History

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The Villages Charter School History & Timeline

The Villages Charter School has a relatively short history, but since 1999 has been a leader in educating students. Here are some key events & milestones along the way:

1999-2000

• September, 1999 The Sumter County School board grants approval for The Villages to develop a charter school.
• October, 1999  Florida Commissioner of Education, Tom Gallagher, attends a groundbreaking ceremony for The Villages Charter Elementary School.
• April, 2000 The first parent-teacher meeting is held at the Savannah Center. Enrollment for the start of classes in the fall is expected to be 300 students.

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2000-2001

• The Villages Charter Elementary School opens for grade PK-3 through 5th Grade on August 7, 2000 for 354 students and a teaching staff of 22.
• May 2001 The Villages Charter Elementary School completes its first year with 50 fifth-graders successfully completing elementary school.

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2001-2002

• August, 30 2001 Gov. Jeb Bush is on hand to help dedicate The Villages Charter Middle School.
• November, 2001 The Early Childhood facility opened for 6 classes of 3 and 4 year-old students.
• May 2002 Forty-one 8th grade students celebrate the first graduation from The Villages Charter Middle School.

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2002-2003

• August 2002 The Primary Center for grades K-2 opens. The original elementary school building is converted to house grades 3-5.
• August 2002 The first class of high school students (9th Grade) is held at VCMS for the year.
• October 2002 The groundbreaking ceremony is held for The Villages High School.
• June 2003 The Villages Charter Elementary School and The Villages Charter Middle School both earn an "A rating" from the Florida Department of Education.

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2003-2004

• August 2003 The Villages High School opens. Also, The Villages Lifelong Learning College holds classes in the new high school.
• June 2004 The elementary, middle school and the high school all earn an "A rating" for FCAT student performance.

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2004-2005

• September 2004 The Villages High School football team wins its first varsity game 43-13 against Jacksonville Providence. The team would go on to a 7-2 record.
• June 2005 Both the elementary school & the middle school again earn an "A rating" with the high school earning a B for FCAT student performance.

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2005-2006

• August 2005 The first ever "senior class" for VHS begins their final year at the charter school.
• August 2005 The Villages High School now competes in 22 varsity sports.
• January 2006 The VHS dance team "Golden Girls", in its first year of varsity competition, wins first-place trophies in the hip-hop, high kick and pom categories and the Grand Championship trophy & choreography award at the state-wide contest in Melbourne.
• May 2006 Expansion plans are announced to add 49 classrooms across the K-12 Villages Charter School campus.
• May 2006 Gov. Jeb Bush delivers the commencement address at the first-ever VHS graduation.
• June 2006 The elementary, middle school and the high school all earn an "A rating" for FCAT student performance.

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2006-2007

• August 2006 VHS incorporates the "academy" approach to teaching. VHS has 5 academies (Entrepreneurship, Communications, Health Occupations, Engineering & Advanced Placement).
• November 2006 The VHS girls' cross country team earns a trip to the state championships--becoming the first team to qualify for state.
• June 2007 The elementary, middle school and the high school again all earn an "A rating" for FCAT student performance.

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2007-2008

• August 2007 The latest construction project is completed expanding enrollment capacity of the K-12 Villages Charter School to 2,600. Enrollment for the 2007-2008 school year is expected to be 1,900.
• Our new expansions lead to reconfiguring the location of our students: Primary Center: Pre-K 3's through 1st Grade; Intermediate Center: 2nd through 4th Grades; VCMS: 5th through 8th Grades; and VHS 9th through 12th Grades.
• Our newly re-organized K-12 Villages Charter School earned an “A” from the Florida Department of Education.

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2008-2009

• VCS has a record enrollment of 2,015 students to start the 2008-2009 school year.
• VCS was awarded a large "Charter School Dissemination Grant" to develop documentation and training materials to assist other charter schools in Florida. The Florida Department of Education awarded the grant to VCS due to our tremendous success. As part of the grant, VCS has developed a web-based program with hundreds of high quality lessons & hands-on activities that VCS teachers use. These lessons will be available to all schools in Florida when the project is completed.
• The Villages Charter School again earned an “A” from the Florida Department of Education with our highest overall academic performance in the charter school's 9 year existence.