The Miami-Dade County School Board approved the 2017-2018 School Calendars at its recent monthly meeting with a start date of August 21, 2017 for students.The Elementary and Secondary School Calendar includes 180 days of instruction for students and 196 days for teachers, with 10 teacher planning days and six legal holidays in addition to the 180 days for students.The Adult/Vocational Education School Calendar includes 216 days of instruction...

Pace High School’s Fine Arts Academies for Visual & Performing Arts and classes for dance, drama, music, and art brought Tinseltown to South Florida with “A Hollywood Christmas” on December 9 inside the Spartan Center. Pace students from each of these four subjects performed in the Pace Fine Arts department’s annual Christmas production for Pace family, friends, and alumni.The show was presented as a classic...

Mother of Our Redeemer students put on an Advent show in December called “A Musical Christmas.” Families and visitors were entertained by dancing, singing, and acting and all had a wonderful Christmas celebration to celebrate Christ’s birth. Eighth graders began the show with a re-enactment of the nativity in which they acted and moved through the different scenes of the story to the song, “Breath of...

Miami Lakes native Matthew J. Fernandez received a Bachelor of Arts in Ministry Studies, Cum Laude, from The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville, Florida. BCF president Thomas A. Kinchen conferred degrees on 49 graduates during commencement services held on December 9.Fernandez is the son of Otto and Lourdes Fernandez of Miami Lakes. The new college graduate is a former member of Riverside Baptist Church in Miami. Following...

The Miami-Dade County Public School Board unanimously approved three items proposed by Board member Perla Tabares Hantman at a December regular monthly meeting.The items proposed opportunities to collaborate with community entities that can deliver free, high quality and engaging youth programs to students during out-of-school periods; a request for authorization of the Superintendent to encourage all of Miami-Dade’s public schools to...