PHASE II OF AMBITIOUS SCHOOL-CHOICE PLAN TO KICK OFF MARCH 20


March 3, 2004


To kickoff Phase II of the "I CHOOSE" initiative, Hands on Miami will join forces with the school system on Saturday, March 20, at 9 a.m to help refurbish four schools in the newly created School Choice Zone 1. Volunteers will landscape, paint and spruce up Earlington Heights Elementary School, 4750 N.W. 22 Ave., Martin Luther King Elementary School, 7124 N.W. 12 Ave., Liberty City Elementary School, 1855 N.W. 71 St., and Lorah Park Elementary School, 5160 N.W. 31 Ave.

"I CHOOSE" is the district's ambitious five-year drive to give Miami-Dade students greater choice in which public schools they attend.

School Choice Zone 1 debuts next fall and will allow 10,000 students in northwest Miami-Dade to cross attendance boundaries and enroll in their choice of seven elementary schools and one middle school offering an array of special programs focused on such areas as international studies and media arts.

Funded by an $11.3 million federal grant and promoted under the slogan, "I Choose Miami-Dade County Public Schools," the plan is being rolled out in five annual phases through 2008. Up to seven school-choice zones will be added in other parts of the county, depending on the success of Phase II.

Phase I of the "I CHOOSE" initiative involved the reopening of the historic Ada Merritt School as South Florida's first commuter school. Expanded and reconstructed according to the school's original design, the school at 660 S.W. 3 St. has limited seats for prekindegarten through third-grade students from Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties.

For more information about "I CHOOSE," call the school district's Office of School Choice and Parental Options at 305.995.1922, or visit the web at www.dadeschools.net and click on the "I CHOOSE" icon.

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04-MV/132/JAM

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