IDEA Public Schools broke ground March 6 on the future site of IDEA Allan Academy and College Prep's new campus at 1701 Vargas Rd., said Larkin Tackett, executive director of IDEA Public Schools in Austin.

"This is a big day for IDEA Public Schools in Austin," Tackett said. "We're thrilled to break ground on what will be the permanent home for more than 1,300 IDEA Allan students and their families, and this school will be a very important part in our students' journey to college."

The charter school group has more than 600 students at IDEA Allan's current campus, 220 Foremost Drive. IDEA Allan plans to relocate its middle school students to temporary buildings on the site beginning in August 2014 while completing construction, and elementary students will join them in the completed building in January 2015, Tackett said.

Tackett along with IDEA's Austin board chairwoman Tina Fernandez and principals Rey Flores and Steve Mudd were among those on hand to celebrate the milestone.

IDEA has been looking for a new location since December, when the Austin ISD board of trustees voted to terminate the district's contract with IDEA effective at the end of the 2012–13 school year. During the summer, it relocated to a temporary location at 220 Foremost Drive in Southwest Austin.

When the plans for the new site were announced last year, Tackett said IDEA needs to raise about $4 million during the next several years to cover the facility funding gap for public charter schools in Texas.

"We've raised a little less than a million dollars, and we're thrilled with the amount of support that we've received from the Austin community," he said. "We have more work to do."