Search Results for: Sanders Elementary School

 

School is needed to accommodate the area’s future growth

 

By B.C. Manion

 

The Pasco County School Board has approved the purchase of 22 acres for an elementary school site, on the south site of SR 54, across from the Ballantrae subdivision.

The new school – not expected to be constructed for five to 10 years – will provide future relief to Oakstead and Odessa elementary schools, said Linda Cobbe, spokeswoman for Pasco County Schools.

The site is within the Smith 54 mixed-use project, which calls for offices, a shopping center, a hotel and multifamily housing.

The site is off SR 54, between US 41 and the Suncoast Parkway, in one of the county’s high-growth corridors.

School district data notes that nearly 1,200 elementary students live in the area, and another 1,200 are expected when the 6,863 approved homes in the area are built.

The district’s current elementary schools are designed for 762 students.

The district anticipates it will need a minimum of three elementary schools to serve the area, and at this time, Oakstead Elementary is the only noncharter school located in the corridor.

Two more public elementary schools are needed in the corridor, according to documents prepared by the district’s planning staff.

To help address that need, the Pasco School Board approved a $2.2 million purchase of the 22-acre site within a mixed-use housing development known as Smith 54. The tract is on the south side of SR 54, approximately 1.5 miles east of the Suncoast Parkway.

Two appraisals were done on the property, with one coming in at $85,000 per acre and the other at $130,000 per acre. The district purchased the site for $101,000 per acre.

In the short term, the reopening of Sanders Elementary is expected to relieve Oakstead, Cobbe said.

By B.C. Manion

 

The Pasco County school district has identified more than $1 billion in construction and maintenance needs over the next 12 years with anticipated revenues about $200 million short of covering those costs.

Pasco County School Board members are not expected to take action on the list until this summer when they discuss their budget.

Unlike the years when the county’s growth forced the district to devote most of its construction dollars to building new schools, this plan calls primarily for upgrading and expanding existing sites.

The list includes redevelopment of school campuses, remodeling schools, adding technology for digital learning such as LED projectors and student computers, renovating cafeterias, traffic and safety improvements, improving facilities and making maintenance repairs, upgrading facilities for extracurricular activities, acquiring future school sites and three new elementary schools.

Here’s a quick look at the major projects on the 12-year priority list for Central and East Pasco schools.

Projects proposed between 2012 and 2014:

–West Zephyrhills Elementary, redevelopment, $8.2 million

–Pasco Elementary, remodel, $5.6 million

–R.B. Stewart Middle School, remodel, $4.5 million

–Land O’ Lakes High, redevelopment, $20.6 million

–Moore Mickens Education Center, redevelopment, $5 million

Projects proposed between 2014 and 2016:

–R.B. Cox Elementary, redevelopment, $6.5 million

–Pasco Elementary, remodel, $5.6 million

–San Antonio Elementary, remodel, $4 million

–Sanders Memorial Elementary, redevelopment, $18.2 million

Projects proposed between 2016 and 2018:

–Dr. John Long Middle School, classroom addition, $4 million

–Wiregrass Ranch High, classroom addition, $4 million

–Zephyrhills High, redevelopment, $20.6 million

Projects proposed between 2018 and 2020:

No major projects at Central or East Pasco schools

Projects proposed between 2020 and 2022:

–Quail Hollow Elementary, remodel, $8.5 million

–Woodland Elementary, remodel, $4.5 million

–Pine View Middle, remodel, $15.9 million

 

 

By Suzanne Schmidt

Staff Writer

In the last 62 years, Sanders Elementary has spawned three schools including Denham Oaks and Oakstead and finally the brand new Connerton Elementary School.

The school, 5126 School Road, will close its doors in June for an indefinite period. Students, faculty and administration will move to the brand new Connerton Elementary School at the beginning of the 2010-11 school year. All but four buildings will be torn down with the intention to rebuild one day when the student population calls for another school in the area.

The administration and staff at Sanders invites the community to one last look at Sanders Farewell Tribute and Open House 1 to 4 p.m. April 24. Marc Seligman, tech specialist at the school, is helping to coordinate the farewell tribute.

“The school has grown and spawned many different schools through the years like Oakstead and Denham Oaks,” Seligman said. “We are hoping to have the students take people on tours through the school so they can see how much it has changed.”

The school is searching for students, former staff and anyone from the community who has memories to share. Seligman said he is hoping to make a presentation out of all the entries to show at the farewell tribute.

“At different times, there have been so many people who have left an impression here,” Seligman said. “We have invited past principals and sent notices out to all the schools in Pasco. We are hoping to get former faculty and students to attend. We are looking for people who will be willing to be video taped.”

Susan Dubendorfer, literacy coach at the school, is also helping to coordinate the event.

“After 62 years as a school, we felt it was appropriate to celebrate the learning, camaraderie and the history of the school,” Dubendorfer said. “This has always been a community school so that is why we wanted to end it this way.”

Pam Jones, first-grade teacher, said she will miss the school but she understands the necessity of tearing it down.

“There are so many generations in this area who have their heartstrings tied to this place,” Jones said. “The building is at that point where it would cost as much to repair it as it would to rebuild it. They had to make that decision.”

Betty Thompson, formerly Betty Jean Henley, has many fond memories from her time spent at Sanders Memorial Elementary School. She was a fifth-grader at the school when it opened in September 1948. The school opened with 114 students in first through seventh grade and cost $57,000 to build.

“It was exciting back then to go to a new school,” Thompson said. “It was different back then. We all would wear shoes to school, but then when we got there we would take them off. It wasn’t anything like it is today. It was more country.”

Thompson was not only a student at the school in 1980, she was also a school board member. She also wrote a number of articles about the history of the area for “Freedom Press,” the community newspaper.

“I have always been very aware of what was happening in the school,” Thompson said. “After I was a school board member, I volunteered at the media center.”

One of her fondest memories is of her music teacher.

“I remember during recess I used to watch Letty Jon Coker, she was a majorette,” Thompson said. “Her and my music teacher Mrs. Aiken taught me how to twirl a baton.”

Thompson said her children Emmett Thompson, Scott Thompson and Susan Archer all went to school at Sanders.

“I am sad to see it go but I think I agree with the decision,” Thompson said. “The history will still be there.”

Juanita McGregor of Land O’ Lakes was a teacher at Sanders for 34 years. She started there in 1972 and retired four years ago.

“I feel sad because I spent a good part of my life there,” McGregor said. “I watched the buildings get added and saw the kids grow up. We were all like one big family. The school always had a special atmosphere to it.”

McGregor said the area has changed a lot since she started teaching there.

“It used to be more rural,” McGregor said. “There is more of a diverse population now. We didn’t have as many students from other countries. It was mostly farm kids who lived in Land O’ Lakes. We didn’t have computers and kids played outside more then. The parental supports was better then too because not a lot of moms worked.”

McGregor is one of the few people who remember where the time capsule is at the school. It is in one of the buildings that will not be torn down.

“We put the time capsule into the wall when the building was built,” McGregor said. “Jen Young, Becky Nash and I put pictures, samples of the students work and other things that were popular at the time like the wild designed shoelaces.”

McGregor also remembers that Sanders had a few different mascots.

“When I first started it was the Sanders Saber, which was a sword,” McGregor said. “Then it was a stallion. Marti Meacher became the principal and decided to change the mascot. We had a committee and came up with the star which is what it is today.”

She said she is looking forward to seeing the school one last time before it is demolished.

“I have a lot of fond memories,” McGregor said. “I was walking on those same sidewalks since I was 22-years-old. It was always a top-notch school.”

The school was named after James Wilson Sanders, a teacher, principal, county superintendant and judge. He devoted a lot of his time to the promotion of better schools in the community. It was largely through his vision and efforts that the construction of the school was instigated.

The school is selling commemorative buttons in order to raise money for a playground at the new school. The goal is to raise from $35,000 to $50,000.

For more information, call Marc Seligman at (813) 794-1517 or visit http://sanders.pasco.k12.fl.us.

By Suzanne Schmidt

Staff Writer

LAND O’ LAKES— A new principal is learning the ropes at Sanders Memorial Elementary School just in time before the school transfers to Connerton Elementary.

Anna Falcone said she is happy to be the principal of her own school.

“It is exciting to be principal,” Falcone said. “I get to lead the teachers and the staff so the children can be the best they can be. I know my impact will be felt with the teachers and ultimately the children.”

Falcone started her career in Pasco as an intermediate teacher at San Antonio Elementary from 1998 to 2003. She then moved to Pine View Elementary School where she was assistant principal for five and a half years until last week, when she became principal of Sanders.

She said she is not the type of principal that just sits at her desk; instead she likes to work hands-on with the students.

“Curriculum and instruction is my passion,” Falcone said. “I am always in the classrooms and I love to be connected to the children. I think all children can learn and all children learn differently. If we have the best interest of the students in mind then everything else falls into place.”

Over the summer, Sanders will be closed and all the students, faculty and staff will be moved to the new Connerton Elementary School, 9300 Flourish Road in Land O’ Lakes, for the next school year. Instead of thinking too much about the new school, Falcone said for now she is just trying to get to know everyone at the school.

“My first goal is to get to know the students, faculty and the community,” Falcone said. “I want to know everything that is going on and get to know the people and how they work. I think it will help us to have a smooth transition to the new school.”

Even though the entire school, including the teachers and students, will be transferring to a new building, they will not be taking the old name and mascot with them.

“We will probably have a student vote in order to come up with a mascot,” Falcone said.

John Petrashek, director of construction service and code compliance for the District School Board of Pasco County, said the new school will be completed by the middle of summer.

“The school will be open August 2010,” Petrashek said. “That will allow time for the principal to move in so she can be ready to welcome back the staff during teacher week.”

Petrashek said all of Sanders is going to be torn down except for four buildings. Those buildings are a part of the design for the new building. Even though there is a design almost complete, there is no plan yet in place to rebuild.

“We will have to look at the growth projections for future years,” Petrashek said. “We do not want to operate two schools with full staff if they are only full to half capacity with students.”

With Sanders now in its 64^th year there is a lot of history.  To bid the school good bye, Falcone said in April she is planning on having an Open House for the community.

“We are planning a farewell to Sanders,” Falcone said. “We will have the school open to where people can stop by. There is a lot of history here and a lot of people who taught here or were on the administration here or went to school here can come in and say goodbye.”

Barbara Stark, secretary at the school, said she is excited to have a new principal and soon a new school.

“The staff at Sanders is happy to have a new principal,” Stark said. “We are looking forward to working for her and we are excited about the new school. The kids are all looking forward to it, too.”

In the future, the site where Connerton Elementary is being built will also have a middle school, a major regional Pasco community park as well as an adjoining South West Florida Water Management District preserve.

For information, visit pasco.k12.fl.us or call Sanders at (813) 794-1500.