On Wednesday, April 16, Mater Gardens Academy held an award ceremony in honor of the students who placed in their classroom spelling bee competitions, as well as the students who moved on to compete against other schools. The spelling bee competitions begin at the classroom level. Students compete against classmates for first, second and third place. These finalists then move on to compete against other classrooms in their grade level...

  If Miami Lakes Educational Center (MLEC) recognized valedictorians, senior Flavia Cuervo would take the title for the 2013-2014 school year. The senior, who ranks as top student with a 6.39 weighted grade-point average, now has to decide which Ivy League school to attend. Cuervo was admitted into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Johns Hopkins, in addition to the in-state schools she applied to including the University of Miami, Florida...

  Jose Marti Middle School first opened its doors in 1987 under the direction of long time Miami Lakes resident Jose Enriquez Sr., and has since come full circle into the hands of his son, current principal Jose Enriquez Jr. Jose Marti transformed from a middle school with a hard reputation to a MAST Academy program for grades 6 through 12 three years ago, joining the other three MAST Academies in Dade County including the Biscayne...

  Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) will be adding four new Distinguished Academies to its existing three Distinguished National Academy Foundation (NAF) career academies. M-DCPS now has seven of the 22 nationally recognized high-quality academies demonstrating that their programs perform at the highest level in preparing their students for college and careers. This national distinction in the most of any school district....

  “Teaching is my calling,” said Miami Lakes Educational Center's Teacher of the Year, Raquel Hernandez. “My mother often mentions that as a little girl I would play with my dolls and teach them what I had learned in school. What I find most fulfilling about my job is the fact that for me it is not work at all. Confucius said, ‘Find a job you love and you will never work a day in your life’.”...