A while ago I was contacted by Midway Elementary School in Sanford to write about their grand opening ceremony for their brand new facility at the end of April. However since I have been MIA for a while I never got a chance to do so until now.

Midway Elementary School of the Arts is an arts-based magnet school in Sanford that is open to all Seminole County students.  Here are some pictures about the official “grand opening and dedication” ceremony and some more info about the school.

Patrick Bolek of the Leonard Bernstein Center. Midway is a nationally recognized Leonard Bernstein Artful Learning school, which means it infuses art into the curriculum (it is the only school in Florida).

Some background and nuggets of info about Midway Elementary:

  • Midway Elementary School of the Arts is Seminole County’s only district-wide elementary magnet school (meaning it is open for all Seminole County residents to attend). Midway focuses on an arts-infused curriculum, and offers elective courses such as ballet, 2-D and 3-D art, violin, piano, harp, vocal performance, theater performance, cirque performance, etc. It is also a technology-infused school. Each classroom boasts a projector system and voice amplification devices for both teachers and students. Students also have access to three computer labs that include a total of 54 Mac computers (30 laptops and 24 desktops).
  • The school recently debuted its new $16.4 million, 110,000-sq.-ft facility. It is also a “green” school – and awaiting LEED certification. The school actually has an ice farm build on the south end of the property, which helps cool its water
  • This year, Midway had more than 300 student applications to attend.

From left: Dr. Sharon Tanner, unidentified, Jeanne Morris, school board member, Dede Schaffner, school board member, and Dr. Bill Vogel, superintendent of Seminole County Public Schools

  • During the ceremony, Beverly Perrault, executive director of elementary education said,” Arts are the glue that holds our community together. And Midway is the super glue.”
  • In addition, at the end of the ceremony Midway’s Performance Hall was named “Dr. Sharon Tanner Performance Hall” after its long-time and current principal, Dr. Sharon Tanner.

Click here to visit Midway Elementary School Sanford online

Midway Elementary School
2251 Jitway Avenue
Sanford, FL 32771-9631
(407) 320-5950