HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Two Hillsborough County public schools will be rebuilt and restored, bringing them together on one campus.
School officials announced their plans at the site of Just Elementary School and Stewart Middle Magnet School on Thursday.
They said the restoration of these schools will honor the history of the educational pioneers they are named after, including Garland V. Stewart, a former principal of several African American schools in the district, and Dr. Ernest E. Just, a pioneering biologist and founding member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
School administrators and community leaders will be working together to make plans for the campus and the curriculum, but they said the existing Stewart Middle gymnasium will be restored and become a centerpiece of the new campus.
While the schools will be independent, they'll stay connected to each other on the same campus to allow for a seamless experience from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
Officials said any changes to current school boundaries and the construction costs to build the schools will come before the school board at a later time. The schools will then be rebuilt with an expected opening date of Fall 2027.
“Our goal is to honor the legacy and history of these two leaders and to provide our children and families with the best educational experience possible to position them for success in life,” said Hillsborough County Public Schools Superintendent Van Ayres. “I am especially excited because these new schools represent a $70 million investment in our children, and they are the first new schools built in Tampa’s urban core since the establishment of Blake High School 30 years ago.”
Just Elementary was built in 1962 and first served as a 6th-grade center. Later, it became an early childhood center before transitioning into the elementary school.
The original Blake High School was converted into what is now Stewart Middle in 1996.
