The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Lutz since 1964 and Pasco since 1981.
Proud to be independently owned.

Imagine School of Land O' Lakes

ICI Homes’ Most Popular Floor Plan Ready Now In Bexley

By

One of the most beautiful and functional move-in ready homes in Bexley, Land O’ Lakes’ top-selling community, is now available from ICI Homes.

The four-bedroom, three-bath Costa Mesa is on a 70-foot corner homesite in Bexley’s most prestigious neighborhood, located close to the clubhouse and pools. The semi-custom home includes luxury finishes, an expansive lanai, mud room with built-in bench off the garage, huge walk-in pantry, and tandem garage ideal for a compact car, golf cart or storage.

The Costa Mesa open floor plan is 2,565 square feet with four bedrooms and three baths.

The Costa Mesa’s open floor plan flows with 2,565 square feet of living area designed perfectly for the active lifestyle Bexley extols.

“This home is an entertainer’s dream. Its gathering room, gourmet kitchen and dining room are one expansive space highlighted by lots of windows that capture tons of natural light,” said Ron Ferguson, division president for ICI Homes. “People absolutely love the huge kitchen and its extra-large island, which is a standard feature and one of the largest islands offered by any builder.”

Families interested in this home also will be drawn to its location in Bexley, a Newland community located off State Road 54, just east of the Suncoast Parkway. Bexley was recently named the top-selling master-planned community in Tampa Bay, with home sales up more than 45 percent, compared to a year ago.

“ICI Homes has partnered with Newland for several years in both Bexley and FishHawk Ranch in south Hillsborough County,” said Ferguson. “Pasco families looking to move up to a prestigious new home don’t have to travel far to experience Florida’s best privately held builder and master-planned community, right here in their backyard.”

Buying an ICI Homes in Bexley is a wise financial investment for families, and also one that offers an outdoor lifestyle attractive to families of all kinds.

Bexley is designed so residents can enjoy the great outdoors. The community is home to miles of multi-surface Avid™ trails, ideal for walking, biking, jogging and strollers. Several community parks dot the landscape, and sports lovers of all ages use the Mud, Sweat and Gears Park for impromptu soccer or football games, while younger kids spend hours playing on custom-built playgrounds.

At the heart of this award-winning community is The Bexley Club, where people enjoy scenic lakefront views at the Twisted Sprocket Café. Next door to the clubhouse, Suncoast Trailside Bicycles sells a variety of bikes, gear and clothing, and offers repairs and rentals. Two additional buildings make up The Bexley Club: a cardio-focused fitness center, and a screened-in game room with air hockey, foosball and a pool table. There are also two resort-style pools, an outdoor fire pit and an event lawn.

The schools zoned for Bexley residents are some of the best in Pasco County — Bexley Elementary, Rushe Middle School and Sunlake High School. Imagine School at Land O’ Lakes, a highly regarded charter school, is just minutes from Bexley.

This is the last chance to buy an ICI Home in Bexley. ICI Homes is building its final three homes in Bexley, which includes the Costa Mesa that is ready now, and the slightly smaller Egret VII, which will soon be under construction.

Since ICI Homes was established in 1980, the company has built over 4,000 single-family homes in Florida, including the Tampa Bay area, and has earned several prestigious awards for design and innovation.

The sales center for Bexley is in Asturia, another ICI Homes community just a mile away in Odessa, at 2112 Secret Cove, (727) 432-3069. Stop by or call today to tour the Costa Mesa home in Bexley between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m., on Sunday.

Published November 27, 2019

Title Teams

By

A trio of local middle school sports programs earned team titles at last week’s Tampa Charter Athletic League (TCAL) championships. Winning teams included: Carrollwood Day School boys ball hockey, Lutz Preparatory School girls ball hockey, and Imagine School of Land O’ Lakes girls flag football. The TCAL is one of state’s largest charter school leagues, consisting of about 20 schools and 14 sports.

Published May 15, 2019

Imagine School of Land O’ Lakes girls flag football defeated Lutz Prep 6-0 in triple overtime, to claim a league championship. (Courtesy of Chad Mollick)
Carrollwood Day School boys ball hockey won a Tampa Charter Athletic League (TCAL) championship after edging Lutz Prep 5-4.
Lutz Prep girls ball hockey beat Learning Gate 5-1 in the TCAL title game. Lutz Prep ended the season with an undefeated 8-0 mark.

Imagine School captures girls soccer title

By

Caidee Sumner and Bella Wood were determined to end their middle school soccer careers on a high note.

The eighth-grade team co-captains did just that — leading the Imagine School of Land O’ Lakes Dragons to the 2019 Tampa Charter Athletic League (TCAL) girls soccer championship title.

“It’s our last year here and we wanted to go out as a champion,” Wood said.

The Dragons (9-2) entered the TCAL playoffs as a No. 3 seed, after losing its only regular season contests to Learning Gate Community School and Lutz Preparatory School, respectively.

The Imagine School of Land O’ Lakes girls soccer team won the 2019 Tampa Charter Athletic League championship. It marked the middle school team’s second title in three seasons. (Courtesy of Sam Koleduk)

In each of those defeats, the Dragons were without one of those team captains.

But, with its top two players fully available for the playoffs, the Dragons were poised to claim its second TCAL title in three years.

Sumner’s presence was undoubtedly felt in the games that mattered most.

In the semifinal game against the No. 2 seed Learning Gate, Sumner scored an unheard of four goals in the team’s 5-3 win.

She followed that performance in the title game, scoring the lone goal in the 1-0 win against No. 1 seed Lutz Prep.

It was par for the course for the Dragons forward, who led the team with 42 goals.

Said Sumner, “It’s really nice just to know that my last year here, I get to score the last goal. The ball got up the field by our team for me to score, so I mean it’s a team effort.”

She added: “Every goal I scored, I was thinking for our team, ‘I have to score. I’m the scorer. I have to score for us to win.’ Every goal was for this team, which was really nice just to score to know that like we’re going to win, and the team’s behind me.”

As the one-nil score would indicate, Lutz Prep was the Dragons’ toughest test all season long.

The Dragons figured as much heading into the game.

“We were fighting the whole time, until we scored the goal,” Wood said.

“We had that drive just to win,” Sumner said. “I told them (teammates) before, ‘We have to fight hard if we want to win this game, and we did. We came through.”

The victory added extra meaning as it marked the third straight year the two local charter schools have matched up in the title game. The Dragons lost to the Bolts in last year’s championship, but won in 2017.

“Those are our rivals. We always want to beat them,” Sumner said.

Such familiarity helped the Dragons’ game plan for the Bolts, Sumner said.

She explained: “Over the years, we learned that they had a few of their stronger players we have to watch out for, so we just focused on them, marking them, blocking them, like putting them down so they just didn’t get the ball much.”

The championship put a bow on a season where the Dragons posted seven shutouts and outscored opponents 75 to 9.

It was also a proper sendoff for a quartet of eighth-graders moving on to the high school ranks, made up of Sumner, Wood, Natalie Magharus and Trinity Slone. The rest of the team’s fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders are expected to return next season.

“I’ll miss everyone because it was so fun,” said Wood, who’s moving on to Land O’ Lakes High School with Sumner. “We were a family, and it’s going to be hard to leave them because we’ve known them for three years.”

The season likewise couldn’t have ended any better for Dragons first-year coach Henry Cheung, who coaches the team alongside Saint Leo Hall of Famer Sam Koleduk.

“Overall, it’s a good season. I am proud with the girls for what they did, and I’m happy my first year coaching I got a championship,” Cheung said.

He added: “The girls are hardworking. They gave everything they had.”

Coaching chops aside, Cheung credited the team’s talent level and ability to play together as reasons for the on-field success.

“We’re united,” he said, noting the team knows how to play well together.

And, despite the exodus of Sumner, Wood and the others, the coach has high hopes for next season.

“I’m looking forward to next year,” Cheung said. “Under coach Sam (Koleduk) and all the other girls, we’ll do good next year, too.”

2019 Imagine School girls soccer roster

  • Abigail Courtney
  • Madalyn Courtney
  • Lilie Shen-Dale
  • Ava Folkman
  • Emily Folkman
  • Angelisse Force
  • Natalia Magharus
  • Aurora Nelson
  • Julissa Novillo
  • Siena Pena
  • Madylena Perez
  • Annelisa Russo
  • Trinity Slone
  • Mya Smith
  • Caidee Sumner (co-captain)
  • Gabriella Suppa
  • Payton Webster
  • Bella Wood (co-captain)
  • Keeley Yarbrough
  • Coach: Sam Koleduk
  • Coach: Henry Cheung

Notable performers

  • Caidee Sumner — 42 goals, 13 assists, 97 points
  • Bella Wood — 15 goals, 17 assists, 47 points
  • Annelisa Russo — 13 goals, 9 assists, 35 points
  • Julissa Novillo — 3 goals, 12 assists, 18 points
  • Madylena Perez— 4 goals, 7 assists, 15 points
  • Lilie Shen-Dale— 2 goals, 4 assists, 6 points
  • Keeley Yarbrough — 7 shutouts

By the numbers

  • 9-2 overall record
  • 75 goals scored
  • 9 goals allowed
  • 7 shutouts

Game-by-game results for 2019 season

  • New Springs School (13-0 win)
  • Sunlake Academy (15-0 win)
  • Henderson Hammock (10-0 win)
  • Trinity School (7-0 win)
  • Learning Gate (1-0 loss)
  • Lutz Prep (5-4 loss)
  • Hillsborough Academy (7-0 win)
  • Classical Prep (6-1 win)
  • Terrace Community (7-0 win)
  • Tampa Charter Athletic League Semi-Final: at No. 2 seed Learning Gate (5-3 win)
  • Tampa Charter Athletic League Championship: at No. 1 seed Lutz Prep (1-0 win)

Published April 17, 2019

Lutz families will have more middle school options

By

Lutz, Maniscalco and Pizzo elementary schools will begin converting to pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade schools beginning this fall.

The change will start with each of the elementary schools adding sixth grade in the fall. The following year, seventh grade will be added, and the following year, eighth grade.

The idea is to make the transition gradually.

Students living in those attendance zones will have the option of attending their zoned middle school, or staying in their current schools, under the district’s School Choice option.

Lori Branham, Monique Helms, Remi Helms, Riley Silkworth, Bryce Henry, David Henry, Tammy Reale and Joshua Phillips stand in front of a photograph of Mary Maniscalco, for whom Maniscalco Elementary School is named. The Lutz school is transitioning to a pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade campus. It will begin by adding sixth grade there this fall. (B.C. Manion)

Priority will be given to students who currently reside within the school boundary, followed by students currently attending the school via the choice process, then students who live outside the boundary and are not currently enrolled at the school.

Applications are available at each school office or on the schools’ websites and will be accepted daily at the schools through March 23.

Each of the schools will be able to accommodate 110 sixth-graders.

Reaction to the new option has been positive, said Tammy Reale, principal at Maniscalco Elementary, and Lori Branham, principal at Lutz Elementary, during a joint interview with The Laker/Lutz News.

During the interview, parents and students from Maniscalco Elementary, 939 Debuel Road, expressed positive feedback about the plan.

Monique Helms, who lives in Carrollwood, said her daughter, Remi, already attends Maniscalco through School Choice.

A lot of kids from Kiddie Campus University (KCU) attend Maniscalco, Helms explained.

She’s delighted that Remi will be able to stay at Maniscalco for middle school.

“I love the culture here. The teachers here are amazing. And, so are Mr. (Joshua) Phillips (assistant principal) and Miss Reale (principal).  We’ve just been very fortunate,” she said. “I used to be a middle school teacher many, many years ago, and it’s a really tough transition. So, we were happy that they’re adding sixth grade.”

David Henry, whose 10-year-old son, Bryce, attends Maniscalco, is enthusiastic about the new option, too.

“This is a great environment for Bryce,” Henry said, noting his son also is from KCU. “He’s been here since kindergarten and has thoroughly enjoyed it. And, we look forward to him being here as a sixth-grader,” Henry said.

Henry, who attended a K-8 school when he was young, likes that approach to education.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for the kids. I think the transition, from eighth to ninth grade, is much easier than from fifth to sixth, and from seventh to eighth,” he said.

Ten-year-old Riley Silkworth, a current fifth-grader at Maniscalco, is happy that she’ll be able to stay there next year.

“I like that Maniscalco is going to do K-8 because it’s way closer for me. I live 3 minutes away,” she said.

“We are going to know most of the people who are already going to be here, because most of the people are going to stay. We’re still going to have the same teachers around us,” she added.

Remi and Bryce also had good things to say.

“We’re going to be able to stay with our friends,” Remi said. “The only thing I don’t like about it is that it’s going to be even sadder when we have to leave in eighth grade.”

Bryce said he likes knowing his way around campus. He said he can’t think of anything that would be a downside from the school’s transition to a K-8 campus.

Helms said the only concern that she’s heard expressed was whether students leaving a K-8 environment would make a smooth transition into high school.

She’s confident that Remi will.

District officials say that the curriculum offered will be consistent with other K-8 schools and there will be after-school activities, but there won’t be athletic teams until there are students in grades six through eight on the campuses.

Traditional middle schools in Hillsborough County are scheduled to begin the school day at 9:25 a.m. next year, but these K-8 schools are expected to start their days at 7:40 a.m., which is on the same schedule as the district’s middle schools.

All three also will continue to offer pre-K programs.

The schools are able to transition to a K-8 program because they are currently operating under capacity.

Although Lutz has experienced some residential growth in recent years, there are also other educational options available nearby, including Lutz Preparatory School, Learning Gate Community School, Sunlake Academy of Math and Science, and Imagine School of Land O’ Lakes.

How to apply
Pick up an application at the schools or download one from their websites
Lutz: 202 Fifth Ave., S.E., or Lutz.mysdhc.org
Maniscalco: 939 Debuel Road or Maniscalco.mysdhc.org
Pizzo: 11701 USF Bull Run or Pizzo.mysdhc.org

Published March 7, 2018

Grades slip at numerous local schools

By

The Florida Department of Education has released its annual school grades, and the news was not good for numerous Pasco County schools in The Laker/Lutz News’ coverage area.

“As soon as I saw the information, I was pretty distraught,” said Pasco County School Board member Alison Crumbley.

“This has to really be broken down,” she said, noting she has requested a school board workshop to address the issue. “We need to pick this apart. This is priority one — priority one, to figure this out.”

The district needs time to analyze the results, Crumbley said, so she requested the workshop be held following the board’s Aug. 2 meeting.

Overall, 10 central and east Pasco elementary schools slipped by one letter grade. Six elementary schools maintained the same grade as last year, and two improved by a letter grade. Pine View Elementary had the biggest drop, slipping from an A to a C. Sanders Elementary, which opened last school year, received a B. Quail Hollow, which reopened last year, received a C.

All seven middle schools, meanwhile, maintained the grades they received last year, including three As, at Rushe, John Long and Pine View.

But, the news was not as good at the high school level. Four high schools in east and central Pasco dropped a grade, while two remained the same.

No Pasco high school within the newspaper’s coverage area received an A grade. Last year, Wiregrass Ranch High, Land O’ Lakes High and Sunlake each received an A, but this year, they each dropped to a B. Wesley Chapel High, which had a B last year, dropped to a C.

Meanwhile, each of the Pasco charter schools, serving the newspaper’s coverage area — Academy at the Farm, Countryside Montessori and Imagine School at Land O’ Lakes —received an A, mirroring the score they each received last year.

Crumbley said she’s trying to understand why some schools performed at the same level, or even improved, while others slipped.

“Nothing is really straight up, cut-and-dried, in this business, and I do know that,” Crumbley said. “But by the same token, we have to get to the bottom of this. We have to. Period.”

School board member Steve Luikart also expressed concerns.

“Some of the schools slipped and the district slipped. We went from B to C,” Luikart said.

On one hand, Luikart said, “it’s hard to throw mud at something, when you’ve got a change of criteria every year … It’s impossible to nail down data, when the criteria is not consistent.”

On the other hand, he continued: “We’re still competing with everyone else in the state,” he said.

“We’re going to have to look at what we’ve got to do differently to head it back in a different direction. There’s no doubt about that,” he said.

“I’m definitely concerned. It’s very disappointing,” Luikart said.

This chart provides scores for east and central Pasco County schools.

Elementary schools
Centennial Elementary                         2016: D           2015: C
Chester W. Taylor Jr. Elementary                   2016: C           2015: C
Connerton Elementary                         2016: C           2015: B
Denham Oaks Elementary                               2016: C           2015: B
Double Branch Elementary                             2016: B           2015: A
Lacoochee Elementary                         2016: D           2015: F
Lake Myrtle Elementary                                  2016: B           2015: A
New River Elementary                                    2016: B           2015: B
Oakstead Elementary                                       2016: A           2015: A
Pasco Elementary                                            2016: D           2015: D
Pine View Elementary                         2016: C           2015: A
Quail Hollow                                                  2016: C           2015 (Not open)
Rodney B. Cox Elementary                             2016: D           2015: F
San Antonio Elementary                                 2016: C           2015: C
Sanders Elementary                                        2016: B           2015 (Not open)
Seven Oaks Elementary                                  2016: B           2015: A
Veterans Elementary                                       2016: B           2015: A
Watergrass Elementary                                    2016: C           2015: B
Wesley Chapel Elementary                              2016: A           2015: A
West Zephyrhills Elementary                          2016: D           2015: C
Woodland Elementary                         2016: D           2015: C

Middle schools
Centennial Middle                                           2016: C           2015: C
Charles S. Rushe Middle                                2016: A           2015: A
Dr. John Long Middle                                    2016: A           2015: A
Pasco Middle                                                  2016: C           2015: C
Pine View Middle                                           2016: A           2015: A
Raymond B. Stewart Middle School               2016: C           2015: C
Thomas E. Weightman Middle School            2016: B           2015: B

High schools
Land O’ Lakes High                                       2016: B           2015: A
Pasco High                                                      2016: C           2015: C
Sunlake High                                                  2016: B           2015: A
Wesley Chapel High                                       2016: C           2015: B
Wiregrass Ranch High                                    2016: B           2015: A
Zephyrhills High                                             2016: C           2015: C

Charter schools
Academy at the Farm                                      2016: A           2015: A
Countryside Montessori Academy                  2016: A           2015: A
Imagine School at Land O’ Lakes                   2016: A           2015: A

Published July 20, 2016