Charter School Set for Construction on Florida College Campus

The construction of Pinecrest Lakes Academy Middle/High School, a Florida charter school, is set to begin this year on the campus of Lake-Sumter State College in Clermont, Florida. The school is scheduled to open its doors to students in August 2022.

Pinecrest Lakes opened in 2017 as a K-8 school and has a current enrollment of about 750 in those grades. Additionally, 67 high-school freshmen have begun taking classes on the college’s campus. The school plans to admit tenth grade students during the 2021-22 school year and eleventh grade students in 2022-23. The first senior class is slated to graduate in 2024.

The charter school connected with the college about a year to a year and a half ago, according to Pinecrest Lakes Principal Cristina Alcalde, when it became a member of the Health Sciences Collegiate Academy. The lease is part of a STEM education partnership among the college, Lake County Schools, Montverde Academy, the University of Central Florida, and South Lake Hospital.

According to LSSC President Stan Sidor, “Together, we will create pathways for secondary students to work toward credentials and college credit that will accelerate their degree completion and improve the health and wealth of our local economy.”

Pinecrest Lakes is a member of Pinecrest Academy Inc., a charter school network with locations in five Florida counties and one Nevada county.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • New Arizona Fine Arts School Reaches Construction Milestone

    Construction of the new Hilltop School for the Arts and Theater in Litchfield Park, Ariz., recently hit a significant milestone, according to a news release. The Agua Fria High School District held a beam-signing ceremony to celebrate the building’s topping out, or the placement of its last structural beam.

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.

  • Colorado School District Breaks Ground on Unified PK–12 Campus

    The Haxtun School District No. Re-2J in Haxtun, Colo., recently announced that ground has been broken on a renovation/addition project that will unite its two schools, Haxtun Elementary and Haxtun Jr/Sr High School, according to a news release.

  • Deferred Maintenance Issues Growing at Universities, Gordian Reports

    U.S. colleges and universities are falling increasingly behind on facilities maintenance and repair, according to Gordian’s 13th annual State of Facilities in Higher Education report. The deferred capital renewal burden has reached $156 per gross square foot, an 8% increase over the previous year.