ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – It was naming day Tuesday for a new K-8 school in St. Johns County.
After a long process that involved community feedback, the K-8 school under construction in the Nocatee development finally got a permanent name — Pine Island Academy.
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The school board voted on the name out of five choices. Coastal Palms Academy, Coastal Pines Academy, River Valley Academy and Tolomato River Academy were also in play. The school had been referred to as “MM Academy” before the unanimous vote Tuesday.
The district said 50% of the more than 375 people who responded to a survey about the name of the school chose Pine Island Academy.
Pine Island is a geographical feature at the westernmost point of Pine Island Road where the school is being built.
“This ‘island’ was made into a true island sometime in the 1940s or early 1950s when the Army Corps of Engineers dug a canal on the west side of the island to create a more direct path northward,” the district wrote.
The mascots for the $37 million, three-story school have been narrowed down to six choices: Cougars, Coyotes, Dolphins, Manatees, Pioneers and Terrapins. The district said the students will help make the final decision about the mascot in the coming weeks.
The primary school colors will be purple and gray, the district said.
The school is expected to open in time for the start of the 2021-2022 school year.
