PEMBROKE PINES - For
several months last spring, no one wanted to go to West Broward High School.
Parents passionately argued that their children should remain at Cypress Bay
High School in Weston because West Broward, off U.S. 27, was too far away.
Students begged to stay at Cypress Bay, saying they wanted to stay with their
friends and stick with its sports teams and extracurricular activities.
But the tense, hours-long boundary discussions are history. West Broward High
is ready to open its doors to 1,900 students for the first time Monday.
New principal Dan Traeger is ready to bring together students from Cypress Bay
and
Everglades high schools to create a new community at the school.
"I know it was controversial, but I haven't felt that at all from parents,"
Traeger said recently at the school. "This is going to be a very good school."
It's a state-of-the-art, beige behemoth of a school, on the east side of U.S.
27, a couple of football fields away from the Everglades.
Inside the sprawling campus are a working television production studio, a
gleaming stainless steel culinary arts kitchen and a giant tiled veterinary
assistance shower room. The school includes a toy-filled day care center for
the children of teachers and an adjacent classroom for its child-care training
program.
Scores of classrooms will offer dozens of courses, from ceramics to Web design
to Advanced Placement statistics.
Traeger helped lead the district's efforts to overhaul its high schools and
served stints as principal of Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and
Silver Lakes Middle School in North Lauderdale. At West Broward High, he plans
to create a different kind of learning environment. Instead of teachers
reading from books, students will work together on classroom projects to
creatively master subjects.
One example is the Renaissance fair that Traeger is planning for the spring.
As Traeger envisions it, the fair would bring together different parts of the
school community. The student newspaper would promote it, while culinary
students cook and serve food and theater students put on shows. Traeger
extended his philosophy to the school's design. Desks are not neatly aligned
in rows. They're arranged in circles and semicircles, the better to foster
group discussions among students.
The new school is a chance for Traeger to put to use what he learned as the
district's high school reform leader. "I thought, if you get a chance from
what you've learned to put it in practice, what a great thing," he said.
Broward Schools Superintendent
James Notter said Traeger is just the person to bring students together
and launch the new school.
"I believe that Dan has the highest of qualities, not only in curriculum for
academic achievement, but uniting a community, no matter how fractured,"
Notter said. "... He's got that magic that you look for in all high-performing
principals."
That is attracting parents such as Lillian Rice of Pembroke Pines, who
withdrew her son Brandon from Archbishop McCarthy High School and enrolled him
at West Broward High. The move will save her $10,000 a year, plus he'll go to
school closer to their home.
"I'm told the level of education is just as effective as the private school,"
Rice said.
It's also brought in energized teachers such as Eileen Torraca, who moved from
Hollywood Hills High School to lead the world languages department at West
Broward High. She's thrilled about the potential she sees for the new school
and inspired by Traeger.
"What is most important is the people. The group that he has hand-picked to
lead the school, we cannot believe it," Torraca said.
She's also excited about bringing together students from two different high
schools — Cypress Bay and Everglades — to build a new school.
"We're building our own culture," Torraca said. "We're setting the stage for
what is to come."
The school's newest students also are working to build a legacy at West
Broward High. Football players and cheerleaders arrived weeks before classes
started so they could practice. West Broward High will field a varsity
football team this year, a rarity for a first-year high school without a
senior class.
A class of Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps students gave up part of
their summer break to start building a JROTC program at West Broward High.
"We want to make sure we have the best ROTC in Broward," said Gabrielle
Rosado, 16, an incoming junior who is moving from Everglades High.
While some students acknowledge it will take some getting used to, they're
looking forward to the change. "You have to have a positive attitude," said
Elizabeth Golden, 16, also an incoming junior who is moving from Cypress Bay.
That's exactly the atmosphere Traeger wants to foster.
"The biggest thing is just getting them comfortable," he said of his students.
"If the kids like it, the parents like it."
Kathy Bushouse can be reached at kbushouse@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4556.