"Liberty-based" Colorado charter breaks ground as first school in Sterling Ranch, amid traffic concerns

Sterling Ranch's first school, the highly debated John Adams Academy, broke ground Wednesday. It's a tuition-free public charter school in Colorado's Douglas County, providing a "liberty-based" classical education. The school will sit on 25 acres of land donated by Sterling Ranch, off of Waterton Road and Snake River Street.

That growing community has been badly in need of schools and community leaders estimate they'll need four or five schools at full buildout.

So far, funding for only one Douglas County School District school has been approved by taxpayers. That school will break ground next year and open in 2027. But John Adams Academy will open first, in 2026.

While the school previously sparked debate by some community members concerned about its ideological framework, it's now the traffic plan for the new school that has some neighbors up in arms.

"We're not just breaking ground on steel and the building itself. We're affirming a foundational principle that parents have the right to choose an education for their kids," said Douglas County Commissioner Kevin Van Winkle at the groundbreaking.

"Patriotism, really patriotism and just not forcing agendas down our kids' throats is really what's important to me," said Littleton mom Laura Mouche.

Mouche wants to enroll all three of her young children in John Adams Academy.

"The name intrigued us that it was a founding father. And so you can sort of make the assumption that there will be some conservative values behind that kind of a name," Mouche said. "This just seemed like it aligned with our values and the things that we want to instill in our kids."

Sterling Ranch mom Ellie Reynolds founded the Douglas County school, which states its mission is "restoring America's heritage by developing servant leaders."

"Restoring America's heritage, really, it has to do with the fact that we want to create the whole child and educate the whole child. So that's really about their character, as well as the education that they get," Reynolds said.

Reynolds says nearly 500 students have already expressed interest and will be enrolled through a lottery.

"I think this quiet street will be very busy for about 45 minutes twice a day. And when I say very busy, I mean very busy," said Charles Hogan, who lives just feet from the incoming school on Snake River Street.

Hogan, and many of his neighbors, worry about the route those parents will take. They started a website called johnadamstrafficsafety.com.

"No issue with the school, just how they're doing the traffic," said Hogan.

Right now, cars heading to the school will be routed off of Waterton Road onto Snake River Street, where Hogan lives.

"That's a small, little, unprotected left-hand turn lane, and you've got to go across two lanes of traffic at 45 miles an hour plus. So we have serious traffic safety concerns that there's going to be an accident there," said Hogan.

A Change.org online petition to change the school's primary access road from Snake River to the larger Middle Fork Road has more than 200 signatures.

Hogan says he was told by county staff they recommended making Middle Fork the school's primary access, but the county approved the traffic plan as is.

Douglas County says they suggested an additional entrance be added in phase two.

Reynolds says the school will add an additional exit onto Middle Fork in year three but are committed to safety in the current plan.

"We're educating, and are committed to educating our parents as well as our staff about coming through in the traffic pattern, but we have a long traffic pattern and a large carpool line that will slow traffic," Reynolds said.

"We think it's probably a better idea for them to go ahead and do that now, as opposed to having three to four to five years of traffic coming through here, through a non-optimal left-hand turn and going that way," said Hogan.

Brock Smethills, president of the Sterling Ranch development company, shared the following statement:

"Sterling Ranch is thrilled with the addition of two new schools: John Adams Academy and Douglas County School District Elementary School 51. These additions help to meet the growing need for public education of all kinds within Sterling Ranch.

"In siting the John Adams Academy school, it was determined that the location has sufficient traffic capacity within the existing road network for the first phase. This evaluation included a submittal of a traffic study prepared by Fox Tuttle Transportation Group, which was ultimately approved by Douglas County staff. That being said, several directly adjacent neighbors have expressed their concerns with traffic, and we look forward to working with the Sterling Ranch neighbors, John Adams Academy, and Douglas County to collaborate on possible solutions to their concerns. Some of the potential solutions may include future expansion and access at Middle Fork Road, modified road signage, and appropriate traffic calming efforts to include school traffic coordinators."

John Adams Academy will open in fall 2026 with 495 students. They'll start off as kindergarten through eighth grade, but eventually plan to expand to K-12.