MAST Academy at BBC Begins in August

Marisol Medina/ Contributing Writer

This August, students at the Maritime and Science Technology Academy High School in Virginia Key, Fla., will have a good reason to celebrate going back to school: MAST Academy opens at the Biscayne Bay Campus.

The MAST Academy is an award-winning magnet school, with an emphasis on science and marine biology. Nationally recognized, MAST has been rated 11th in all of Florida by U.S. News and featured as one of “America’s 10 Most Amazing Schools” in Ladies’ Home Journal.

Students at MAST Academy come from all corners of Miami-Dade County, some even enduring long commutes of three hours or more every day.

In order to better accommodate the students living in the southern part of the county, MAST has opened a Homestead campus, focusing on the medical sciences. Up until now, the students living in the northern part of the campus had to commute to Virginia Key.

MAST at BBC will solve that problem by allowing students in north Miami-Dade the possibility of taking classes there.

“I think it will be good for FIU and our community. Having MAST here allows FIU’s faculty and students who have children who are eligible to go to MAST to avoid going through a lottery to get into MAST,” said Steven Moll, the Vice Provost of BBC.

According to Moll, currently, only one out three students meeting the requirements for admission are admitted into the school.

Moll explained that by FIU allowing MAST to occupy its facilities to host their program, the University was able to negotiate guaranteed admissions for children of FIU’s current students, faculty and staff.

“This is a win, win, win, win situation: a super win,” said Moll.

Initially, the University will host only 9th graders, but will add a grade per year for the next three years. 88 of MAST’s incoming students, based in the north part of the county, will be spared the three hours of commuting it took to travel to the school’s main campus.

Moll explained that as far as the facilities these students will occupy, for the first year, FIU has designated four rarely-used classrooms in the Academic I building. The following year, the students will be housed in portable classrooms located between AC II and the Kovens Conference Center. A dedicated facility, paid for by Miami-Dade County Public Schools, will then be built for permanent use.

Students will also be given the option of enrolling in college credit courses while pursuing their high school degree on FIU’s grounds. Additionally, Moll explained that taking dual enrollment courses while attending the MAST Academy at FIU will remove 38 percent of the total cost of college.

“Students will be given the opportunity to do dual enrollment without having to commute at all from where they already are. If students do this, by the time they graduate high school, they are already in the middle of their sophomore year in college. That is 45 credits of college work that Miami-Dade County Public Schools paid for,” said Moll.

Gloria Arazoza, District Director in School Choice and Parental Options at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, explains that the students will be engaging in a challenging curriculum and advanced dual enrollment at FIU, with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) focus.

“We are very excited about this program. We will be opening up this fall with 9th grade as our initial target,” said Arazoza.

Arazoza explained that as opposed to the MAST at Homestead and the MAST at Hialeah, MAST at FIU BBC will be focusing on earth environmental and marine sciences, the same strand as the MAST at Virginia Key.

“MAST at BBC will be a duplication of the Maritime and Sciences program at Key Biscayne, taking advantage of the University’s location on the bay,” said Arazoza.

Estefania Jaramillo, a senior journalism student, says she is glad to hear that FIU will be serving the community by allowing further access to a prestigious program to students.

“I am very happy to know that FIU is contributing to impact these young kids’ lives. Not only will their commute time be less, but they will have the opportunity to get a head start on college, something many of us wish we could have done,” said Jaramillo.