Press Releases

Source: Palm Beach PostFebruary 15, 2007

Lab School's Groundbreaking Set For Friday

After years of planning, officials from the St. Lucie County School District and Florida Atlantic University will break ground Friday on a charter laboratory school where they hope to train future teachers and research innovative teaching methods.

The school, a joint project of the school district and FAU, will cost about $29.7 million and have about 1,600 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.The school is scheduled to open in August 2008 in the Tradition development, west of Interstate 95.

The groundbreaking ceremony will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Academic Way and West Park Avenue.

"This could turn out to be the educational jewel of the Treasure Coast," said John Carvelli, chairman of the St. Lucie County School Board.

Carvelli said the school will be a teaching and learning center that will be a draw to people living in the region as well as students considering an education major at FAU.

Students who teach at the lab school may one day return and teach in other Treasure Coast schools, he said.

"Everybody's going to want to come here," he said.

Board member Judi Miller said she, too, saw the school having a greater effect on public schools.

"They will research teaching practices that we can utilize not just in that school but across the county," she said.

The school will be operated as a partnership between the district and the university, with a governing board hiring teachers and enrolling students, said Janice Karst, a spokeswoman for the school district.

The district will act as a liaison to the state Department of Education for some things, such as the administration of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. The district also will receive a percentage of state money going to the school, she said.

Already, the district has received inquiries from parents interested in enrolling their children in the school, she said.

"Oh, yes, we've gotten calls," she said. "It's very exciting."