University School of Jackson unveils new ‘Imagine More’ master plan

JACKSON, Tenn. — “It’s time that our campus and our site gets an upgrade,” said James Kirkland with the University School of Jackson board of trustees.

Thursday evening, several people filled theater seats at the University School of Jackson to learn more about the new campus master plan, titled “Imagine More.”

“It’s been a long time since we’ve done major work on the campus,” said Kirkland, “It’s been since 2003, so we’re excited to make these improvements.”

Those behind the master plan say that two of the main goals are enhancing safety and security and replacing facilities that need to be updated.

“It’s like owning a home, right?.. You do a renovation project. So some of this is renovating current facilities, some of it is building new facilities,” said Stuart Hirstein, the Head of School at USJ.

“Some things look worn out, we’ve just changed the way we use the campus in 20 years. So we are excited to address some of those things and make things look better out here,” Kirkland said.

School leaders say funding the changes to the school won’t be inexpensive, but USJ is already well on their way of meeting their financial goal.

“It’s a $4 million dollar project, and in the silent phase, we’ve already raised $2.1 million,” Hirstein said.

Kirkland says the cost to attend USJ won’t be going up for families.

“Tuition is not going to be affected by these improvements. That’s something we’ve got to continue, to keep USJ as affordable as possible for West Tennessee,” Kirkland said.