AVENTURA, FL — Kaufman Lynn Construction and the City of Aventura announce that the campus of Don Soffer Aventura High School has been granted a temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO), allowing the new four-story charter high school to officially open its doors. The 53,418-square-foot high school campus sits across two acres of property and will have the capacity for 800 students. The complex includes a 10,448-square-foot gymnasium situated adjacent to the school property. PGAL Architects of Boca Raton worked with Kaufman Lynn to complete the project design.

Construction began in July 2018, and Kaufman Lynn was able to get the school opened by the start of the school year, overcoming a six-month permit delay at the start of the project. Kaufman Lynn worked with the City of Aventura to complete building permit requirements early and to obtain the TCO. Had the TCO not been granted at this time, students would not have been allowed to start the fall semester at Don Soffer Aventura High School and classes would have started at the campus in 2020.

The Kaufman Lynn team worked overtime to accelerate the site’s schedule and maintained clear communication from the top down to the trade partners installing the work. The team of 110 workers had to overcome hurdles such as protecting wetland mangroves on the site, coordinating activities with the Gulf Stream racetrack adjacent to the new school, as well as renovating the park next to the campus.

“Obtaining TCO ahead of schedule is an exciting milestone for Kaufman Lynn and the City of Aventura as we can now welcome students to their new school ahead of schedule …” said Kaufman Lynn Construction President Frank White. “One of the techniques we utilized was tilt-wall construction to form the walls of the four-story school on site, thus accelerating the timeline.”

Don Soffer Aventura High School, a tuition-free public charter school program, will accept ninth grade students for the 2019 school calendar year, and will add grades 10 through 12 in subsequent years. Don Soffer Aventura High School is a municipal charter school managed by Charter Schools USA Inc. and governed by the City of Aventura.

“The first class of ninth grade students will complete their entire high school education at one campus by the time they graduate in 2024,” said Aventura City Manager Ronald Wasson. “Completing the building ahead of schedule has allowed these students to have the stability of knowing that they will not have to switch schools in the middle of the school year.”

“The new school has numerous energy-saving features including LED lighting and lots of windows to maximize the natural lighting,” White said. “Students will find state-of-the art equipment in the labs, and we’ve deployed modern security elements throughout the campus to enhance their safety.”