A new school in Doral for kindergartners through eighth graders needs a name, and a local teen offered one idea: Andrea Castillo K-8 Center.
Andrea Castillo is the late daughter of Miami-Dade school board member Susie Castillo, who represents a western section of the county including Doral and Miami Springs. Andrea died in a car accident in 2012, shortly after her mother was first elected to the position. She was 21.
At the time, Andrea was studying to be a teacher, and Susie has honored that dream with a teaching academy at her daughter's alma mater, Ronald Reagan Senior High School. It’s named after Andrea.
Nicholas Martinez, 17, is a junior there. He proposed Andrea’s name for the new school, which is under construction and will open in the fall.
“Many, many of my friends, since they were in middle school, they always say, ‘Oh, I want to be a teacher’ but didn’t know how to,” Martinez said, “until they got to Reagan, and they found out about the teaching academy.
“We need more teachers, and Andrea Castillo, sadly, through her passing, helped build the teaching academy, to bring more teachers to our schools,” he said.
Martinez was one of about a dozen people who attended a community meeting on the name at his high school Wednesday night.
Susie Castillo said she was surprised and honored by the proposal but also conflicted about it, because a school named after her daughter would be a painful reminder of her loss.
Her second term on the school board ends this year, and she’s not running for re-election.
Other people who attended the meeting suggested naming the school after Albert Einstein or after a nearby housing development.
A new high school in Doral is also slated to be named, and Southside Elementary in Brickell is being renamed. Southside was recently expanded to include middle school grades, and the renaming is intended to reflect the change.
District staff will consider the suggestions and later make a recommendation to the school board.
