Marine Science Charter Adding Middle School Capacity at Its Key Largo Location

A charter school in Florida is seeing the sun rise on a new middle school. The middle school at Ocean Studies Charter in Key Largo is expected to finished by Thanksgiving, allowing the free public charter to enable its existing K–5 students to continue their education at the same facility.

While the school covers the basics—English language arts, math, geography, science and PE—students also study marine science. Each week, they take a field trip to connect their lessons to real-life experiences. Ocean Studies employs a full marine science teacher who works with small groups on projects.

Ocean Studies Charter Middle School

According to local reporting, the addition of a two-story wing facility will include four new classrooms with a courtyard and seating in the middle, where students can eat and learn "in the open air." During the first year, the school will welcome its first crop of sixth-graders, adding grade 7 and 8 students in 2022-2023.

On the curriculum front, the charter will allow its middle schoolers to expand their understanding of the environment of the Florida Keys and "start to compare it on a national and global level."

Once the construction project is done, the school will start work on an outdoor science lab and play area.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Photo credit - Chuck Coates

    Florida District Modernizes Central Energy Plants at Two High Schools

    Flagler Schools, a public school district in Flagler County, Fla., recently partnered with Matern Professional Engineering to modernize the central energy plants at two of its high schools, according to a news release. The project is part of a larger, district-wide effort to reduce energy costs and operational expenses.

  • 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.

  • Harvard Announces Replacement Facility for Native American Program

    Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., recently announced that construction will begin this spring on a new home for its Native American Program, according to university news. The 6,500-square-foot, all-electric building will stand three stories and serve as the central hub for the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP).

  • UT System Approves First Funds for New Campus

    The University of Texas System Board of Regents recently approved funds to build the first facility of a new campus in far west Fort Worth, Texas, according to university news. UTA West will serve as a branch of the University of Texas at Arlington and is scheduled to open in fall 2028.