Bridgewater Middle relief school reaches 30% design

HORIZON WEST  With Bridgewater Middle School set to reach double its intended capacity for the 2017-18 school year, school district officials are working to open its relief school for 2019.

Staff from Orange County Public Schools will host a community meeting Thursday, May 25, to give an update on the new school’s design process, which has reached 30% completion. Community members also will have a chance to add their input to the planning and design discussion. 

Bridgewater originally was designed as a relief school for Lakeview Middle and Gotha Middle. It opened in the heart of Horizon West’s Independence community in 2007. A decade later, the Horizon West community continues to grow at an exponential rate — and so has Bridgewater Middle. According to OCPS enrollment statistics, the school’s capacity is 1,040 students. As of May 2017, the student population has reached 1,918.

For the 2017-18 school year, student enrollment is projected to reach 2,100. By the time the relief school is slated to open in 2019, OCPS statistics show, projected enrollment would hit 2,642.

The $37.8 million relief school — currently known as site 37-M-SW-4 — will be situated on 25-and-one-half acres, west of Winter Garden Vineland Road and south of the Ashlin Park subdivision in Horizon West’s Lakeside Village area. 

It is set to have a capacity of 1,215 students. Current plans show that the campus will include classrooms, labs, art and music rooms, a kitchen and cafeteria, administration building, covered walkways, dining and multi-purpose rooms, a media center and a gym.

The relief school should be completed by May 2019 and would open its doors to students in time for the 2019-20 school year.

For questions regarding the community meeting, contact Lauren Roth at Orange County Public Schools’ Office of Facilities Communications, (407) 317-3700, Ext. 2023774.

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].