'A true neighborhood school': Tomoka Elementary celebrates opening of new school

The school's rebuild is the fastest in the district's history. It also came in $1 million under budget.

  • Ormond Beach Observer
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Tomoka Elementary is greeting the 2024-2025 school year with a brand new $48 million campus.

Volusia County Schools, the School Board, Tomoka Elementary staff and students, and community members celebrated the completion of the new school — the fastest rebuild in the school district's history — with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 8. The school district broke ground on the project, which came $1.2 million under budget, in late June 2023.

"We have been working with wonderful people to build this school for our community," Tomoka Elementary Principal Julie Roseboom said. "We're so excited to bring this to you. That is what this is all about — to bring the best school possible for our children."

The new Tomoka Elementary School was built in record time, according to the district. Photo courtesy of BRPH

Tomoka Elementary first opened in Ormond Beach in 1968 with 240 students. It had eight classrooms, a multipurpose room, a temporary library and an office suite. 

The new school, still located at 999 Old Tomoka Road, spans 107,024 square feet and features 45 classrooms, each with their own restroom, as well as collaboration spaces on each floor and a capacity for 836 students in pre-K through fifth grade. Its media center features a 15.5-foot tree structure with a 40-foot-wide canopy, and the new school colors of green and blue were chosen by students and inspired by Tomoka State Park and the Tomoka River. 

The project was completed by architecture firm BRPH and the WELBRO Building Corporation. BRPH has worked with VCS on more than 120 projects.

A total of 59 trees, including century-old oaks, were preserved in the rebuild. So was the school's 1979 totem pole, which was previously featured in the main office.  

The school's Brave mascot was also updated, to be more historically accurate to the Timicua tribe and the fictional Chief Tomokie, the inspiration behind the mascot.

Roseboom, who has been the school's principal since 2019, said the mascot art still features the feather originally drawn by the student who came up with the mascot's appearance in the late 1960s.

"It's the same little guy, we just changed his hair," Roseboom said. "It's really wonderful. We're so proud of everything that our kids and staff have helped us do these days."

Volusia County School Board member Carl Persis was the school's third principal in its history. The first principal was Lois Laskey, who was followed by W.L. Mullens. In the spring of 1990, Mullens called Persis and asked him to take over for him. He was ready to retire.

Persis was living in Tallahassee and working with the Florida Department of Education. He told Mullens that he "had a pretty good thing going" in Tallahassee.

"And he said, 'Oh Mr. Carl there's nothing like Tomoka Elementary School,'" Persis recalled. 

Persis and his wife, City Commissioner Susan Persis, decided to move back to Ormond Beach for the job. Carl Persis said it was the best decision he ever made.

The new Tomoka Elementary School spans 107,024 square feet. Photo courtesy of BRPH

He served as principal from 1991 to 2004, and was the first person to serve as mayor and a school administrator in Volusia County. He was elected mayor of Ormond Beach in 1999 and served until 2002.

He said he's been at the new school every day this week — he can't drive by the school and not stop, because of his excitement.

"A part of me will always be at Tomoka Elementary School," Persis said. 

Volusia County School Board Chair Jamie Haynes said the new school is "what every child in Volusia County deserves." 

"It's going to serve this community well, for maybe as long if not longer, than what your former building did," Haynes said.

The goal is to ensure that every child has this opportunity, she added.

Volusia County Schools Superintendent Carmen Balgobin said the district is getting ready to open a new chapter for Tomoka, calling it a "true neighborhood school." 

"Know that you have given to our students, our current students and many more that will be walking through these classrooms and these corridors, the best gift that you could give to any child," Balgobin said. "That is, an optimal learning environment with creative and innovative spaces and world technology, best 21st century technology, so that not only can they learn in creative spaces, but really have the innovation that they need, the motivation that they need, and the experiences that they are garnering, so that when they become young adults and future members of this community, they will have the skill set and those formative years from the best experiences to realize their fullest potential."

This story was updated at 4:35 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 16, to correct the fact that Carl Persis was the third, not second, principal, in Tomoka Elementary's history. Lois Laskey was the first, and she was followed by W.L. Mullens.

The new Tomoka Elementary School has 45 classrooms and has a capacity of 836 students. Photo courtesy of BRPH


 

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