By Fabrizio Gowdy
Step Up For College students, Florida’s new common faculty voucher program, has despatched non-public faculty enrollment hovering throughout the state. In accordance with knowledge from this system, a majority of Florida’s Ok-12 college students—51 p.c—selected to attend a non-public, constitution, dwelling faculty, or magnet program as a substitute of their neighborhood public faculty throughout the 2023-2024 faculty 12 months. That statistic was pushed by a 142,000-student enhance in non-public and residential faculty enrollments. One noticeable signal of this surge in enrollments is the flurry of building, upgrades, and enhancements going down on non-public faculty campuses round Northeast Florida.
Bucking nationwide developments, enrollment in Florida’s Catholic Faculties has risen 12 p.c up to now decade, in response to the Nationwide Catholic Academic Affiliation. At Bishop Kenny Excessive College, the brand new Demetree Athletic Coaching Middle not too long ago opened. The 2-story, 18,000-square-foot facility gives student-athletes entry to superior power coaching gear and devoted areas for conditioning, restoration, and efficiency evaluation. Key options embrace 10 Sorinex energy racks—able to supporting a number of lifters directly—and an indoor turf space for agility drills and dash work. The power additionally homes a 2,000-square-foot wrestling room with a full-size mat, locker room, and showers.
The ground-to-ceiling home windows within the weight room present views of the St. Johns River and the adjoining stadium discipline. Extra facilities embrace hydration stations, a built-in sound system, and designated areas for athletic trainers, coaches, and power workers. In accordance with the teaching workers, the power is already making a distinction. Assistant Soccer and Power and Conditioning Coach Greg Case says each soccer participant examined achieved at the least one private document for the reason that heart opened.
In the meantime, Episcopal’s Seashores Campus is on observe to open Largura Corridor for the 2025–2026 faculty 12 months. The brand new, eight-classroom constructing helps the campus’s development to 2 sections per grade and enhances flexibility for packages like Spanish and Christian Schooling. Designed in collaboration with school, architects, and planners, the constructing options trendy studying areas tailor-made to evolving pupil wants. Past lecture rooms, the venture consists of reclaimed outside areas for lunch, recess, and P.E., plus a crosswalk with flashing lights for pupil security.
Head of Decrease College Jennifer Ketchum expressed gratitude to households and pleasure for the August 22 ribbon reducing. “We’re excited for the alternatives this new constructing supplies the Seashores Campus of Episcopal, and the nurturing studying atmosphere it would assist facilitate for our school and college students,” she says.
On Episcopal College’s Munnerlyn Campus, a revamped Buck Scholar Middle with collaborative studying areas will open in 2025–2026, supporting group tasks and research. Moreover, the Haskell Middle for Science and Scholar Life opened in fall 2024, which the varsity says will additional broaden its dedication to student-centered, revolutionary training throughout its campuses.
The Bolles College doesn’t take part within the state’s Step Up for College students program however has nonetheless launched a number of main enchancment tasks on its San Jose campus. Development on a brand new baseball advanced is underway, that includes the Jerry and Bruce Chappell Fieldhouse and a stadium designed to replicate the historic structure of Bolles Corridor. A 2,874-square-foot fieldhouse will embrace locker rooms, coaches’ places of work, workforce assembly areas, and cutting-edge know-how for swing and pitching improvement. The stadium will function a press field, outside terrace, and twin towers.
Concurrently, Bolles is increasing its women’ boarding program with section 2 of the Llura “Lulie” Liggett Gund ’58 Residence Corridor. This consists of renovations to the south wing of Bolles Corridor, including 22 new dorm rooms, expanded frequent areas, resident life household flats, and restored porch areas—totaling extra 14,700 sq. ft. Moreover, the entrance garden is being reworked with almost 12,000 sq. ft of latest sidewalks, sitting partitions, timber, and landscaping.
The constructing growth isn’t restricted to simply space excessive colleges. In January of this 12 months, Riverside Presbyterian Church and Day College opened the Mary Lou Davis Household Life Middle and expanded the Rice Sports activities Zone as a part of the Riverside Cornerstone Marketing campaign, a joint effort to enhance campus services and strengthen neighborhood engagement. The Household Life Middle supplies an indoor house for bodily training, athletics, and occasions such because the Riverside Basketball League and pickleball.
The Rice Sports activities Zone was additionally considerably upgraded. The playfield, now double its unique measurement, helps a wider vary of sports activities, together with flag soccer and lacrosse. Extra options embrace a GaGa Ball pit, basketball courtroom, and observe. These areas serve not solely pupil recreation but additionally neighborhood occasions just like the Run Riverside 5K, Fall Competition, and Trip Bible College. The marketing campaign additionally prioritized campus safety with a brand new gated entrance and courtyard, enhancing each security and aesthetics for varsity and church guests.
With Florida’s non-public faculty enrollment displaying no indicators of waning, extra important new tasks, upgrades, and renovations at First Coast colleges are within the works. The sounds of tardy bells, shuffling ft in hallways, locker doorways slamming more and more are sharing house with the banging of hammers, rumbling vans and ground-breaking ceremonies.
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