Former YMCA building in Xenia, Ohio, will be transformed into a STEAM-focused school

Community STE(A)M Academy-Xenia in Xenia, Ohio, is carrying out a $10 million conversion of a former YMCA building to create its first campus. 

The work includes a 24,000-square-foot expansion, robotics labs, a rock-climbing gym, a maker space and an esports arena, reports The Dayton Daily News. 

The school, set to open later this year, is an independent public school open to any student in Ohio. The Ohio Department of Education approved plans for the school, which will incorporate the arts into the traditional STEM topics of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

School officials say the renovations will transform the facility into a "neighborhood system" that enables teachers to interchange spaces based on their projects. 

Officials also said they will use a pre-manufactured adaptable wall system, which are durable, soundproof, and can be used as whiteboards. The modular walls are tracked by software, which teachers can use to design and create new classrooms practically overnight.

The school will offer courses in drone operation and maintenance, graphic design, entrepreneurship, robotics, culinary arts, and a biotech pathway and will have an emphasis on trades courses. 

The school will begin classes with grades six through 10. It plans to expand to grades 11 and 12 in the next few school years; eventually it will host grades kindergarten through five in the former East High School building.

Over the next four years, CSA-Xenia hopes to expand its enrollment to 1,200 students.