Sanford, FL – April 20, 2016 – More than 200 community members, students, and representatives from Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) gathered on Saturday, April 16, 2016 to commemorate the historic groundbreaking of the new OCPS middle school to be built off Wewahootee Road in the South Orlando community known as Lake Nona.

Referred to as Site 52-M-SE-2 Relief Middle School, the project consists of a 171,033-square-foot, three-story prototype located on a 26-acre site. The new middle school campus is being built to accommodate overcrowding at the existing middle school due to rapid population growth in the Lake Nona area.

OCPS Board Member Daryl Flynn opened the ceremony thanking those who have been involved in getting the project moving. “We also want to thank Wharton-Smith,” she remarked. “We pick the construction manager for a reason – they deliver excellent quality work, on time, and are an important part of the process,” she added. Students from nearby Sun Blaze Elementary School, Moss Park Elementary School, Lake Nona Middle School and Lake Nona High School were on hand providing orchestra, chorus, band and color guard activities for the event.

“Wharton-Smith is excited to be a part of building a community resource for the fastest growing region in Florida,” said David Lewis, Project Executive for Wharton-Smith’s Commercial Division. “This new school will provide yet another state-of-the-art facility for this community and for Orange County Public Schools, and we are proud to partner with the District to accomplish this,” he added.

As construction manager, Wharton-Smith will oversee all construction efforts for the new campus. The $28 million project is expected to be complete in time for the 2017-2018 school year.

To see more pictures from the event, visit our Flickr page.

To see what the school will look like, view the animated fly through by architect Harvard Jolly.