Feature Story and Photos by Larry H. Oskin
Minneola Charter School, Home of the Mustangs, this school was the very first school in Minneola. The Lake County School Board agreed to let Minneola Elementary School strike out on its own and convert to charter operation in 2001. Minneola was the second public school in the county to convert to a charter operation. Charter schools are designed to give parents a choice of where their children are educated. When Ms. Watts became the Principal, they had 900 students. Today, they have expanded their staff and facilities to support over 1700 students with multiple grade levels from pre-K to 8th grade. They celebrated their first 50-year anniversary in 2014.
Sherry Watts, Principal & CEO is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and Nova Southeastern University. She first was an elementary and middle school teacher as well as a school administrator for almost 20 years. Earlier in her career, she was honored as Teacher of the Year at Windy Hill Middle School in 2004, and recognized as a Champion School Leader by the Florida Charter School Consortium. She has continued to advance her expertise by attending the Graduate School of Education at Harvard Business School. She previously taught up-and-coming educators as an instructor at Lake Sumter State College. Watts initiated a College-Bound Program with a mindset for all of her students and many other valuable projects. Watts proudly shares, “I love it here and our team loves teaching! We are a successful thriving community unto ourselves. Our teaching team is incredible. They have the expertise and heart to help children succeed in life. Our Minneola Charter School has a warm family feel, where our staff, parents and students all come together to support each other!”
Assistant Principal Kim Dison has worked at Minneola Charter School for over 17 years in a variety of positions including Instructional Dean, ESE School Specialist and an Exceptionalities Teacher. Dison has a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education from the University of South Alabama and a Master of Science Degree in Emotional Disturbances / Learning Disabilities from Florida State University. At FSU, she specialized in education for children with autism and severe disabilities. She specialized in Early Childhood Special Education. She received her Specialist Degree at FSU in Educational Leadership.
Galloping To Success! They have continued to successfully add numerous new educational programs, buildings, state-of-the-art technologies and facilities over the years. They have expanded their specialties with advanced curriculums for music, band, media, computers, thespians, science, chorus, dance, visual arts and physical education. Their Conservatory Arts Program prepares students for professional careers in the arts. They have implemented many new clubs as well as JROTC Programs, to allow their students even more extracurricular options. They have added an Elementary School Mentorship Program to bring the students together with the entire community, inclusive of staff, parents and the retirement community to help their students grow. Besides the ongoing expansion for advancing academics, they are particularly proud of their community involvement programs to help the homeless, families in need, veterans, Wounded Warriors, retirement communities, Wreaths Across America, American holidays, a diverse international holiday and cultural celebrations, Grandparents Day and Donuts with Dad as well as to help various cancer support groups.
Exciting Expansion: They recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new gymnasium which was dedicated to Chuck Nash, Kim Dison’s father. Nash volunteered as their professional consultant to supervise their entire expansion process for their growing campus. Whereas the current Minneola Charter School Campus sits on 10 acres, they have another 24 acres ready for future expansion with a completely new high school program. They also have plans to open a new Performing Arts Center with dance, music, visual arts, performing arts, band, and culinary arts as well as a new banquet hall for large school events.
Teresa Teal is originally from Minneola. She was first a student at the school and after graduating college, she came back to teach there for over 35 years. She taught different grades from kindergarten first and third as well as to become a reading specialist and a testing coordinator. Teal was recently recognized as one of Minneola’s outstanding retirees. As an educator, Teal shares her personal mantra, “Students don’t care what you know until they know how much you care!”
Quality, Creativity & Core Values! Watts adds, “As part of every curriculum and activity, we are founded with a mission to follow the important principles of perseverance, integrity, responsibility and work ethic. Every Minneola Charter /school teacher is certified. As a Charter School, they are governed by a volunteer seven-member board to oversee all policies, procedures and finances. They have the flexibility to control their own budgets as well as to think out of the box on creative curriculum offerings to go beyond basic public-school parameters.
Minneola Admissions: While anyone can apply to register their children for this tuition-free school, their earned community reputation has not surprisingly created a waiting list of over 700 students. They try to give preference to local Minneola families, especially for the military and their staff’s families.
For More Information: Minneola Charter School is located at 320 East Pearl Street, Minneola, FL 34715. Phone: 352- 394-2600. Visit: https://moe.lake.k12.fl.us/ and follow them on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/MinneolaCharter.
