Education
Colleges and private schools add a new dimension of learning for Seminole County students

Seminole State College

Formerly Seminole Community College, Seminole State College of Florida started in 1966, and is now one of the nation's fastest growing colleges, with enrollment exceeding 32,000. Seminole State is also now a full-service education provider, offering five bachelor's degrees in addition to two-year college-credit degrees and specialized career certificates. It is also number 21 of the top 100 community colleges in the U.S.

Seminole State provides learning opportunities at four campuses: the Sanford/Lake Mary campus, the Oviedo campus, the Center for Economic Development at Heathrow, and the Altamonte Springs campus.

In January 2010 Seminole State welcomed its first baccalaureate class of students pursuing their B.A.S. in interior design. In January 2012 the college will offer bachelor of science degrees in architectural engineering technology, business information management, construction, and information systems technology.

For these programs and its other degree and certification curriculums, Seminole State offers several learning options that include online, video/television, weekend, morning, afternoon and evening classes. At its Altamonte Springs campus, Seminole State will now offer classes as early as 6:30 a.m.

Speaking of the Altamonte Springs campus, Seminole State will soon triple its size with the acquisition of properties and undeveloped lands totaling 25.4 acres. The acquisition, which extends the campus to Maitland Boulevard, includes property occupied by the former Classic automobile dealerships. The purchase adds three existing buildings, totaling 94,000 square feet and approximately 1,300 parking spaces to the campus, important additions in light of burgeoning enrollments. The campus is at 144 percent of its designed capacity, and the college is using creative ways to meet demand. The Altamonte Springs campus is home to all of the college's nursing and health care programs, as well as general and adult education courses.

Work will also continue at the Sanford/Lake Mary campus with the selection of a lakeside site near the partnership center for a new, one-stop student center.

Students taking classes this fall at Seminole State in the newly renovated third floor of building L on Seminole State's Sanford/Lake Mary campus will see green technology at work. Although it's the oldest classroom building on the campus, building L's third floor is now eligible for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Led by Orlando-based HuntonBrady Architects and construction group Wharton-Smith Inc., the renovation project began in August 2010 and included substantial interior and exterior work. The $14.1 million project includes the remodeling of an adjacent office suite, building F, scheduled to begin in January 2012.

The new third floor of building L contains 21 smart classrooms, a conference room and student gathering spaces. It opened for classes on Aug. 22, and will serve as a learning lab for students in the college's school of engineering, design and construction.

University of Central Florida

The University of Central Florida, founded in 1963, is the second-largest university in the nation. Located in Orlando, it offes 200 bachelor's and master's degrees and two-dozen doctoral programs to students coming from all 50 states and 140 countries to attend classes on UCF's main campus and its 10 regional campuses, located throughout Central Florida. In addition, study abroad programs allow UCF students to study and conduct research in 42 programs in 21 countries. This year's incoming freshman class includes a UCF record 74 National Merit scholars. The 3,700 freshmen that will call UCF home this semester also boast an average high school GPA of 3.85 and an average SAT score of about 1245.

The Burnett Honors College's incoming freshman class is an impressive group of 525 students. The class' average SAT score is projected to be 1389, and its weighted GPA is projected to be 4.2. And the university continues to grow, with enrollment expected to exceed 58,000 students this fall. Graduate enrollment is expected to surpass 8,300.

Like the incoming freshmen, transfer students are making a name for UCF. More than half of UCF's bachelor's degrees have been awarded to transfer students for the past two years. And these students do well, earning coveted awards at UCF. Last year, for example, seven out of 10 students who received the university's top academic honors at Founders' Day ceremonies were transfer students.

While no new residence halls are opening this year, many of the freshmen housed on campus will be living in new or expanded learning communities. For example, 28 students who are interested in scientific research signed up for the Learning Environment and Academic Research Network. They will live on a floor of a building in the Hercules community on campus. The National Science Foundation funded LEARN to increase retention in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines for first-generation and minority students. LEARN students will take three courses together – a freshman seminar, English and introduction to research. Participants also will work with graduate students and faculty members who will serve as their mentors as part of research apprenticeships.

On another part of campus, out-of-state students will be moving into Citrus Hall in the Libra community as part of the expanded out of state student mentoring program. The program helps out-of-state students transition to UCF and Florida.

UCF also is launching two new degree programs this semester. The first, the master of research administration program, is the first of its kind in Florida. It provides in-depth knowledge on identifying funding opportunities, preparing grant proposals, negotiating and handling contracts, and managing intellectual property and technology transfer, all essential to helping get research out of the laboratory and into the marketplace. The two-year, 36-credit-hour program is being offered online beginning this fall.

For the first time, UCF is also offering a bachelor's degree in Latin American studies. Research opportunities are part of the program, in fields such as anthropology, art, history and international relations, allowing students the chance to gain an understanding of the cultural, social, economic and political dimensions of the Americas, and develop a basic proficiency in Spanish, preparing them for careers in the Foreign Service, the military, government and international business.

While UCF may be getting smarter, it is also getting greener every day. In a national competition aimed at having buildings reduce their energy use, UCF earned high marks in a contest sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency for reducing energy consumption by 31 percent in Parking Garage C. In addition, construction is continuing on UCF's new $10.2 million natural gas plant. The new plant will run on a 30-foot-long Mitsubishi engine powered by natural gas, saving UCF about $2.5 million a year in fuel costs. In addition, the energy produced by the natural gas will reduce UCF's environmental impact by 30 percent.

In education news, UCF's college of education is getting ready for its public unveiling of the Morgridge International Reading Center, which will spotlight the world's best practices in reading instruction and help educators adopt them in the classroom.

This fall will also be the first full semester for WUCF TV, the new Central Florida home for PBS. Plans for the fall include expanding programming to include high-quality local shows.

Private schools

Seminole County has more than 60 private schools that offer a variety of educational avenues ranging from traditional and back-to-basics to alternative approaches for learning.

One example is Page Private School, which traces its heritage back to Robert and Della Page Gibbs, two educators who founded Page Military Academy in a house in Los Angeles in 1908. The school quickly grew, and in 1917, moved to a multi-acre site in West Los Angeles, where the Gibbs values and teaching philosophy could reach even more children. Under the third generation of family leadership, Page expanded to Orange County, Calif., in the 1970s, and Central Florida in the 1980s, creating a total of six campuses, four in California and two in Florida, one of which is in the Seminole Towne Center in Sanford.

Today, Page Private School provides a quality, well-rounded education for pre-school, elementary and middle school students, with an objective to promote scholarship, character, and personality through individual attention. Classes at Page are small so that teachers can focus on the individual needs of students and accommodate children at different learning levels. In the classroom, children are challenged throughout their education, promoting the development of both their potential to succeed and desire to learn by providing a hands-on approach coupled with a traditional academic foundation.

Since 1968, Trinity Preparatory School has also provided a top-notch traditional academic foundation by offering a college preparatory program for students in grades 6-12 from Orange, Seminole, Volusia and Lake counties. With a mission to develop students who are able to excel in college and beyond, contribute to their communities, lead in a changing society, and grow spiritually, Trinity Prep enrolls 834 young men and women and a foreign exchange student annually. With an average class size of 17, the school provides a supportive learning environment geared toward the individual's needs. Since 2006, the National Merit Scholarship Competition has recognized 22 percent of Trinity graduates. The school's advanced placement test scores represent an 86 percent passing rate, and 100 percent of Trinity graduates are attending colleges and universities across the United States.

Lake Mary Preparatory School also provides a college preparatory education for grades pre-K through 12 by participating in the Meritas school approach, which starts with developing a personalized learning plan for each student. The personal learning plan is updated throughout the school year and then passed on to the student's next grade teacher over the summer, allowing for learning growth to happen on the first day of school. All Lake Mary Prep teachers and administrators work collaboratively to understand every aspect of a child's individual learning style, interests and opportunities for growth.