About Our Academy 

Imagine International Academy of Smyrna (IAS) is a community partnership whose purpose is to empower students to be critical thinkers, well-rounded individuals and caring world citizens by developing intellect in a nurturing environment, through a rigorous and relevant curriculum. Imagine International Academy of Smyrna had its beginnings in Imagine International Academy of Mableton (IAM), when Tracey Waddell a concerned parent contacted Imagine Schools about the possibility of opening a charter school in Mableton. On November 17th, 2005 an informational meeting was given at the Kennesaw Charter School. Several parents of children from the school were there and spoke about the benefits they have found in being a part of the charter school in their community. Fewer than 10 families from our community were represented at that first meeting. Word began to spread, primarily by way of the internet and word of mouth. Three weeks later, the first community meeting was held in a neighborhood clubhouse. Over 150 families were represented. At that time, committees were formed and the effort to make the idea of a charter school a reality began in force. Three months later, the next community meeting was held. Over 400 families were now represented. It became very apparent that more than one school was needed to support the interest of the community. Imagine Schools announced that they would fund two schools, Imagine International Academy of Mableton and Imagine's International Academy of Smyrna. IAM and IAS will be sister schools and will also be part of the larger family of Imagine Schools. Currently more than 1000 families have registered with IAS. These families have over 800 children interested in beginning the 2007 school year at IAS and an additional 500 to follow in subsequent school years as they become eligible for kindergarten. That is a total of over 1300 children. The Academy will be an Imagine School and will be governed by Imagine International Academy of Smyrna, LLC a Non-Profit entity under Imagine Schools Non-Profit (ISNP). The governing board will consist of 3 community members and 2 Imagine members appointed by ISNP. Some key components to the Charter School which we hope will engage the community and increase interest in participation are as follows: Our intent is to form a “neighborhood school” in which the children go to school with their neighbors and form lasting bonds to their community. Parental involvement will be required. Parents play a significant role in the education of their children. You generally find that schools that have parental involvement are successful and the students are successful. We hope to attract families to IAS by providing a unique curriculum, an international program, enrichment after school programs and much more. The focus of Imagine International Academy of Smyrna will be kindergarten through 8th grade targeting an initial population of 600 and growing to 1000 student over 5 years. IAS will prepare to become an IB World School by applying to use the internationally recognized International Baccalaureate programs. The International Baccalaureate Organization offers a continuum of education, consisting of three programs for students aged 3 to 19. The Primary Years Program (PYP) for students aged 3-12 started in 1997 and is now offered by 260 IB World Schools. The Middle Years Program (MYP) for students aged 11-16 started in 1994 and is now offered by 493 IB World Schools. These programs, which IAS anticipates offering, lead to the Diploma Program for students aged 16 to 19, which started in 1968 and are now offered by 1,384 IB World Schools. Campbell High School is one of these schools. Therefore, IAS intends to grow children in the IB programs in order to lead them to the Diploma Program already offered to them in high school. It is our hope that Imagine International Academy of Smyrna will set high standards of academic achievement, strengthen our community and develop lasting global partnerships in education.  Read our Charter...