LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – The Lake County School District has seen a lot of growth and in order to keep up with it, they’re building new schools and upping their recruitment efforts.
At their recent Launch into Lake event, school district officials said they feel the county’s growth is bursting at the seams.
“It’s wonderful to see how the district is growing,” said Quiana Peterson, Lake County Schools instructional recruitment partner.
While the growth has its challenges, Peterson said it’s an exciting time to be a part of the district.
“It has made it a little difficult to hire as far as a numbers perspective because we’re still getting enrollment which is why we’re continuing to recruit,” Peterson said. “There’s a huge need for teachers in Lake County and that’ll continue with that growth and we’ll be here to recruit and continue to fill that need.”
In addition to bringing on new teachers, the district is also celebrating the grand opening of the Aurelia M. Cole K8 Academy in Clermont.
“We’re a growing community and we’re excited to just continue to gorw together as communities and the opportunity to be able to not only build new buildings but also renovate existing buildings to make them better places for kids to learn,” Lake County Superintendent Diane Kornegay said.
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Kornegay said the district is always planning for the future.
“We’re continuing to plan for more schools to come,” Kornegay said. “Every year we’re opening a new school or planning for a new school to come.”
On top of building new schools, district officials said retaining teachers is also an important part of keeping up with the growth.
“We also recognize the need to keep quality people here in our district and so at our school sites, school leaders are doing the work to make sure people have that experience as well as our district office,” Director of Professional Learning for Lake County Schools Tiffany Scott said.
The new K8 replaces Clermont Middle School and will house around 1,200 students.
News 6 was able to tour the new school with Aurelia Cole’s family after its opening ceremony in July. To see the tour, click here.
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