SALISBURY — A local private school is going to partner with Catawba College as it works on creating a high school program.

Salisbury Academy currently serves students from junior kindergarten through eighth grade and first announced it was looking into a high school expansion in 2020.

The school will partner with Catawba College in the creation and delivery of grades 9-12 for a high school program. The partnership with Catawba will give academy students access to Catawba courses, its campus and enhancement classes like music.

Catawba Provost Constance Rogers Lowery said the partnership will give students a unique opportunity for a custom experience.

High school students at the academy will be able to take classes taught by college faculty and the school plans to secure a location in downtown Salisbury. Academy Head of School Beverly Fowler said high school program will housed separately from the lower grades at the academy.

The school says the design for the high school is based on strong content, individualized support, annual themes and community-based experiences.

The school has coordinated with stakeholders to create the program. Meredith Williams, an assistant professor at Catawba, is leading the team working on the high school project.

“The Salisbury Academy high school is an energizing combination of innovation and elevation — of finding new ways to bring together the skills and experiences that are already proven to make students highly successful in today’s world,” Williams said in a statement.

Fowler said Williams is a parent at the academy and, as a local education leader, was someone the academy sought out to lead the design of the program.

The academy is also discussing other partnerships for the high school. The school expects to have more updates on the projected opening for the program this fall.

In April, the school went public with a capital campaign with a $1.25 million matching grant from the Wallace Family Foundation in a record contribution to the school. The capital campaign has a goal of $3 million, which would fund building a facility to house the school’s junior kindergarten, kindergarten and planned 3-year-old early education program. The grant will also help the school fulfill the goal of creating a the high school program.

Fowler said the school expects to make a decision on opening the program by October and the school is meeting with donors to meet the matching goal. She said the 3-year-old program is expected to be underway by fall of 2023.

The school has more information on the high school program at salisburyacademy.org/support-sa/sahighschool.cfm.