What happens when old meets new? Historic Parrish Schoolhouse becomes a school again

The old Parrish Schoolhouse looks much like it did over 90 years ago, when the two-story building opened off U.S. 301.

Walking across its hardwood floors and through its vintage doors on Friday morning, local families could sense what used to be. But on the walls they found high-tech screens, not chalkboards. And the new air-conditioners were a world away from the open windows that brought a subtle breeze to students of decades past.

Forza Education Management is the latest group to rejuvenate the landmark at 12214 U.S. 301 N., which opens Monday as a private preschool. The company pumped more than a million dollars into the building in preparation for its new facility: the Forza Child Development Center at the Parrish Schoolhouse.

Families toured the schoolhouse and met with teachers during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday. As parents neared the local landmark, they could see its original Tudor-style entrance — a wide arch with a pointed, almost triangular top.

“I like how they kept the historical aspect of the building while still making it kid-friendly and functional,” said Amy Fail, a mom who toured the classrooms with her 3-year-old daughter, Farrah.

The town built its new schoolhouse in the 1920s, opening with 12 grades and serving children throughout the area, according to an application filed with the National Register of Historic Places. (It seems the schoolhouse never actually made it onto the register.)

“It is a fine example of the Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival style popular during the 1920s Florida land boom years,” the document states. “This school emphasizes the classical simplicity and symmetry not found in other regional schools for the period.”

In the 1940s or ‘50s, the schoolhouse expanded with a new wood frame cafeteria that neighbors the original building. But the number of grades and students dwindled in the following years, when most students moved to a school in Palmetto after Grade 6, according to the application.

Ben Jordan, vice president of the Parrish Foundation, said that old images show the schoolhouse windows wide open in summer months, when air conditioning had yet to arrive in Parrish. Not seen in those photos, he said, were the big potbelly stoves that kept students and teachers warm in the colder months.

“There’s a lady that lives here in Parrish,” Jordan said. “She told me one time she can remember her father getting up on cold winter mornings and coming over to the schoolhouse to get a fire started in every one of the potbelly stoves.”

Jordan’s foundation, which owns the building, has partnered with Forza Education Management. The foundation’s vice president said he was pleased with Forza’s effort to preserve history and revive the building, which passed through many hands in recent history.

Though the date varies depending on the source, news archives and historical documents suggest the schoolhouse closed in the ‘60s or early 70’s. It sat vacant for years until Manatee County Rural Health opened a clinic in the aging building.

According to a 2006 Bradenton Herald article, safety concerns — including the need for a sprinkler system and remodeled stairwell — then forced MCR Health to leave the building for at least a year. The revelation disrupted not only MCR, but also the community groups that held reunions and meetings at the old schoolhouse.

The building later underwent a $2 million renovation to make way for a community center run by the Manatee County YMCA, the Bradenton Herald reported in 2009.

Jordan said the YMCA vacated the Parrish Schoolhouse about a year ago, once again putting the historic building in limbo. That’s when Chuck Malatesta, the chief executive officer of Forza Education, pitched the idea for a preschool.

“We liked the idea of a historic schoolhouse, and everybody wanted to bring it back to its intended purpose,” he said on Friday.

As a former YMCA, the interior had wide-open spaces. Forza installed new walls and bathrooms, forming seven classrooms in the main building and two classrooms in the old cafeteria building that sits nearby, connected by a walkway.

The company installed new landscaping and irrigation, along with several heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. Fresh paint brought the exterior to life, while modern technology — including tablets, laptops and security cameras — now dot the inside.

Forza built new relationships as well, partnering with the Early Learning Coalition to offer Voluntary Prekindergarten, or VPK, on the same campus.

Malatesta, who also operates Parrish Charter Academy about five miles away, said a new preschool was long overdue in Parrish. The schoolhouse hit capacity with 171 students shortly after opening enrollment, while the waiting list continues to grow.

“We’re behind five years on the expansion around this area,” he said. “You could open another preschool and probably fill it up.”

This story was originally published July 31, 2021 at 10:46 AM.