JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Major upgrades courtesy of a big cash infusion are headed to Sandalwood High School. The public school also got donations to take part in a big national celebration.
The total amount of money being injected into the school is $36 million, courtesy of a half penny sales tax in Duval County. Seventeen million dollars is going to add 21 new classrooms, and a new engineering lab.
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“On top of that, we’re renovating. The two practice fields out here, redoing the parking lots on the south side of the building and having a new way for traffic to get in and out of this facility,” school district COO Jim Culbert said.
“It shows that they’re investing in our future, kind of because of a really big project. They’re spending lots of money on us,” junior and hospitality student Caleb Fisher, 17, said.
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And Sandalwood has further cause for celebration. Their band, the Mighty Marching Saints, will be performing in Washington, DC this weekend.
The group of about 75 students are performing in DC’s Memorial Day parade ahead of America’s Bicentennial. Their band director said they raised $60 in 6 weeks with the help of local donations to cover the hefty travel costs.
“I mean, this was a fever dream for us to be nominated to be the only school in Florida to go, but then to have the community wants us to go so bad that they helped us raise the money in such a short amount of time,” band director Samantha Maltagliati said.
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Fisher, who is also in the 5000 Role Models of Excellence, is thinking about his future and the school’s.
“I think I’ll be around when it opens up, I’d like to see what’s in store with it,” Fisher said.
The new additions to the facility are expected to be completed by January 2028.
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