K-12

Booker High School
(In Progress)

Sarasota, FL

Sarasota County School Board | 240,000 SF | 2013 (estimated)

Booker High School has been a centerpiece in the Sarasota community for more than 70 years. Though Booker High has been expanded numerous times to keep up with student population growth, the current replacement project is the first time that the Sarasota County School Board has had the opportunity to build a new school on the campus since 1953.

Named after Emma E. Booker, Booker High School’s replacement facility will be 240,000 square feet with an initial capacity for 1,200 students. Core facilities such as the cafeteria and media center will be built to accommodate 1,600 students. As such, only classrooms will need to be added to the campus as the school’s population increases.

Designed around a central courtyard, the project will consolidate the 38 buildings on campus by adding five new buildings and renovating five others. In addition, Orange Avenue is being re-routed from the middle to the east side of the campus so that students can enjoy a unified campus design without having to worry about crossing the street.

The school’s two-story main classroom building will house small communities of students with similar academic interests. Each group will have a team of teachers in a module that contains classrooms, science labs, offices and counseling spaces. These teaching communities will minimize movement across the campus while allowing students to feel more connected to their peers and their school.