The Lee County School District is doing a lot of construction right now. Some of that is due to hurricane damage, other projects are to keep pace with the growing number of students, and some encompass both reasons.
At least one building, Cypress Lake Middle School, needed to be completely rebuilt.
Crews were about 80 percent done when we visited the new three-story main classroom building at Cypress Lake Middle School, according to project manager Matthew Burbach.
"You saw the drywall going in and everything like that," said school system project manager Matthew Burbach. "So that is what we're hitting hard right now and trying to get that wrapped up. But we are putting in the duct work. We're running the conduit. We're running all of the stuff that you see, that you don't see, that's all inside the walls."
Students should be in the building by the first week of October. But the $100 million dollar project should be completely done mid-February 2027. That's when the portables will be gone. School principal Matt Miller can't wait.
"This was a very, very much needed project,' said Principal Matthew Miller. "And I'm excited about the new design, because a lot of the instructional spaces are larger and better than where we were, you know, in a building that was built in the 1960s.”
In Cape Coral, the $125 million Hector Cafferata School should be completed for the2026-2027 school year. The new two-story building replaces the original hurricane-damaged elementary school and adds the middle grades.
"The school is really larger than two times size as the other school," said Dr. Jason Kurtz, principal. "We'll have 1,800 students when we're filled up eventually. But it's super exciting for the Northwest Cape and for our families.”
Hector Cafferata students have been temporarily going to school at Cape Coral Technical College, where a 34,400-square-foot, $16 million dollar expansion is also underway. This marks the first major addition to the campus since 1993. And includes new facilities for programs in HVAC, automotive repair, marine technology, welding, and construction.
"You know, Cape Coral has probably close to pushing 250,000 residents, and we don't have anything like this," said Director Charlie Pease. "We don't have any post-secondary technical college training programs in the entire City of Cape Coral for the blue-collar trades. And so people are seeing this building go up. They’re seeing awesome labs, and behind us is the marine lab and the auto lab. And it really is an exciting time for our school district and for the City of Cape Coral."
That project should be finished in July.
Bonita Springs students are getting a new $40 million elementary school. Project Manager Bob Staufenberger described the plan.
"We are looking to create a new two-story building. … approximately 48,000 square feet. It'll have 16 classrooms, a new admin clinic and media center. That building will come online August of 2026.
"We'll do a restack of the campus at that time, which allows us to literally remove some of the existing portables that are here on the campus. And at that time, we'll start construction and demolition on the second phase of this project, which is creating a new cafeteria and kitchen receiving area and support for the school, as well as music and art rooms. That phase of the project is scheduled to be done in August of 2027 and as we finish that phase, we'll also be finishing some upgrades to the site, which includes upgrading the play field, the bus loops, parent drop offs, all of that is part of the overall project."
Constructed in 1921, the Bonita Springs campus was damaged in recent hurricanes. The new school will feature a 16-foot "likeness wall" to honor the original, while increasing capacity, improving safety, and adding STEM labs.
These are just a few of the Lee County school construction projects. For a complete list, click here.
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