Orange County teachers return to campus after consolidations

ORLANDO, Fla. — Area students and teachers returned to class at new campuses Tuesday after Orange County Public Schools consolidated seven schools at the end of the last school year due to declining enrollment.

The consolidation included Union Park Middle School and Bonneville, Orlo Vista, Chickasaw, Eccleston, McCoy, and Meadow Woods elementary schools.

Ventura Elementary School is among the campuses receiving students and staff from the closed schools. Principal Tom Kalament said Ventura is welcoming 200 students from consolidated schools, along with 20 new teachers and staff members.

Among them is third-grade teacher Brooke Torres, who taught at McCoy for 10 years.

“The first day jitters are always there, but I think this year it’s even more a little jittery,” she said. “But also exciting, because we will get to see familiar faces, as well as welcoming new students as well.”

She said about 10 other McCoy teachers came with her. Orange County Public Schools offered them support during the consolidation process, said Torres, who still keeps in touch with her former coworkers.

“Everyone was sending messages like, ‘Good luck at your new school, hope you have a great first day.’ So that’s just reassuring too, that we’re all going into new adventures,” she said.

Kira Judah, a math and science instructional coach, is starting her first year at Ventura after teaching at Bonneville Elementary School for 11 years.

“It was really sad for Bonneville to close, so that’s been a little bit of a transition,” Judah said.

She said staff members at Ventura have been welcoming, and some of her former coworkers also moved to the campus.

“We’ve already done some team building with teachers,” Judah said. “We did open house, so I’ve already met some of the students and things like that. So, I’m really optimistic that we’re gonna have a great year.”

District data presented in March showed that more than 3,000 students would have to change schools for the new school year because of the closures and consolidation.

Kalament said the school reached out to families, scheduled open houses and invited incoming families to spring events before the start of the year. Families also helped paint a community mural in the cafeteria, which he said was meant to bring the two school communities together.

“Just one Ventura, just being one OCPS, and one giant family,” Kalament said.