A new middle school is expected to open next to Cypress Creek Middle High School, allowing the existing school to focus on high school only.
The new middle school will accommodate 1,675 students on a 15-acre site, just north of the current school, which opened in August at 8701 Old Pasco Road, for students in grades six through 11.
The estimated construction budget is $43.5 million.
Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2018, with opening planned for August 2020.
The Pasco County School Board has approved an agreement with architects Harvard Jolly, to reuse the design of the 1,400-student station Innovation Middle School in Orange County, for the new middle school, according to school board documents.
Pasco school district staff members recently toured Innovation Middle School and found that the school “to be cost effective, attractive and extremely safe and a school that will successfully meet the educational needs” of the district, according to district documents.
“Many of the preferred features of this school are already found in a number of our educational facilities,” the document added. “Our version of the school will be expanded to approximately 1,600 student stations to accommodate future growth in this region of the district.”
Cypress Creek Middle High is slated to add a senior class next school year.
When the school opened, it affected boundaries for Rushe, John Long and Weightman middle schools, and Sunlake, Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass high schools.
The district initially had hoped to open Cypress Creek as a high school only, but was forced to use it for more grades because it lacked sufficient construction funds.
Published October 25, 2017
