Lionheart Classical Academy envisions having some students learning in its new acquisition on Dublin Road as early as this fall.
On Monday, the Peterborough charter school for students in kindergarten through eighth grade has acquired the former Next Level Church building at 700 Dublin Road off Route 101. Lionheart plans to begin renovations this summer, and while Executive Director Michael Harner said Tuesday that “a lot of work has to be done,” he anticipates that students in their upper grades could be in classes there in September.
“Ideally we’ll have the seventh and eighth grades in there in the fall,” said Harner.
The building is approximately 14,000 square in size. Harner added that the 25 acres that surround the building will allow the school to provide new opportunities for its students.
“The land opens up the possibility of some athletic fields, and more space would allow us to bolster our arts and music programs as well,” he said.
Harner said that in addition to spaces needing to be reconfigured for classroom usage, Lionheart will be installing an elevator to make the building compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The school plans on adding one grade each year as students progress forward, with the goal of operating as a K-12 classical public charter school by 2030.
Lionheart draws students from 20 communities, including the Nashua area, Milford, Henniker said Harner. In March, Acta Non Verba, a regional private foundation that promotes classical charter schools, designated Lionheart as a model school for aspiring classical academies to learn from.
Somersworth-based Next Level Church, a subsidiary of the Association of Related Churches, had seven locations in Massachusetts, Florida and New Hampshire, including the Peterborough location. Based in Somersworth, Next Level Church closed its doors amid allegations of bullying and financial misconduct by its leadership in 2023. In spite of the history of the previous owner, Harner said that the acquisition was a smooth process, and he was not aware of any developments concerning Next Level.
“The actual transaction was pretty clean,” he said, and he declined to divulge the purchase price.
Lionheart currently occupies space in a former warehouse on Sharon Road in Peterborough. Harner said there were no plans to break this lease in light of the purchase on Dublin Road.
“We want to time things so we can transition to the new space smoothly,” he said, adding that space allows the school to limit class size. “We don’t want to have classes of more than 20 to 22 students.”
Former Lionheart Executive Director Kerry Bedard recently sued the school for breach of contract, claiming she was terminated by the school’s board for repeatedly raising concerns about the lease agreement with Miami billionaire Ophir Sternberg.