Cherished childhood sparks development dreams
Babcock’s new high school is neighborhood centerpiece
Syd Kitson remembers an idyllic childhood living in New Providence, New Jersey, where he walked to school, played outside and enjoyed a real neighborhood feeling. That is exactly the sentiment he wanted to create when he put together the Babcock community. Now that the high school has just opened, one of the finishing touches of his dream has come true.
“We would always walk or ride our bikes to school,” Kitson described. “The school was located right smack dab in the middle of the town and it was the focal point of the town for events, games, concerts; all those things that make a community. It was some of the best things growing up. A lot of the inspiration for Babcock comes out of the town.”
At Babcock the school is smack dab in the center of the community. The new field house with its huge gym/stage area and its cafeteria will be used by the community when school is not in session. The high school just opened this August, adding grades 9-11 and 12th grade next year. The K-6 Babcock Neighborhood School opened for the 2017-2018 school year and added a grade level each year.
The new, two story, 45,889 square foot high school is a mecca of modern. The centerpiece is the two story assembly room where students can work together or individually. Besides classrooms, there are many smaller meeting rooms set up for collaborative learning. Two flexible rooms can sit up to 134 students or be reconfigured into two or four classrooms.
“I like how it is open and how you can collaborate with other classes,” said 11th grader, Gabriel Vasquez. “It brings more of an open work area to it, and you can get done easier and faster.”
Every student will have their own PC, but will also go to the computer lab for lessons on coding and cyber security. There is an art studio, two science labs and an area for robotics and 3D printing. The 40,600 square foot field house features a gym that has three full basketball courts and a stage. The fitness center is full of modern equipment. There is also a cafeteria. Residents can use this building for athletic programs, theatrical performances and community functions when school is not in session. It will also serve as the Southwest Florida Regional Emergency Shelter for up to 1,343 people.
“The school was the hub of activity for our town,” Kitson said about his New Jersey school. “And that is what we want the high school and the elementary school and the field house to be: a hub of activity for the community.”
Kitson said having the school is more than just adding another element to his community. It is adding another piece of the environmental puzzle.
“This is the most sustainable new town that was ever built,” Kitson stressed. “Part of that equation is education. Education is a big part of being sustainable. We want to make sure at an early age we are teaching children what this is all about.”
It is also all about kids being kids.
“You will see hundreds of bicycles in front of the school, Kitson described. “When that school lets out here at 3 o’clock, I saw the kids come out and jump on their bikes and some of them had fishing poles and went off to go fishing and some of them headed home with their friends, it really harkens back to home because that is what we used to do.”
Jennifer Languell’s fourth grade daughter, Piper, is excited about riding her bicycle to school. The K-3 students must be accompanied by a parent, and Languall says that works well too.
“I just like seeing the massive quantity of dads riding their bikes with their kids to school,” she described. “We are in a community where dads have that opportunity because a lot of them usually miss out on it. We want that neighborhood feel.
We want this to be a community.”
Kitson hopes to see the field house and school area become the heart of the community just like his school was when he was a child. He is looking forward to seeing kids take part in after school activities, families enjoying food truck Fridays and events in the field house.
“Babcock Ranch is a real town and when you have a school like this, it really solidifies that sense of community,” Kitson concluded.
Babcock will have 20,000 front doors at buildout. Currently about 1,800 homes have been completed. Kitson said July was the biggest sales month ever for Babcock with 82 homes sold. The community is adding 12 new neighborhoods in 2022. There is a 370 unit apartment complex under construction and a 250 home town house community in the works. There will also be 250 rental units that will open in about 12 months. Babcock Ranch is ranked 10th on the prominent real estate advisory firm RCLCO’s midyear list of the 50 fastest selling master planned communities in the United States.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Cherished childhood sparks development dreams
