More than 1,000 students from Wellen Park, North Port, Venice and Englewood will walk into a brand-new high school Monday, Aug. 10, becoming the founding class of the Wellen Park Eagles.
Sarasota County Schools cut the ribbon on the $200 million-plus campus Wednesday in the school's first-floor main hallway, where a dark blue ribbon was sliced beneath a "WP" flag hanging from the second story. More than 100 people attended, including district leaders, North Port city officials, state representatives and construction crews.
Superintendent Terry Connor said he could already feel a buzz building around the school and praised Principal Mark Grossenbacher for working "around the clock" to get everything ready for opening day.
The three-story, 325,000-square-foot building at 10801 Manasota Beach Road sits on 81 acres within North Port's city limits. It is the first high school to open in Sarasota County in 25 years, only the third since 1958.
What's inside
Assistant Principal Josh Grant led tours through a campus that includes a gymnasium seating more than 3,000, a 1,000-seat auditorium, a film production classroom with a green screen and cameras, a construction and engineering lab, chemistry labs and a football stadium holding roughly 6,000 people. That's just shy of CoolToday Park's 6,200 capacity.
The school will also run a Cambridge magnet program, STEM labs, performing arts and junior ROTC, according to WWSB reporting. A veterinary program and an agricultural program round out the offerings, the latter complete with chickens, small animals and a goat named Ricardo, per the Sun's coverage.
Every hallway is dedicated to a single subject area, and the first-floor main hallway features couches, tables and chairs modeled after a college campus. A SmartPass system and remotely lockable doors handle security. Students will also find a coffee shop and hot and cold vending machines on site.
Who's coming
School Board Chair Bridget Ziegler said the school will welcome students primarily from Wellen Park, North Port and Venice, with some from Englewood. SNN reported first-year enrollment at approximately 1,200 students; the building's total capacity is 2,070.
Only about 80 to 90 seniors will attend in the inaugural year. Many incoming seniors opted to stay at their current schools, but Grant said the school has special plans for those seniors' first-ever graduation.
The principal's connection
Principal Mark Grossenbacher was part of the original staff that opened North Port High School in 2001. He previously led Woodland Middle School and Englewood Elementary.
"For many of the students, I was their elementary principal years ago, so I had the honor to ring them out at fifth grade, and I'll be ringing them out as seniors at graduation just a few short years from now," Grossenbacher told SNN at the ceremony.
The school's motto: "Built to Soar."
What families need to know
The first day of school for Wellen Park High and all Sarasota County public schools is Monday, Aug. 10. No orientation dates or enrollment deadlines were listed in available district materials. Families seeking information can visit sarasotacountyschools.net/o/wellenpark.
