We chose Dolphin Bay Elementary because it is a K-5 school in this area of Miramar. Families need to have that option too.
Also there is a lot of concern with not taking into consideration the special needs children that go there. A lot of families will not put their children in a K- 8. We run a survey and a lot of parents will choose Charter or Private. Please think how is moving Dolphin Bay to Glades going to solve the problem, because as it is you are risking losing about 300 students that chose to be in Dolphin Bay. About 40% of students are school of choice. Please explain how investing so much in bathrooms is fiscally okay when parents are expressing that they will not go to a K-8 school. There will be a lot of bathrooms with no students.
This area of Miramar wants and needs Dolphin Bay, and part of the future plans should be how to make Dolphin Bay and the other schools more appealing to other students that move to the area, or how to get those Charter school kids to see that our schools are way better. The amount of negative publicity that redefining schools is causing is devastating. Dolphin Bay also offers an option to parents that chose to move to this residential area of Miramar. It will affect the City of Miramar tremendously. I invite you to work with the City of Miramar to make Dolphin Bay thrive and be a magnet to people moving to this area of Miramar.

Combine Dolphin Bay (DBE) and Silver Lakes (SLE) into one PK - 5 at DOLPHIN BAY. The school board has talked about right sizing our District: Dolphin Bay is the RIGHT SIZE, RIGHT NOW. Our Board has shown commitment to early education and young learners, and individual Board Members have talked about growing schools from the youngest learners up, both to educate, and also to bring young families into our schools. DOLPHIN BAY puts this COMMITMENT INTO ACTION. By combining with Silver Lakes at Dolphin Bay, our community can make 2 strong school communities STRONGER TOGETHER. DBE has the capacity and heart to welcome SLE students into an age-appropriate, warm and accessible setting, which already serves young children. Dolphin Bay's location on Miramar Parkway is a cornerstone of the marketing our schools need. And our school system has the experience to combine 2 elementary schools, we've done it right here in Miramar before with Fairway and Sunshine. As our school age population continues to shrink with each new cohort, moving them to ever larger locations (like Sunset Lakes cap. 1300; Glades MS cap. 1800) only ensures that they'll continue to swim in excessive unused space and still remain underfunded. Dolphin Bay, combined with SLE, is the RIGHT SIZE and RIGHT PLACE to expand serving young children without being an empty big box school. There are many reasons that the GLADES Middle School PROPOSAL is PROBLEMATIC, but foremost not all of the options for Glades were seriously and thoroughly assessed, like: combining a Glades K8 with existing K8s that remain underpopulated and need arts and STEM space or have Cambridge program alignment, a 6-12 or 7-12 with Everglades HS, combining the 2 Miramar middle schools in either direction, or a small middle school presence co-located with re-located BCPS staff, that would probably more effectively use the space. BCPS and Glades should do due diligence and assess and reassess these and other options. In the meantime, the DOLPHIN BAY school community is ready to welcome Silver Lakes ES with open arms and get to work building upon and strengthening our PK - 5 for West Miramar and Southwest Broward!

Closing an A-rated Pre-K–5 school that serves children with special needs and draws over 40% of its students by choice is short-sighted. It reflects a reactive approach to financial challenges that will only deepen unless we invest in strengthening quality public education. Dolphin Bay provides a safe, nurturing environment where young children thrive. We urge decision-makers to listen to the community and protect this vital local resource

Elementary schools like Dolphin Bay are designed to meet the developmental needs of elementary aged children, while middle schools like Glades Middle are designed for adolescents. West Miramar needs a traditional Pre-K through 5th grade option for families seeking that model. Families who chose Dolphin Bay did so because it provides a safe, age appropriate learning environment that supports students as they transition from childhood into adolescence. Please keep our Dolphin Bay community together and put student safety and well being first.