Ashley will be attending Heritage High School in Palm Bay next year in one of Florida's Choice programs. Heritage is fairly new, having its first senior class this coming year. Ashley was accepted to Heritage's dual programs - Cambridge AICE and Sports Medicine. No small accomplishment. Her equivalent 5/5 FCAT testing and her 4.0 GPA earned her the privilege. The coming year will be exciting for her and I am sure we will have many posts on this blog regarding Heritage. For now, let me share a bit about Heritage.
These are pictures of this $80 million school that is at least partially funded by the Florida Lottery program and which is built on a 65-acre campus and comprised of 10 buildings. In the Cambridge AICE Program Ashley will be part of a "cohort," a partnership of the students and teachers knitted tightly together for the core classes in an academy setting with courses that will ultimately apply as college credits. Many of her teachers will have their Masters' Degrees. Part of her graduation requirements are 75 hours of volunteer service and this also applies to her earning the Bright Futures Scholarship funded by the Lottery. Since Ashley is considering being a doctor, the school will work with her to find some volunteer work in the medical field if possible. Nice. She will also be touring medical schools in Florida on special Sports Medicine field trips. And she will be certified as a National First Responder if she chooses to do this.
The school colors are Blue/Black/White with the mascot being a Panther. This school adjoins Three Forks Marsh and she is likely to find deer, boar, coyote, alligator and possibly a real panther crossing its grounds from time to time! Patrick and I live on the other side of the school and we have been told many times that we will on occasion find wild animals crossing our neighborhood too.
It is all very exciting. Be sure to watch the video at the top. It is 9 minutes, but shows a lot about the school when it was being built and planned for its first year.
Go, Ashley, Go!
