Miami-Dade County Public Schools Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony at Charles R. Drew K-8 Center

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday at Charles R. Drew K-8 Center to celebrate the unveiling of a $11.7 million addition and renovation project.

Central Region Superintendent Brenda Swain, School Board Member Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, Charles R. Drew K-8 Center Principal Quintera Parris, District and school administrators as well as teachers and students attended the celebration.

“We have a new building… a beautiful space,” said Parris. “The students have everything they need that is state of the art.”

The school, built in 1964, has seven buildings and 658 student stations. The new three-story building replaced the aging main building. Charles R. Drew K-8 Treasurer Adela Bradley said alumni from the time of the original building became very sentimental about the renovation.

“People kept driving by seeing that the building was coming down and they came in one day asking if they could take some mementos, I realized this was monumental,” said Bradley.

The new main building houses administrative offices, a parent resource center and a clinic on the first floor. The second-floor houses third-through-fifth grade classrooms and a new media center and the third floor is home to middle schoolers, grades sixth through eighth.

Upgrades included a new PA system, which covers the entire school. The old system only reached the main building, meaning staff had to cover the span of buildings with walkie talkies to alert students they were being picked up. The Media Center now has a TV production are where students can broadcast daily announcements.

In addition, students now have a new, blue basketball court in the school colors.

“The school building is more spacious. The new basketball court outside is great, we can play more,” said Londyn Summerall, a fifth grader. “This makes us ready to learn and feel good.”

This is the first of a two-part project awarded to Veitia Padron, Inc, which began the project three years ago. The next phase involves adding another addition.

These school bond projects resulted from voter approval of the $1.2 billion General Obligation Bond in 2012. Funds from the bond are being used to modernize and construct school buildings throughout the District, expand student capacity, enhance facility safety, and provide technology upgrades at all schools.

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