A new 3-story building, a 2,000-seat gym and a black box theater lift J.C. Bermudez Doral Senior High from 1,193 to 1,810 student seats. Here is what changed.
J.C. Bermudez Doral Senior High has finished a $36.2 million expansion. It adds a new three-story building, a 2,000-seat gymnasium and a black box theater to the western Doral campus.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools marked the completion with a ribbon-cutting at 9 a.m. Thursday at the school, 5005 NW 112th Ave. The district announced the ceremony in an Oct. 14 media advisory. Principal Edward R. Smith, School Board members, staff and students were listed to attend.
What the school gets
The new building covers 85,000 square feet over three floors, according to the district’s groundbreaking release from January 2025. It includes:
- a gymnasium with 2,000 seats, plus varsity locker rooms
- a little theater and black box theater for drama and performances
- a gymnastics and dance studio and a multipurpose room
- four vocational and business technology labs
- 12 general classrooms and four science classrooms
The school’s older Building 2 was renovated as part of the same project. That work covers kitchen improvements, a covered dining area, a weight room and a renovated wrestling room. The plans also called for a bigger parking lot, new covered walkways and air conditioning upgrades, the district said when the School Board hired the contractor in November 2024.
Room for 617 more students
The school opened in 1998 with two buildings and 1,193 student stations, the district’s measure of the seats a school is built for. The new building adds 617, taking the campus to 1,810, according to the November 2024 release.
That is a 52% increase in capacity. The school had 1,153 students in the 2023-24 school year, according to the federal NCES school directory, so it was running close to its old limit.
Cost and timing
The district has put the full project at $36.2 million, in both its January 2025 release and its Oct. 14 advisory. The construction contract went to James B. Pirtle Construction Co. in November 2024, with a construction budget of $29.8 million, the district said at the time.
The district had set June 2026 for completion. The ribbon-cutting came about four months after that date.
The money comes from the $1.2 billion school General Obligation Bond that Miami-Dade voters approved in 2012, the district said. Bond money pays to modernize and build schools, add seats, improve safety and upgrade technology across the county.
What it means for you
- Families zoned for J.C. Bermudez: the school now has room for 1,810 students, up from 1,193. Check any address with the district’s Find Your Neighborhood School lookup.
- Students: the gym, theater, dance studio and new labs are now complete. The school’s website carries its own schedules and athletics pages.
- Taxpayers: the project is paid from the school bond voters approved in 2012.
The school earned an A in Florida’s 2026 school grades. Our J.C. Bermudez Doral Senior High page has its zone, grades and calendar, and our Doral schools guide covers every public school in the city.
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