Winter Springs charter school Choices in Learning makes pitch to expand

Winter Springs public charter school Choices in Learning made its pitch this week to the Seminole County Public Schools district to expand and offer a middle school.

Choices in Learning will have a special meeting on Oct. 2 to get final approval from Seminole County Public Schools to expand to a middle school on the campus, tucked inside Central Winds Park in Winter Springs. The school would then become a kindergarten through 8th grade campus.  

Principal Jordan Rodriguez, who previously was a principal at Rock Lake Middle School and Seminole High School in the district, said he wants to build pathways from the charter school into public schools. 

“I try to be as big a promoter for Seminole County schools as I possibly can be,” Rodriguez said. “My kids are in Seminole County Public Schools.”

Rodriguez said he plans to keep working with Seminole County Public Schools and the private school alternatives to create a pathway to public high schools. If approval is granted on Oct. 2, Choices in Learning hopes to secure private funding for the $15 million expansion on existing property.

If approved, Rodiguez said, “We start getting shovels ready.”   

The plan is to break ground next summer, and begin teaching sixth-graders in 2028. The school would also open the lottery enrollment process to students who already left for a middle school elsewhere but want to come back for seventh grade. 

Rodriguez told the board he is already “battle planning” which teachers would move over to the middle school. But school board members had tough questions this week about the school’s financials and its curriculum. 

Choices in Learning got its start at a church, and currently rents space to a church over the weekend. But Rodriguez said that hasn’t impacted the curriculum, nor will it with a middle school expansion.

 “If a student and their family and the student identify as LGBTQ, are there any ramifications?” asked school board member Kristine Kraus. “You’ll accept them as –”

“We love everybody,” Rodriguez said. “We take care of everybody.”

Knightro makes an appearance

On a recent Thursday, Rodriguez changed plans after morning rain dampened a pep rally. 

With the University of Central Florida baseball team on deck, including the mascot Knightro and his donkey Knugget in attendance, Rodriguez pivoted to have the students meet in the cafeteria in the morning to meet the players and mascot. 

Knightro beat his chest, leading the students in a deafening chant of U-C-F. Students got baseballs and shoes signed by players and the mascot alike. 

Eventually, the assistant principal brought students back to reality for classes, to the sound of groans. 

“The fun events that we create are things that the kids and the families look forward to,” Rodriguez said. “We always try to top the event the following year by making it even more of a spectacle.”

Abe Aboraya is a Report for America corps member.