Sarasota county is getting a brand new high school. Wellen Park will be opening in the fall of 2026. It will be a state of the art campus with the newest technology and all of the great programs offered at every other school-from sports to arts. And with a few new schools under their belt in the last few decades, the school administration has been able to know exactly what to include and not include in this building to make it great. But new things don’t always make everyone happy because new often means change. And we all know that change, good or bad, isn’t always easy.
The Ups and Downs of Change: Why New Schools Can Be Tough
From my experience as a parent and a real estate agent, there are two types of new schools, and high schools in particular. The school is either a new school in the district because an older building wasn’t safe or financially viable anymore. Or it is a new school that is needed due to growth. Changes in both cases can be very difficult to adjust to. Every school, high schools in particular, have traditions, pride, and often generational graduates. Changing schools because you want to can be exciting. Changing schools because you have to can be tough.
My Family's Experience with Redistricting
Take my youngest son. He will start his freshman year at Venice High School, the first year the new Wellen Park High School will be open, and all but one of his current friends will be redistricted to Wellen Park. Navigating a new school as a 7th grader is already tough. Knowing that you have to do it again in a few years as a freshman just adds to the difficulty.
Navigating the Changes: Your Options and What to Know
With this redistricting, people will typically fall into four camps.
✅ In Venice HS or North Port HS district and want to stay
✅ In Venice HS or North Port HS district but want Wellen Park HS
✅ In Wellen Park HS district but want to stay at Lemon Bay
✅ In Wellen Park HS district and want to go to Venice HS or North Port HS
Changes, especially big changes, bring about new decisions. As you’re making these decisions, there are a few things that I want to point out. First, the administration has been very good about communicating. The Wellen Park High School Attendance Zone Information website details 4 current redistricting possibilities for attendance zones for the new high school. Links to the zones are:
Their website also has a lot of useful information, including answers to every question they’ve been asked. Reading those answers on their website should clear up a lot of things you might be wondering. Here are some of the things that stuck out to me as a parent that I want to share with you.
Important District Policies to Understand
Understanding Senior Year Exemptions and Open Enrollment
If your child was a sophomore in this school year (2024-2025), they will be able to stay at their current high school rather than be forced to attend Wellen Park High School so they can finish out their senior year. Or, if they live in the new Wellen Park district, they can choose to spend their senior year there. This is for the senior only, not siblings. Also, current freshmen who will be juniors the year the school is opened (graduating class of 2028) will not receive that automatic exemption from redistricting changes and will attend the high school of the district their home falls into.
This is because by Florida statute, you must attend the school district that you are zoned for with a few exceptions. One exception is If you are currently accepted as a school choice student to Venice High, North Port High, or Lemon Bay High, the open enrollment will be honored and you can stay at your high school if you choose to. This would be for kids not currently living in the district who open enroll to one of those schools. But, your open enrollment is only honored/good until you complete the highest grade AT THE CURRENT BUILDING YOU ATTEND. So, if your child is an open enrolled student to Laurel Nokomis as a 4th grader, they are able to stay until the end of 8th grade because that is the highest grade offered at that building. Then they will either attend the high school where they are districted to or they will have to reply to open enroll at their high school of choice.
What About IB Students? Can They Stay at VHS?
If your child is currently in the IB (International Baccalaureate) program at Venice High School and you're wondering if they'll be able to continue there rather than potentially move to Wellen Park, that's a really important question!
This is a rigorous program and the good news is that for our dedicated IB students the district has thought about this. If your child is a 10th or 11th grader this school year (2024-2025) and has officially declared the IB diploma option at VHS, and if Wellen Park High School doesn't yet offer the upper-grade IB courses, the district will work with those students. There's essentially a "grandfather clause" that will allow them to remain at VHS to complete their IB Diploma. This is a huge relief for families who have invested so much in this challenging academic program and want to be able to finish it throughout the remaining high school years.
Athletic Choice Program: Playing Your Sport at Another School
Per the school website and the administration at the two meetings we attended, for those concerned about athletics, your student may be eligible for a sport at a school they are not currently assigned to through the district's Athletic Choice Program. If Wellen Park High School doesn't offer a specific sport, students can apply for athletic choice to play that sport at VHS or NPHS. This choice is exclusively for sports participation; students must still attend Wellen Park High School unless they're accepted for a Choice assignment through the Controlled Open Enrollment window.
Athletic Eligibility for Homeschool and Charter Students
Now, for those of you with homeschool or charter school students who are currently playing a sport for Venice High School or North Port High School, a big question might be popping up: will they suddenly have to switch to Wellen Park High School, or can they stick with their VHS or NPHS team?
This is a really common concern, and thankfully, the district has a pretty clear policy on it. According to the district website, once a non-traditional student (that's the official term for our homeschool or charter kids in this scenario) has been given the green light to play sports at a Sarasota County Schools (SCS) traditional public school, that placement actually automatically renews every single school year all the way through 12th grade.
What this means for you and your athlete is that, generally speaking, they can keep on playing for Venice or North Port. The only times this would change are if you, as the parent, decide to revoke their intent to participate before the new school year kicks off, or if their designated status changes. So, in most cases, if they're happy and thriving at VHS or NPHS, they can likely continue to do so.
Once the numbers for how many students are actually attending each school, the district can begin to let kids open-enroll based on space available just as they do now. Some might not actually be attending due to homeschool, charter schools, private schools or even open enrollment somewhere else.
A Parent's Perspective: Keeping Calm in the Chaos
I was a teacher for 5 years, so I can talk to you from that angle but can we talk parent to parent instead? Kids are resilient. Sometimes these things are harder on us than it is on them. The best thing we can do for them is to listen to their feelings while keeping our own emotions away from them. Remember when they were little? If we were freaked out about a “boo boo” they would freak out too but if we were calm they would typically be calm too. I used to drive my husband crazy because when one of our boys would cry after getting hurt, I would offer them a treat. If they ate it, they would stop crying and I would know they were OK. If they didn’t want it or would cry while eating it, I would know that this was more than just a boo boo. At this point, as the parents, it is our job to make the best decision for our family. Then whatever happens will happen but we can know that we did what we felt was the best decision.
Thinking About Your Next Move? A Real Estate Agent's Advice
From a real estate perspective, there are a few things to consider. If you want to have your student in the high school where you will be residing after the redistricting is complete, then stay where you are unless you had plans to move anyway.
If you want to guarantee your student to be in a district other than the one you will be zoned to, now is the time to start thinking about your options. Think, but don’t rush. You have some time. Now is the time to get preapproved for a loan and see what you can afford. Many of you might be in fixed mortgages in the upper 2’s or low 3’s and may have sticker shock when you see what a payment will be due to higher interest rates. This may change what price point you want to be in as you search for a home.
This is also a good time to think about what you want next in a home. Maybe you have a pool but don’t want one again. Maybe you’re living in a neighborhood with an HOA and you don’t want that with your next house. Or, you absolutely love the HOA neighborhoods and know that you definitely want to live in an HOA neighborhood again. Do you need more square footage or less? Does this give you the chance to move closer to a job, the grocery store, your favorite park, or to anything else that you’ve thought might be nice to be close to. By taking the time to think about this in advance, and starting soon, it will give you plenty of processing time to decide, for sure, if this is what you really want to do.
Starting the thinking process now also gives your kids time to process. Maybe they decide that they would rather change schools than change neighbors. Although if that is their reason, I’d suggest reminding them that neighbors can move too. Perhaps you like the idea of looking at homes as a family. It is an adventure. It gives you time to make a good decision, not a quick decision that you might regret. I’ve had clients make a quick move for school changes when their child wasn’t accepted for open enrollment. Not all of them have loved their new home choice because it was made too fast and only due to quickly needing to get into the school district of their choice.
That’s where we come in. We’ve moved with older kids and they had to change schools. We understand what your children are experiencing and what you as a parent are experiencing too. I have been a full-time real estate agent for 20 years. I know how to navigate the thought process from a real estate perspective and be sensitive to the emotions that your family is feeling. We guide you in the process while you make the decisions that are best for your family. Please reach out with any questions you might have. We are here and happy to help.
