Academic Excellence for the Scholar, Athlete and Artist, or AESA, will open Aug. 23 in the Liberty Center, 107 S. RR 620, Ste. 300, Lakeway, said Barbara Garza, AESA executive head of school and president. During its first year, the private, college-preparatory school will accommodate 40 students in second through fifth grades at the 6,300-square-foot site that was formerly a Spanish-immersion school, she said.

The Lakeway campus is the second AESA academy owned by Garza, following the 2009 opening of the school’s West Hwy. 290 site near Dripping Springs.  The school offers flexible class schedules and small class sizes, Garza said.

The new site will also house AESA Prep International, a classroom on the second floor dedicated to an international online curriculum in which students will be accompanied by a certified teacher and use online instruction, she said. AESA also opened an enrichment program in Barcelona in 2015 and maintains a similar program in China, she said.

“This is kind of a big year for us,” Garza said of the Lakeway and Barcelona campuses.

Garza previously served as dean of students at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in the Westlake area. Kelly Jarrell, former enrichment program developer for the Austin Montessori School, will serve as AESA’s Lakeway head of school, Garza said.

The school intends to have a total of three Austin-area sites in the future, she said. The Lakeway lease is for three years, giving administrators time to look for land to build a larger campus, she said. School officials plan to renovate the vacant school site prior to opening day, she said.

“I think [AESA] has done so well because [although] our curriculum is rigorous, our class size averages between two and eight students,” Garza said.