Rukia Rogers and BSADP, INC has submitted a request for a special use permit to utilize an existing preschool and after-school programming structure. The Highlander School is proposed to be located at 1222 McPherson Avenue SE on property currently zoned R-4.
Neighborhood Planning Unit W will be reviewing the request during their February Meeting. The Zoning Review Board will hold a public hearing on the special use permit on March 10, 2022.
The application proposes that the Highlander School offer childcare and after-school programs for children between the ages of six weeks and twelve years for an indefinite period of time. Planned activities will be primarily located inside the structure, which will consist of two large rooms and one room designated for indoor physical activities. In addition, a fenced play area will be located outside behind the building. The proposed hours of operation will be from 8 am to 6 pm Monday through Friday.
Highlander School employees and clients will access the site on McPherson Avenue and Trilby Street. Upon constructing a ramp at the front entrance, access to the building will be ADA compliant. According to submitted documents, there will be a rotation of six employees and as many as thirty children at any given time.
According to the Highlander School website, the school draws on the vibrant culture of the southeast and honors the Highlander Folk School of Tennessee, founded in 1932, to educate and empower adults for social change. Since 2007, the school’s founder was deeply committed to creating a program that addressed the need for quality care and innovative approaches to early childhood education while fostering children’s awareness and respect for the environment and the natural world.
