens new classrooms and a gym in Monroe, a Hayco project
The K-8 charter school cut the ribbon on July 16, 2026, ahead of an Aug. 3 first day. Its engineer, Langan, says the work added 22 classrooms, offices and a gymnasium "to better serve 1,100 students."
American Leadership Academy of Monroe spent a school year building. On Thursday, July 16, 2026, the K-8 public charter school cut the ribbon on the result: new classrooms, a gymnasium, and a kitchen inside the gym where students can get hot meals.
Hayco Construction, a commercial contractor based in Pilot Mountain, calls the expansion its project, and Langan, the engineering firm that designed the site work, lists Hayco as its client. Students were scheduled to start using the new space on Aug. 3, the first day of the 2026-27 school year, the Enquirer Journal of Monroe reported.
Hayco showed the job in progress on Feb. 10, 2026. Its photos showed a two-story classroom building going up beside a larger building. The company described the larger one as "a multipurpose facility sporting a gymnasium as well as a dining hall with a kitchen."
Langan's project page puts numbers to it: 22 classrooms, administrative offices and a gymnasium on the 29-acre campus, "to better serve 1,100 students." None of the public accounts gave the project's cost or the size of the new buildings in square feet.
Langan says its own work included stormwater management, grading, utility design and a geotechnical study of the soil beneath the site. The school is overseen by Charter One, the paper says, and Langan names Charter One Development as a strategic partner on the project.
Bridget Jones, the school's director, spoke to the crowd before the ribbon cutting. "It creates a space for more students to experience … having education with a purpose," Jones said of the expansion.
Abigail Strait, Charter One's vice president of PK-12 operations, told the paper what the space will add. "We're really excited about the increase in extracurriculars that we'll be able to offer with this space," Strait said. "We'll be able to expand athletics and eventually grow a fine arts program at the junior high level too, so that we can put on concerts and things like that in the gym."
About this story
By Sotwire Desk. Written by Sotwire Desk from the sources below. Not a company attestation.
Sotwire Desk. Written by a named Sotwire editor from the sources cited below. Not a company attestation. Sotwire corrects errors publicly.
Key facts
- Hayco Construction
- Monroe, NC
- Projects
- Desk reported
- Sotwire Desk
- American Leadership Academy of Monroe, a K-8 public charter school
- Charter One (per the Enquirer Journal)
- Hayco Construction, Pilot Mountain, NC
- Langan, which lists Hayco as its client
- Charter One Development (per Langan)
- 29 acres
- 22 classrooms, administrative offices and a gymnasium, "to better serve 1,100 students"
- Classrooms, a gymnasium, and a kitchen inside the gym for hot meals
- A two-story classroom building beside a multipurpose building with a gymnasium and a dining hall with a kitchen
- Stormwater management, utility design, grading, erosion and sediment control, geotechnical study, landscape design
- The 2025-26 school year
- Project cost; size of the new buildings in square feet
Key events
- Hayco posted progress photos of the expansion
- The school held a ribbon cutting for the expansion
- The Enquirer Journal reported the opening
- Students were scheduled to start using the new space
Sources
- ALA Monroe expanding opportunities one new space at a time · The Enquirer Journal (Michael Wayne O'Neill), Jul 17, 2026 · accessed 2026-10-17
- American Leadership Academy (portfolio project) · Langan · accessed 2026-10-17
- Exciting updates at our project with American Leadership Academy in Monroe, North Carolina · Hayco Construction on LinkedIn, Feb 10, 2026 · accessed 2026-10-17
- American Leadership Academy Monroe Campus Expansion: Project Overview · Hayco Construction · accessed 2026-10-17