Families in the Leesburg area can be proud of the educational opportunities provided to children and adults by the community’s public schools. Lake County Schools operates 48 campuses throughout the county (nine of which are in Leesburg) to serve 35,500 students. There are 22 elementary schools (including three conversion charter schools), nine middle schools and seven high schools. The district also operates seven charter schools, plus two special needs facilities.
Serving more than 7,500 students annually, Lake-Sumter Community College (LSCC) continues to have a major impact on its two-county district. The college offers a two-year associate’s in arts (A.A.), associate’s in applied science (A.A.S.) and associate’s in science (A.S.) degrees, as well as certificates and applied technology diplomas. Through its university partnerships, LSCC students can earn certain bachelor’s degrees from the University of Central Florida and St. Leo University without leaving Lake County. High school dual enrollment programs, as well as non-credit Continuing Education, Computer Institute and Entrepreneurial Institute classes provide education for those outside of the college’s traditional student body.
Serving as a workforce-education incubator for regional and state initiatives, LSCC’s many workplace training programs include the Educator Preparation Institute’s Teacher Certification Program, the Nurse Refresher Courses, the Chris Daniels Leadership Institute for criminal justice professionals, the Banner Center for Energy and the curriculum-transfer partnerships between the Lake Technical Center and the Lake and Sumter County school systems.
Beacon College, located on Main Street, Leesburg, is the nation’s only accredited four-year college with a mission to provide academic degree programs exclusively for students with language-based learning disabilities and ADD. Students come to Beacon College from all across the nation. Many of these students enroll soon after they graduate from high school. Other students transfer from traditional college programs that are not suited to their unique learning or organizational needs. They find a place that “gets it,” and that place is Beacon College. We look forward to their new buildings and how it will change the landscape of downtown.
Bachelor’s and associate’s degrees are available in human services, computer information systems and liberal studies. Minors can be pursued in psychology, history, education, web and digital media, business/management and English/literature. For more information, call Dr. Mary Bruck, Vice President for Enrollment Management, at (352) 315-9269, or email her at mbruck@beaconcollege.edu.
Leesburg High School teachers and administrators have revitalized the school’s curriculum to establish an atmosphere most conducive to learning. Leesburg High School students can also earn college credit through dual enrollment with Lake-Sumter Community College.
Leesburg’s two middle schools, which serve students in sixth through eighth grades, have also recently received extensive improvements. Carver and Oak Park middle schools are both undergoing significant campus improvements to better serve Leesburg families.
Leesburg Area Schools
LEESBURG, FRUITLAND PARK/LADY LAKE
Beverly Shores Elementary School
Leesburg — (352) 787-4175
Carver Middle School
Leesburg — (352) 787-7868
Fruitland Park Elementary School
Fruitland Park — (352) 787-2693
Lee Opportunity Center
Leesburg — (352) 787-0043
Leesburg Elementary School
Leesburg — (352) 365-6308
Leesburg High School
Leesburg — (352) 787-5047
Milestones Community School
Leesburg — (352) 742-7007
Oak Park Middle School
Leesburg — (352) 787-3232
Rimes Early Learning & Literacy Center
Leesburg — (352) 787-5757
Treadway Elementary School
Leesburg — (352) 742-2291
LEESBURG AREA PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Alee Academy, 9-12
Umatilla — (352) 669-1280
First Academy-Leesburg, K-12
Leesburg — (352) 787-7762
HIS Royal Leesburg Christian Academy
Leesburg — (352) 787-9655
Holy Trinity Episcopal School, 6-12
Fruitland Park — (352) 787-1500
Lake Montessori School, K-8
Leesburg — (352) 787-5333
St. Paul’s Catholic School, K-8
Leesburg — (352) 787-4657
THE LEESBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY
The Leesburg Library, Your Information Destination
In 2007, the City of Leesburg proudly opened a brand new 42,000-square-foot facility to house the public library, (100E Main Street) with a grand opening featuring the release of 100 native Florida butterflies to help populate the newly planted reading garden, where a bronze sculpture of Annie Oakley is at center stage.
Over 130,000 items in the collection are located on two floors. The busy first floor provides quick access to high-demand items: fiction in hard cover, paperback and large print, CD books and music, and a large collection of DVDs. Children and parents are welcomed into Imagination Cove as they walk past the lily pads and cattails and under the sign with a giant frog and dragonfly. A large tree on the far wall provides the Dragonfly Puppet Theater with “tree stump” seats for the audience. Located nearby is the “Amazing Space” for the exclusive use of Young Adult patrons with an age-appropriate collection of literature and media. Both youth areas have computers connected to the Internet. A meeting room at the front entrance accommodates nearly 200 people, or divides into two rooms with capacity for nearly 100 in each.
The second floor houses non-fiction books, a technology lab with 12 computers and a teaching station. Eighteen additional computers for visitors are located throughout the second floor. A genealogy room with four computers and two microfilm reader/printers is available for researchers. Comfortable rocking chairs are located in the Florida Room, along with books about our state. Four private study rooms can be reserved or are available as needed for patrons.
Visitors to the library can stop at the café and bookstore for a latte, coffee or tea, or even a meal. The entire library and the café have wireless Internet access. The Friends of the Library offer bargain prices for “gently read” books and other items.