SEAN BOSTON
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Buhler USD 313 held a ribbon cutting for the new Ad Astra Academies located at 1800 East 23rd Ave. in Hutchinson on Friday.
The new building was purchased last year and remodeled to accommodate the needs of PreK-12 virtual students, 7-12 alternative students and adult learners.
"I said, 'I think there's going to be a real need for this coming out of COVID,'" Buhler USD 313 superintendent Cindy Couchman said.
Couchman gave a lot of credit to the school board for being so supportive during the process.
"I said I have no clue what it's going to look like, but they were so supportive," Couchman said. "They said 'if you feel like it's a need for kids, we want to meet whatever needs there are of kids to have' and that's how it started."
Couchman also said it was a rather easy process after that to get things going.
"Then we hired the right people," Couchman said. "Because that's what it's really about. You start a program and you hire the right people. Because it's about people in that program."
After the virtual school was decided upon, the school board went to Couchman and asked what else was needed.
"We said not only do we want to do a virtual school," Couchman said. "I think it would be great if we did an alternative school for some kids that are struggling with emotional needs, sometimes academic needs, sometimes they just need a different setting."
Couchman was very pleased with Landmark Architects of Hutchinson and Simpson Construction from Wichita for their work on the project.
"They hit every deadline," Couchman said. "It opened on time, we had kids here on Wednesday, so it was fantastic to see everyone here."