Illuminations Academy relocates to Ocoee

After only five years of existence, Oakland-based Illuminations Academy is relocating to a new location to better accommodate its students and teachers. 

Previously located at Family Church’s Oakland campus at 200 S. Tubb St., Illuminations Academy focuses on wellness, sensory and the arts, while following Florida’s education standards. 

Principal Jillian Brown said Family Church hosted the K-12 academy with great care, but as Illuminations Academy continues to grow, the space became too small. 

Teachers were packing up their classrooms every Friday to unpack and set up for school Monday, which is unsustainable, Brown said. The school’s framework is about “curating a sensory environment,” and teachers needed a more permanent space to make that environment a reality. 

“The main reason we moved is because we needed more space, and we needed to be able to do things that fit our model, our brand, our framework,” she said. “This new building gives us that opportunity.”

The academy now will be located at 788 Montgomery Ave., Ocoee. 

Now teachers and staff are faced with a challenge against the clock. 

The academy’s new location is a 16,000-square-foot office building, so staff must turn it into a functioning campus before the new school year starts in August. 

The hope is to start out with seven to nine classrooms, as well as a cafeteria that can turn into a theater, a media center, two libraries, a design lab and a playground. 

In the future, more classrooms might be added. 

Brown said the new campus will be the perfect environment, with bright, open, vibrant, yet classy spaces. 

“That’s kind of the vision of what it looks like — a lot of color but just enough to keep your mind awake, not enough to overwhelm you,” she said.

With a sensory environment in mind, Brown said the school will have a comforting scent, as well. 

“It’s not going to be like we’re pumping smells into the building,” she said. “It’s going to be fresh, crisp and cool. … That kind of sets the stage for the whole experience as you’re in the building.” 

With the new school year fast approaching, Brown said it will be a full-team effort to be ready for students next month.

“Finances are a big challenge, because we not only need to hire people, which is always going to be the biggest and most worthwhile expenses, but (also) we need to do a few things, like we need to put up a fence, we need to turn this into a school, so we need to have the money to implement all these great ideas,” she said. “The thing my team thinks about most is being able to fund the ideas that we’ve got, because our rent in the old building is nothing like it is now; it’s about 10 times the amount in just rent alone (at the new facility).” 

Beyond the financial need, volunteers also are needed.

Brown said staff needs help with physical work, such as moving furniture, classroom essentials and materials into the new space, as well as cleaning, assembling and collating. 

Even with less than one month to complete the transition, Brown is not stressed. 

“We are no longer going to do the ‘just getting by’ thing anymore,” she said. “I know that God would not have given us this moment to move if we were going to just get by. That’s why we had to spend so long (at the Oakland campus) getting it right. … It’s scary, because it’s a lot of responsibility, but it’s an exciting kind of scary. I know we can do this.” 

After all, Brown and her team are doing it for the children, and they cannot wait to see the impact they will have now that they’re able to provide them with more. 

“The whole goal is student achievement,” Brown said. “So you get them feeling well, you get them experiencing healthiness, and then you get them to remember stuff. … One thing that we’re really proud of is that we know that not a lot of private schools, or schools in general, even public schools, will provide quality education or a really deep level of care. 

“We have struck a beautiful balance that we’re able to do both,” she said. “We’re not lowering the standard of instruction. I know good instructional practice because I taught it. I taught it to school leaders in this district. We never sacrifice the quality instruction, but we found a way to provide for wellness for kids and grown-ups.”

Brown is proud and excited to bring her vision to life and to see the continuous growth and trust from parents, staff and students alike. 

Illuminations Academy began with 13 students, and today, there are around 70. 

“I’m looking forward to having the ability to manage the sensory environment (and) keeping stuff on the walls,” she said. “It’s going to be a school all year long, all weekday, weeknight, weekend. … The teachers, they’re excited, and they deserve something special so I’m really excited to see them get to enjoy.”