Air Base Elementary School
Encyclopedia
Air Base Elementary School, The Center for International Education, is a primary school located at 12829 S.W. 272nd Street in unincorporated
Miami-Dade County
, Florida
, United States
, northeast of Homestead
. Its principal is Raul Calzadilla Jr and it is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools
System. The school's mascot is the Explorer, and its colors are black, teal
, and white. Its total enrollment for the 2005-2006 school year was 451 students in kindergarten
through fifth grade
. The school has been recognized as a National Magnet School of Merit.
The school opened in 1958. The following year, on September 7, 1959, Air Base Elementary and Orchard Villa Elementary became the first two desegregated
schools in the system.
The school originally was built to serve children of families at Homestead Air Force Base. After Hurricane Andrew
damaged the air base in 1992, many Air Force personnel were relocated and student population dropped. To maintain enrollment, in the 1996-97 school year the school was converted to a magnet school
offering an international program. Extensive foreign language instruction is offered, including English
for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Spanish
for Spanish speakers, and Spanish and French
as second languages. It offers a fee-based pre-Kindergarten program and has special before and after school care programs.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, northeast of Homestead
Homestead, Florida
Homestead is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States nestled between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and a major agricultural area....
. Its principal is Raul Calzadilla Jr and it is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Miami-Dade County Public Schools is a public school district serving Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1885, it is the largest school district in Florida and the Southeastern United States, and the fourth largest in the United States, with a student enrollment of 380,006 as of July 5, 2010...
System. The school's mascot is the Explorer, and its colors are black, teal
Teal (color)
Teal is a medium blue-green color. It is named after the Common Teal, a member of the duck family, whose eyes are surrounded by the color.Teal is one of the initial group of 16 HTML/CSS web colors formulated in 1987, shown below....
, and white. Its total enrollment for the 2005-2006 school year was 451 students in kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
through fifth grade
Fifth grade
Fifth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The fifth grade is the fifth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 10 – 11 years old, and are preteens...
. The school has been recognized as a National Magnet School of Merit.
The school opened in 1958. The following year, on September 7, 1959, Air Base Elementary and Orchard Villa Elementary became the first two desegregated
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
schools in the system.
The school originally was built to serve children of families at Homestead Air Force Base. After Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew was the third Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States, after the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and Hurricane Camille in 1969. Andrew was the first named storm and only major hurricane of the otherwise inactive 1992 Atlantic hurricane season...
damaged the air base in 1992, many Air Force personnel were relocated and student population dropped. To maintain enrollment, in the 1996-97 school year the school was converted to a magnet school
Magnet school
In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...
offering an international program. Extensive foreign language instruction is offered, including English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
for Spanish speakers, and Spanish and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
as second languages. It offers a fee-based pre-Kindergarten program and has special before and after school care programs.