CLERMONT, Fla. — A group gathered Tuesday morning to say goodbye to Clermont Middle School.

The flags were lowered for the last time in front of the buildings on East Avenue.

What You Need To Know

  • A closing ceremony was held Tuesday at Clermont Middle School site

  • Former students, teachers, and other community members turned out

  • Location also was former site of Clermont High School

  • Clermont Middle will be torn down and replaced by Aurelia M. Cole Academy

  • Cole was first African American high school principal in Lake after integration

Former students, teachers and community members attended the closing ceremony at the site that used to be Clermont High School.

The middle school will be demolished and replaced with the Aurelia M. Cole Academy.

Aurelia Cole passed away in 2018, but she left a lasting legacy in education.

“Aurelia Cole is an icon here, not only in the Clermont community but in all of Lake County,” Lake County Schools Superintendent Diane Kornegay said.

Danielle Cole Green, Aurelia’s daughter said, “We always called her the Oprah Winfrey of Clermont.”

Cole’s husband and children say they can’t go anywhere without someone coming up to them and saying, "I knew your mom."

“She was a Christian and she was an educator. She loved children, and she loved helping people,” Cole Green said.

Cole was dean of students at Clermont High and assistant principal at Clermont Middle School, and she made history as the first African American high school principal in Lake County after integration.

“We have seen a lot and how she’s done a lot for people in the community, whether it’s through education or just what she was pouring into people in the community,” Green said.

Now, her impact will continue to be felt at the Aurelia M. Cole Academy.

“She was just an incredible lady and an inspiration, and we’re excited to see this building erected in her honor and her memory and for all the students that will be coming through we know her presence will be here,” Kornegay said.

Cole’s daughter, Danielle, said she can’t wait for her two sons to attend classes at the school in the future.

“My children are already looking forward to attending their grandma’s school," Green said. "I don’t know if they’re ever going to call it the actual name. For them, it’s grandma’s school.”

And Cole’s family has high hopes for Aurelia M. Cole Academy.

“Whether it’s education, whether it’s love from their teachers, whether it’s motivation from their peers. And that is what my mom believed in,” Green said.

The new school is scheduled to open to students from kindergarten to eighth grade in August 2023.