Florida Construction News staff writer
Auld & White Constructors has broken ground on a new campus for Cornerstone Classical Academy in Wildlight, marking the start of construction on a new charter school intended to serve the growing population of Nassau County.
The Jacksonville-based contractor joined Cornerstone officials and community representatives July 23 for the groundbreaking at the future campus in Yulee, Florida. The project is planned for 720 River Bluff Parkway in Wildlight’s Garden District.
The new campus is scheduled to open in fall 2027 and will initially serve students from voluntary pre-kindergarten through Grade 6, with plans to expand to Grade 12. Enrollment is expected to open Dec. 1, 2026.
Cornerstone Classical Academy is a tuition-free public charter school that currently operates a campus at 2360 St. Johns Bluff Road South in Jacksonville. The Wildlight campus will bring the school’s classical education model to additional families in Northeast Florida.
The school said the new development will include a main campus building, classrooms and spaces designed to support academic and student life programs.
“This is not just growth,” Cornerstone said in describing the project. “It is a commitment to the future of the families we serve and the leaders we are helping shape.”
The Wildlight campus was approved by the Nassau County School District Board in April, clearing a key step for the expansion. The project also extends a construction relationship between Cornerstone and Auld & White.
Auld & White previously served as contractor for a major expansion at Cornerstone’s Jacksonville campus, including a new upper school and gymnasium. School financial statements show a $15.57 million construction contract with Auld & White for the Cornerstone Classical Academy Upper School. As of the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year, $14.39 million had been completed, with about $1.19 million remaining under the contract.
Cornerstone held a groundbreaking ceremony with Auld & White for the Jacksonville upper school and gymnasium project in 2024.
The Wildlight project is part of a broader expansion of the Jacksonville-based school into Nassau County. Cornerstone selected Wildlight for its second campus as the community continues to grow. The site is in the Garden District near Riverbluff Parkway and Pages Dairy Road, about nine miles east of Interstate 95.
Cornerstone said the new campus is intended to provide additional classroom capacity while creating spaces for academics, athletics and student life.
The school is planning for the campus to open in fall 2027, with its first students expected to begin classes that year.
