Progress continues on new schools in Lakewood Ranch

The School District of Manatee County will have many decisions to make as it intends to open the new high school off Rangeland Parkway in August 2027. 

The high school will be on approximately 103 acres of land south of Rangeland Parkway and west of Post Boulevard. The land was obtained during a land swap with Schroeder-Manatee Ranch in 2021. 

During the 2024-2025 school year, the district will select an architect to begin the design of the school. 

Joseph Ranaldi, the deputy superintendent of operations for the school district, said the district is looking to make the school’s capacity nearly 2,000 students, but the district needs to consider the programming that will be offered at the school. The determined programming could alter the school capacity. 

Ranaldi said high schools can vary in size. He’s planned high schools with capacities ranging from 1,200 students to 2,000 students. 

With the project in its infancy, Ranaldi said the district has yet to discuss the types of programs the high school will offer once it’s opened. 

“We’re going to do some fairly extensive programming to see if that 1,900 student stations is appropriate or meets the actual programming needs, so we’ll be doing a lot of program design to see what we actually desire for the campus size,” he said. 

When it comes to design, Ranaldi said every high school is different based on the programming, so the district might use an existing design for a high school and modify it to fit the needs of the new high school. 

“I don’t think we’ll be designing from scratch,” he said. “We’ll find a prototype that maybe has different classroom configurations.”

The estimated $150 million project will help alleviate overcrowding at Lakewood Ranch High School that persists despite the district completing the construction of a 22-classroom addition on the high school’s campus in January. 

Ranaldi said determining the rezoning for the high school will occur in the 2026-2027 school year as the district prepares to open the high school in August 2027. 

As the wait continues on the new high school, East County residents can watch the new K-8 school in Lakewood Ranch begin to take shape. 

Construction on the school, which is located on an approximately 40-acre site off Uihlein Road, has begun. The elementary portion of the school is expected to open in August 2025. It includes the classrooms for kindergarten through fifth grade as well as the core facilities such as the administration area, media center, kitchen, dining area and classrooms for art and music. 

The middle school portion of the school is expected to be complete in February 2026, and the school will welcome middle school students in August 2026. 

The school is projected to have 1,620 students, with the potential for an expansion that would add 250 students to the capacity. 

The district will finalize the guaranteed maximum price of the K-8 school, which is expected to cost approximately $106 million, during the May 15 School Board of Manatee County meeting. Ranaldi said the cost of the project is coming in $1 million under budget with the cost per square foot at $405.