The Garden Elementary School Replacement project represents an exciting step forward for the community, with plans to replace the aging campus with a modern, state-of-the-art facility. Following a walkthrough by the Department of Education staff on October 17, 2022, it was determined that the school qualified for demolition due to significant damage from Hurricane Ian and its age. The existing campus, consisting of 751 student stations and 81,371 square feet of space spread across various buildings and portables, no longer meets the needs of the growing student population. The new school will be designed to accommodate approximately 950 students, alleviating overcrowding in surrounding schools and reducing the reliance on portable classrooms.

The replacement school will be a two-story, 130,000-square-foot facility featuring modern classrooms, a bigger parking lot, updated play areas, and secure fencing. One of the most notable features of the new campus will be the 2,840-foot car loop, designed to hold up to 142 cars in a single stack formation, which will help improve traffic flow during student drop-off and pick-up times. The project also includes a new 8-foot-high precast concrete fence between the school and residential properties to ensure privacy and safety.

Construction will take place in phases to minimize disruption to the active campus. Phase I will begin in the Summer of 2025, and the project is expected to be completed by July 2027.

In addition to the new school, Building 4 will be remodeled to serve as the Facilities office for Zone 5.

The project is planned in four phases:

Phase I: Summer of 2025

• Site preparation

• Construct new parking lot

• Install new sidewalk south side/back of school

• Install fencing

 Phase II: Fall 2025 – December 2026

• Construction of new building

• Teachers will transition into the new building during Winter Break (December 2026)

   

Phase III: January 2027-May 2027

• Students move into new building after Winter Break

• Demolish old campus

   

Phase IV: June – July 2027

• Complete remainder of bus loop

For ongoing updates and more information, please visit this page regularly.