JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Some students in St. Johns County are kicking off the new school year at brand new schools.
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Lakeside Academy, in the Beacon Lake community, is one and the other is Trout Creek Academy in the Shearwater neighborhood.
Those schools are providing relief for the district’s overcrowding problem.
Both new schools can accommodate 1500 students.
There are now about 52,000 students total in St. Johns County as the county and its student population only continues to grow.
The district’s deputy superintendent of operations told Action News Jax back in April that the new schools cost $68 million each, but the district is struggling to find the money to meet the need.
“You can’t build a school if you don’t have the dollars, even though you need the school because you have the students,” said Dr. Brennan Asplen.
The two new schools are part of five new schools set to open by 2026 to meet the needs of the rapidly growing district.
The principal at Lakeside Academy, Dr. Gates, said this school year they are welcoming around 1300 students.
“We’ve worked so hard, so many of us have worked so hard,” said Dr. Gates. “As the principal you want to make sure everything goes as well as it can.”
For now, Lakeside Academy is just K-7th grade, and next year it will be expanded up through 8th grade.
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