Since Dec. 2015 the location of the Krop iPrep annex, which is an academy for blended online and classroom learning, has been under close watch by students, faculty and the surrounding community.

Numerous meetings and news articles over the past six months have conveyed the community’s fear of splitting up the campus between two locations, the other being on the Highland Oaks Middle campus on Ives Dairy Road. Those fears were allayed today, May 5, by Superintendent Alberto Carvalho’s announcement that the new iPrep annex would be built on Krop grounds.

“I am determined to build an iPrep academy to be on site here at Krop,” Carvalho said. “We felt that there is significant support for all the ideas we were pushing to occur right here.”

Not only did the Superintendent share his plan for the intended location but promised that no iPrep would be built East of I-95, regardless of future developments. He also announced that an additional seven to eight million dollars would be allocated for renovations on the main campus.

“The investment will be more than this school was expecting in terms of capacity amplification,” Carvalho said.

The intended plan is to rid the main campus of its portables and expand the building to hold 200 additional students. In addition, the iPrep will be built on Krop grounds and house around 500 students, bringing the total to 700 new seats.

Designs intend to be drawn by the end of 2016 and construction will begin in the spring of 2017.

“We want to do everything to maintain the excellent standards at this school,” school board member Dr. Martin Karp said. “I’m just happy to be here and bring the good news.”

Krop’s campus won’t be the only one experiencing capacity amplification, either. Bond money will also be allocated towards construction at MAST FIU, adding an additional 500 to 600 seats.

“If a choice is good for some, it has to be available to everyone,” Carvalho said.

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