WELLEN PARK Class OF ’26?

Future high school students in Wellen Park will study science in an outdoor living lab, collaborate on project-based assignments in a large commons area, enjoy a collegiate-inspired student union and get a jump start on skills needed by local companies.

With nature as its guide, the 2,100-person capacity student building represents the future of Sarasota high schools — designed with an elevated boardwalk, three-story classroom wings nestled within courtyards featuring preserved natural landscaping, and a site plan built into a tableau of existing wetlands and natural areas plus lakes.

The $175 million high school — the first built by Sarasota County Schools in 30 years — is located on River Road and the future Manasota Beach Road extension. Expected to open in August 2025, the 325,000-square-foot school is a radical departure from traditional sprawling campuses, its compact three-story design improving security and student circulation, Jane Dreger, director of construction services, told the school board while reviewing preliminary plans and renderings.

As the first new high school built since North Port High opened in 1993, the single-building Wellen Park facility will feature signature spaces including a welcome center designed to encourage parent participation; a commons area functioning as a cafeteria, the school’s largest classroom and a community event space; an innovation zone housing engineering, entrepreneurial and tourism labs; the second-floor student union with a library, counseling and career services overlooking the commons area; an 850- seat performing arts center; and a championship gymnasium with training and athletic centers.

The high school is one of three new schools planned for more than 4,200 students in the rapidly growing Wellen Park, ranked the second-fastest growing community in the country for 2022. Also coming are a for-profit K-6 charter school — for more than 600 students, expected to open this fall — and Sarasota County Schools’ planned K-8 school next to the new high school.

Jose Murguido, the school’s architect from Miami-based Zyscovich, an award-winning international architectural firm (www.zyscovich.com), told the board the new high school’s surroundings drove the design.

“The other thing that’s really spectacular is the site that you have with wetlands in it and all kinds of natural environments,” he said. “We built the school around it so the site itself is a classroom. We tried to place the building as if mother nature put it there herself.”

The two main classroom wings project from the back of the building, allowing the architectural firm to weave in the courtyards and a nearby “land lab” offering an outdoor classroom and an elevated boardwalk teachers can incorporate into their lesson plans.

“The surrounding wetlands will be used as outdoor classrooms for the marine biology and agriculture programs,” said Kelsey Whealy, media relations specialist for the school district.

The school’s expansive outdoor campus will also feature game fields, a stadium with a track, tennis courts, baseball and softball fields.

Based on a Zyscovich-designed prototype of a new high school opening in Naples this fall, Wellen Park’s yet-unnamed school was customized for a “glove fit” to Sarasota’s needs, Mr. Murguido said. Its academic focus on career and technical education, or CTE, will include programs for tourism and hospitality management, agriculture and biotechnology, computer science, entrepreneurialism, multimedia technology and engineering.

The project team has partnered with Wellen Park developer Mattamy Homes to create an educational focus, work around wetlands and coordinate trails and ponds. The district is also collaborating with CoolToday Air, 4-H, UF extension services and local businesses to develop CTE programs based on real needs in the job market.

“We’re looking at industries in the surrounding area and tapping into what’s going on in the job market,” said Catherine Cocozza, director of high school curriculum and instruction. “We’re working on having a marine biology lab next to the ag lab so teachers can partner up and use the outdoor classrooms.”

Ms. Cocozza said the high school will also offer a state-of-the-art Junior ROTC facility.

Additional design features include a large outdoor welcome court with green spaces, a welcome center with a “high-security sallyport” and main administration offices, and the entire third floor of one wing devoted to a science suite and discovery zone. Mini-administrative offices are located throughout the building for added security and supervision.

The Sarasota School Board is expected to review final plans this month and complete all construction documents in April.

Sarasota County Schools closed on the 130-acre high school site parcel in May 2021 and fast-tracked plans for the school later that year to relieve overcrowding at Venice High School and anticipated growth at North Port High. Both schools are within 10 miles of the Wellen Park location. The Venice school has 425 students over capacity this year. Projections estimate 2,563 additional south county students in the next 10 years.

The K-8 school is located on an adjoining parcel, originally budgeted for $85 million, and will serve as a K-8 prototype for future schools. Preliminary work has begun for the 1,500-student school, which is a year behind the high school timeline. It will provide relief for overcrowding at Taylor Ranch Elementary.

Wellen Park is planned for 22,500 homes and 50,000 residents — more than five times its current population of about 9,500 residents.

The school board has also approved the proposed College Preparatory Academy at Wellen Park, a K-6 charter school by the for-profit Charter Schools USA. The charter company was appealing the board’s initial denial to the Florida State Board of Education. The academy is expected to open this fall with 615 students and eventually expand to 765.

As a choice school that can draw students from Sarasota and surrounding counties, the new charter school won’t impact plans for the K-8 public school in Wellen Park.

“The team indicated it’s difficult to determine where their student population will come from,” said Ms. Whealy. “When our planning team calculates student populations for our (traditional public) schools, 15% of that population is projected for charter schools.”