Q: Can you give an update on the district’s three newest schools scheduled to be under construction shortly?
A: At our School Board meeting on Nov. 8, we approved the site plan for the second of three new schools that are to open in 2024. All are K – 8 schools, at least initially. The first, on the site in Shearwater, is in the earliest stage of construction, with dirt being turned. The second, to be built in Beacon Lakes, part of the Twin Creeks development on County Road 210E, is the one we just approved the site plan for. This is key, because it means that now we can put the project out to bid. Both of these schools will be designed for 1,500 kindergarten through eighth grade students with a three-story academic building, like Freedom Crossing Academy.
The third school we have scheduled to open in 2024 will be located in RiverTown. It will be built as a transitional K – 8 school for 1,200 students on a middle school site. RiverTown also has two elementary school sites, but not enough elementary students to build on them yet. This is why we are doing the transitional K – 8; it will eventually become a middle school once the elementary school is built. We did this successfully a number of years ago when Fruit Cove Middle School first opened as a K – 8 school prior to Durbin Creek Elementary being built.
We are very much looking forward to having relief from overcrowding in some of our other schools when these new schools open. Another benefit will be that students from the County Road 210E area will be brought back closer to home to go to school; presently they are zoned for Landrum Middle School and Ocean Palms Elementary in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Q: What can you tell us about the recent Character Counts! honor bestowed upon the St. Johns County School District?
A: This is so exciting. We were just recognized as a Character Counts! Exemplary School District for our commitment to teach, enforce, advocate and model the six pillars of character. Executive Director Scott Raecker of the Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University, home of the Character Counts! program, came to the county personally to give us this award on Oct. 18 at our Community Partners recognition event at First Coast Technical College. At this event, we also honored our eighth graders who were selected by their schools as Character Counts! representatives and we recognized our business partners. It was wonderful to hear the eighth grade students speak; they all did a great job.
Q: Do you have anything else to share with our readers?
A: Yes, a few things. First, at our Nov. 8 school board meeting, we recognized our largest number of National Merit SemiFinalists ever: 51!
Also, on Dec. 8, there will be a military inspection at Nease stadium to celebrate the school’s NJROTC’s national first place ranking, which the cadets earned at the end of last school year. We are so pleased to have them as national champions.
All of our high school academies continue to do great things. It is rewarding for me when I tour the academies at all of our high schools to see the opportunities our students have to experience and explore fields as diverse as cyber security, hospitality, engineering, banking, and teaching.
Finally, we will all really miss our school board colleague, Bill Mignon from District 3, who retired after 12 years on the school board. He was actually involved with the St. Johns County School District for 52 years, beginning at Hastings Elementary and going on to be principal of RB Hunt Elementary, Nease, and Pedro Menendez during his career. He brought a wealth of knowledge to our proceedings.
Q: How can our readers contact you?
A: They can email me at beverly.slough@stjohns.k12.fl.us or call me at (904) 547-7510.
