Miami-Dade County Public Schools will soon have a new arts conservatory.
During a recent meeting, the School Board of Miami-Dade County commissioned the James B. Pirtle Construction Company and Silva Architects, LLC to work on a project with an $85 million construction budget, combining Arthur & Polly Mays 6-12 Conservatory of the Arts and Pine Villa Elementary into one campus.
The project will combine both schools into Arthur & Polly Mays K-12 Conservatory of the Arts Academy, with a Lower Academy building and an Upper Academy building.
Thirteen buildings from Arthur & Polly Mays 6-12 Conservatory of the Arts will be demolished, and 15 buildings from Pine Villa Elementary will be retrofitted to create the new K-12 facility. The estimated completion date is June 2029.
The Lower Academy, serving kindergarten through fifth grade, will include kindergarten, intermediate and exceptional bilingual education classes, as well as art classrooms and a music lab.
The Upper Academy, serving grades six through 12, will include English, mathematics, social studies and journalism classrooms, as well as science demonstration classrooms.
There will also be skills development spaces, computer labs and a language arts black box theater. Art, music, band, vocal, piano and guitar classrooms will be included, as well as a new media center and a state-of-the-art broadcasting lab.
The facility will include locker rooms, a gymnastics room, a dance room, a weight room and a covered play area.
The administration suites will include a historical exhibit area, a community partnership suite, administration offices, student services and an integrated suite for the Children’s Home Society. The school has an ongoing community partnership with the organization to help students in need.
The school will have a full kitchen with indoor dining for K-5 students and indoor/outdoor dining for students in grades six through 12.
The new K-12 school will also have a 700-seat auditorium with a stage, orchestra pit, storage, prop area, dressing rooms, green room and control booth/projection room. The auditorium will also feature a lobby, concessions and a ticket booth.
Site improvements will include a new building façade on 216th Street and an entry plaza designed as a neighborhood landmark. A new K-5 welcoming entry plaza will serve as a secure student assembly area and informal outdoor classroom with integrated seating.
Two bus drop-offs and one parent drop-off will be part of the school’s infrastructure. There will also be new hard courts, playground equipment and a covered play area.
Additionally, M-DCPS Procurement Management is in the process of leasing adjacent parcels of land to a private developer through a public-private partnership. The initiative will provide workforce housing for teachers, support staff and the surrounding community. That project is not included under the current scope of work.
As published in South Dade News Leader by David Volz