Imagine Academy in Action
Designed to serve all young people in the community, Imagine Academy’s programs include:
- Preschool Playdates: Engaging, early-childhood movement and play sessions designed to foster foundational motor skills, socialization, and confidence for young children. Playdates are free for all families in the community.
- Power Kids Training: Inclusive fitness and strength programs tailored for elementary-aged children, utilizing specialized equipment to build physical endurance and agility in a fun, supportive group setting.
- Power Clubs: Dynamic after-school and enrichment activities that combine teamwork, games, and play-focused challenges to help elementary and middle school students build friendships and social confidence.
- Teen Thrive Club: Peer-focused social and wellness programming designed specifically for teenagers, offering a welcoming environment to relax, connect, and build independence.
- Sunday Respite Clubs: Dedicated weekend care and engaging recreational programming that provide reliable support for families while offering participants a fun, enriching environment.
- Summer of Strength: Summer programming for elementary and middle school students to build strength, stay active, participate in community activities, and spend time outside.
At Imagine Academy, inclusion isn’t an afterthought. It is the cornerstone of everything the organization does. Launched in 2020 to provide young people in Stoughton, Wisconsin, with an outlet during the COVID-19 pandemic, the nonprofit offers a variety of programs intended to help children and teenagers build confidence, strength, and friendships in an environment grounded in teamwork and belonging. Intent on serving all members of the community, Imagine Academy’s work spans strength and fitness activities, before- and after-school programs centered around play-focused challenges, respite care for parents, and individualized programming for children with disabilities.
For its first five years in existence, Imagine Academy delivered these services out of a leased space in a shared facility. And while this was sufficient as the nonprofit got off the ground, the second-floor space presented accessibility challenges and limited the organization’s growth potential as demand for its programs surged. To address this, Imagine Academy used an IFF loan of approximately $431,000 to acquire a permanent home at the beginning of this year that’s both drastically expanded the space available for its programs and reduced the barriers children with disabilities faced accessing its original location.
With nearly 3,800 square feet of space spread across three ground-floor commercial condominiums, Imagine Academy now has dedicated areas for children to socialize, share snacks, and interact with peers through games and reading; take part in fitness activities in a suite filled by an agility course and weightlifting equipment for developmentally appropriate strength training; and administrative offices, storage, and a personal wellness room. The organization is also expanding its programming in its new home to offer homeschool fitness classes, inclusive fitness classes, preschool collaborations, teen respite services, and community workshops.
Beyond addressing the organization’s day-to-day space challenges and ensuring that more young people in the community can take part in its programming, transitioning from tenant to owner is helping bolster Imagine Academy’s long-term financial health. By replacing monthly rent with mortgage payments, Imagine Academy no longer has to worry about potential rent increases and is better able to build its net assets as its equity in the property grows.
That operational stability means Imagine Academy can stay focused on what matters most: creating space where every child belongs. Complemented by ongoing partnerships with local school districts, community support networks, and state programs, Imagine Academy’s new facility ensures that high-quality, inclusive programming remains permanently rooted and readily accessible to families across the region.