UPDATED: 11:15 a.m., Sept. 23

The Simon Youth Foundation hosted a grand opening Thursday for the Simon Youth Academy, or SYA, at Katy Mills—a non-traditional high school that will be run in partnership with Katy Mills and Katy ISD. Several community leaders were on hand for the celebration, which consisted of a ribbon cutting ceremony and a tour of the new academy. Speeches were given by Michael Durnil, the president and chief executive officer of the foundation; Katy Mayor Fabol Hughes, Rebecca Fox, KISD board of trustees president; KISD Superintendent Lance Hindt, student Andrea Jicalan, and Gregg Goodman, president of The Mills-Simon Property Group and a member of the board of directors for the foundation. Durnil said the foundation—which now has 29 academies in 12 states—has graduated more than 14,000 students and awarded $16 million in scholarships. The adoption of KISD’s Martha Raines High School into the SYA network and the opening of SYA at Katy Mills give the foundation four academies in Texas, he said. “For us, we look at the intersection of the mall property, the community and what the foundation can offer,” Durnil said. “And this is sort of the perfect opportunity. We have a mall team that is very eager to host us, we have a community that’s very concerned about its students and making sure all the students graduate and it’s a perfect place for us to come and impact and create that opportunity.” Heather DeVries—the academy’s coordinator and a dropout prevention, intervention and recovery coordinator for KISD—said 12 students have already enrolled in the academy and began taking classes Wednesday. Academy officials are excited to grow enrollment and provide a place for dropout students to follow through on earning diplomas. “We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to start serving students in conjunction with the Simon Youth Foundation,” DeVries said. “We have a really lovely facility, [a] great program [and] fantastic teachers who are engaging our students.” Don Massey, the general manager of Katy Mills, said he is excited to see the academy open its doors after several years of planning and development. Construction began in early August on the roughly 5,000-square-foot facility. “Simon Property Group is all about being a great community partner,” Massey said. “Words cannot express what this means to me and what this will do for our community.” Click on the slideshow below for more information on the event and the academy. [g-slider gid="186699" width="100%" height="55%"]