This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

New All-Girls Middle School Gets Day of Beauty

Volunteers planted, painted and put together furniture Saturday at Ferrell Girls Preparatory School.

The first all-girls public school in Hillsborough County got a glamour makeover on Saturday from a crew of 100 volunteers.

The workers planted, painted and refurbished the principal’s office and teachers’ lounge at , 4302 24th St., Tampa. The campus, formerly a magnet school for boys and girls interested in global communications, is scheduled to reopen Aug. 23 with about 400 sixth- through eighth-grade girls from throughout Hillsborough County.  That’s about half the size of a traditional public middle school.

The county school district is sprucing up the campus over the summer, but it got a big boost over the weekend from volunteers with United Way and the National Association of College and University Business Officers, which was holding its annual meeting in Tampa, said school choice spokeswoman Terrie Dodson-Caldevilla.

Find out what's happening in Bloomingdale-Riverviewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“They do a community service project wherever they hold their annual meeting, and they just happened to choose Ferrell,” Dodson-Caldevilla said. “They felt it was very important that the new principal have a nice front office to welcome parents and prospective students, and a nice teachers’ lounge.”

The school is one of two new single-gender magnets that will hone instruction to boys’ and girls’ different learning styles. The second, Franklin Boys Preparatory Academy, is getting financing from the federal Magnet Schools Assistance Program, Dodson-Caldevilla said. Ferrell is not getting federal money, so the extra help in sprucing it up was welcome, she said.

Find out what's happening in Bloomingdale-Riverviewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“There’s been a great buzz” about the school, she said. “Parents are still calling to apply, but the application process closed in June.”

Many students have already been selected through a lottery process. They’re attending special camps over the summer, including a golf camp and a Girl Scout-led camp being held at nearby Middleton High School.

Another round of students who applied in May should learn in two to three weeks whether they’ve been accepted, Dodson-Caldevilla said.

The new school plans to offer a rigorous academic environment that gets students prepared for Advanced Placement high school classes, according to a district Web site.

 “Young women in same-gender educational settings are more likely to take classes in math, science, and information technology,” the site notes.

Another plus, said Dodson-Caldevilla: Students will be required to wear uniforms.

“Parents are very happy about that,” she said.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?