Huntsville City Schools (HCS) celebrated another major milestone in its 10-year capital plan with the groundbreaking of a shared campus that will be home to a new Chapman Middle, the district’s re-imagined STEM Magnet Middle School (currently the Academy for Science and Foreign Language Middle School), and Artemis Virtual Academy.
The new campus will be built at the existing Chapman site located on Reuben Drive at an estimated cost of $70 million. The new schools are expected to open in January 2028.
The project will span 29 acres with a combined campus size of nearly 162,000 square feet. Key features include specialized classrooms, a full size gymnasium and athletic spaces, interactive teaching walls, an e-gaming lab, and an arena for e-gaming with drones and robotics.
Chapman Middle and the new STEM Magnet Middle School will continue to serve grades six through eight. Chapman will remain a neighborhood school in the Lee feeder pattern, and the new STEM Magnet Middle School will serve students from across the city. Additionally, Artemis Virtual Academy will continue to serve students in grades K through 12.
HCS also extended its appreciation to its project partners including architects McMillan Pazdan Smith, TCU Consulting Services, and Lee Builders. Additionally, HCS thanks Mayor Tommy Battle, the Huntsville City Council, the Madison County Commission, and state representatives for their continued support.
The new shared campus honors Chapman’s long-standing presence in the community while creating an innovative, future-focused environment for both schools. The project represents another significant step in Huntsville City Schools’ ongoing efforts to modernize facilities and enhance learning.
