South Florida schools are preparing for the start of the 2025-2026 school year with new programs and improvements to their schools.
Speaking to 7News on Tuesday, Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jose L. Dotres said the school district will continue its focus on improving student’s reading and math literacy, this year will also see some major changes beyond the books.
“We created a brand new show [called] ‘Adventures 305’,” said Dotres. “It’s a way of us demonstrating all the incredible programs that we have in our school district and for the very first time, we’re going to be establishing a platform called ‘Miami Loves Teachers,’ and teachers can go onto the platform and request all types of free resources.”
Beyond assistance for teachers, the improvements aim to enhance parental involvement as well and integrate artificial intelligence into classrooms.
“Now more than ever parents have access to the materials online, they can preview them,” said Dotres.
This being of particular interest after the Supreme Court ruled that parents can opt their children out of classroom lessons they feel undermine their religious beliefs, and replacing the lesson with, what the superintendent referred to as, “another viable opportunity for learning.”
Dotres said this standard is something that Miami-Dade schools has practiced for a long time.
“We recognize the particular needs of a family, respect their religious beliefs, or any other beliefs that they have,” said Dotres. “It’ll be a year of new opportunities, innovations and programs that they can look forward to,” said Dotres.
Meanwhile in Broward County, staff at Hollywood Central Prep K-8 looks forward to changes in their district ahead of the start of the school year.
“We’ve been waiting all summer long,” said principal of Hollywood Central Preparatory K-8 Christine Centrone.
The school is one of four schools that were formerly traditional elementary schools, transitioning into K-8 programs for the first time on August 11.
“I’m extremely excited to see my new fifth graders and to see my old students from last year because now they’re just gonna be right across the hallway,” said fifth grade teacher Julia Armband.
South Florida schools continue their improvements as parents and students prepare for the first day of school on August 11 for Broward and August 14 for Miami-Dade.