New charter school plans takeoff near Sarasota Bradenton International Airport
Update 6/8/22: After the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on the 2022 state budget last week, $5.5 million is approved to build this school.
A charter school with a focus on the aeronautical industry, planned near Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, would introduce economically disadvantaged students to career opportunities in the aeronautical industry.
Team Success at SRQ would be the second Team Success school in Manatee County. The Title I school for middle and high school students would be built on vacant airport property on the east side of 15th Street East, near Sun State Trucking and the former Honeywell building.
Phase I would open for the 2021-2022 school year, serving 750 students in 40,000-square-feet of facilities, including 36 classrooms. The partnership between the school and the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority, which owns the property, is considered a first of its kind in the United States, said Mike Dixon of Sage Development, Venice.
A second phase adding another 750 students and 40,000 square feet of facilities is planned in three to five years.
The school would be immersed in aviation themes with images and aviation memorabilia to reinforce the connection. The proposed course of study would follow a standard school curriculum, and include a focus on the aeronautical industry.
Team Success students would be offered real-life learning opportunities in math, science, business and other aviation-related ventures through the proximity of the airport.
Aviation-related field trips to various locations such as the Kennedy Space Center, Fantasy of Flight, or the Saint Petersburg Historical Museum would be offered to students in the various grade levels. The school would seek partnerships with other youth-related organizations operating at the airport, participating in their programs, featuring hands-on demonstrations and other learning experiences.
Long-term goals include offering internships and mentoring to high school students to guide them on a career path. Team Success SRQ plans to deliver instruction in a state-of-the-art facility encompassing a student body that grows as the students on the original campus in Bradenton transition over the years to the SRQ Campus.
“A year ago we began this project with conceptual thoughts of the partnership we could create with the airport authority,” Dixon said. “Team Success provides an excellent education to a student body that is almost 100 percent minority population. We think this program and its facilities could be a model for the rest of the country in providing opportunities to disadvantaged kids in a well-paying field that otherwise they may not have been exposed to. I’m very excited to be involved in this project with such a committed team.”
The original Team Success campus, located at 202 13th Ave. E., Bradenton, was opened by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office in 1997 to serve some of Manatee County’s poorest neighborhoods.
In 2012, the school earned an A performance grade, two years after being an F school. It was the only Title 1 school in Manatee County to receive an A grade in 2012.
Title I schools receive additional federal funding to assist with instruction for economically disadvantaged students. Since 2012, Team Success has never scored less than a C grade from the state, and the last three years has been rated an A school.
Rick Piccolo, president and CEO of Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, went to bat for Team Success when he learned that the Federal Aviation Administration had some concerns about the school lease.
“They have the right to approve these types of leases,” Piccolo said.
Piccolo was able to persuade the FAA that the vacant property was outside the airport noise contour and that the school offered the promise of helping guide students into a career field that they might otherwise know nothing about.
“These are kids who are born with two strikes against them,” Piccolo said. “There are a myriad of opportunities at an airport that are global. These children come from a very disadvantaged background. That’s why I got so excited and passionate about it.”
Contractor for the project is Half Acre Construction. The architectural consultant is Fawley Bryant Architecture.
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 7:58 AM.
