Lake County Schools Prepare for $65M in New Facilities

The five-year capital improvement plan for Lake County Schools, located in Tavares, Fla., includes $65 million in new and expanded schools, as well as $106.7 million in school renovation and modernization work. The plan covers planned projects between 2021 and 2025.

Future projects include a K–8 Minneola Area Relief school, set to cost $35 million and have a capacity of 1,200; an expansion to Villages Elementary School costing $6 million; an expansion to Windy Hill Middle School costing $12 million; and an unnamed, $11.89-million capacity project for South Lake High School.

Construction projects scheduled for completion this year include the new Lake Pointe Academy, a K–8 school covering 175,000 square feet and costing $33.8 million, set to open this fall; and expansions to Lake Minneola High School of 18 new classrooms and capacity for an additional 480 students.

Further information on the progress of these projects is available here.

The American Institute of Architects project that education construction spending (for K–12 and higher ed both) is set to drop 3.9% in 2021 but increase by 2.7% in 2022.

About the Author

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

Featured

  • Spaces4Learning Announces 2026 Product Award Winners

    Spaces4Learning has just announced the winners of the 2026 Product Awards! The award program spotlights outstanding product development achievements of manufacturers and suppliers whose products or services are considered to be particularly noteworthy in their ability to enhance K–12 and higher-education learning environments.

  • UT-San Antonio Begins Residence Hall Renovations

    The University of Texas at San Antonio recently began a $6-million renovation project to one of its residence halls, according to a news release. Originally completed in 1986, Chisolm Hall measures in at 120,860 square feet and is the oldest and largest residence hall on campus.

  • Back-to-School Playground Safety: 7 Common Hazards to Look for After Summer Break

    As summer break comes to an end, school administrators have plenty to prepare before students return. While classrooms, hallways and common areas often receive attention during all the back-to-school preparations, the playground should not be overlooked. Months of weather exposure, storms, and regular wear can leave behind hazards that may not be immediately noticeable.

  • Opportunity by Design Framework

    Opportunity by Design

    Educational improvement efforts often focus on curriculum, instruction, assessment, professional development, and intervention systems while treating the physical school building as background. But school design is not a passive backdrop to learning — it is a structural lever for equity.