School has started at Lemuel Teal Middle School | News, Sports, Jobs

Dr. Joseph Restino. PHOTO SUPPLIED

School holidays have begun at Lemuel Teal Middle School, welcoming more than 1,000 students as the second school year began at the new Lehigh Acres school.

The school opened last year with 660 students at the beginning of the school year and closed with 770 students, before welcoming 1,016 students in the 2024-2025 school year, said principal Dr. Joseph Restino, adding that despite opening a new campus with 300 more students, the first day turned out to be a great day.

Restino has hired 20 new people due to the growth in the number of students at the school.

“There really is no book on how to build or run a new school. I was approved by the board in February. I hired over 72 people in five months. I made it happen and surrounded myself with great people,” he said, adding that they have created a culture where every idea is considered.

The condition for employment was to believe in the vision, because things could be turned around in an instant. He told them they would learn together, communicate and help make decisions, Restino said.

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“From a data standpoint, we did a fantastic job,” he said. “How well the kids were doing when they came in – reading and math levels compared to where they came out – they made substantial growth in one year.”

This school year marks Restino’s 11th year as an administrator. He has worked at Lehigh Acres Middle School and Harns Marsh Middle School.

“I reached a point where I really felt like I was ready,” he said, after just accepting the award for Deputy Director of the Year. “There was a brand new middle school opening up – QQ Middle School and it was in the old Lehigh Acres Middle School building – almost perfect timing. I had been the assistant principal there for six years. It made sense for me to go after it. Luckily, the people who hired me felt the same way.”

In honor of the school’s namesake, some of the awards and the Lemuel Teal Golden Apple are displayed in the lobby museum, so students and their families know why the school is called Lemuel Teal.

“I was once again fortunate to work in a building named after such a great teacher and to surround myself with fantastic people,” he said.

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This year the focus is on building on what worked well last year and forming a team to work together on areas that need attention, such as improving their grade point average, which fell one percentage point short of a C last year.

“I have been fortunate that I have not lost many teachers,” he said. “Luckily, we have experienced teachers here and they all have their own unique perspective.”

Restino said they finished last year with a D because the state adjusted the cutoff scores. He said he is confident they have the right people in the right places doing the right things to achieve that goal.

As a second-year principal at a new high school, Restino continues to listen to ideas from his entire team to spark student interest in special programs.

One of these is a beatlab: a non-traditional music creation experience on the computer, instead of with instruments.

“I envision using the new black box theater with one student in the center of the stage playing music,” he said.

There is also a digital art design course, which has been started in the hope that interest will continue to grow.

Another exciting development that this school will soon experience is a new black box theater with approximately 500 seats.

“It will be a huge building,” Restino talked about the building under construction. “It’s a community concept where it’s not only a shared structure between Veteran’s Park and Lemuel Teal, but also another structure that the community can rent and use for their own shows and events.”

The detached building will be located directly next to the high school and is expected to open at the end of the school year.

Last year, a science teacher taught a period of drama, which grew into a drama club with 25 to 30 students who showed up almost every day and did shows. These students paved the way for a drama elective.

With so much emphasis on art, Restino wanted to create something that was off the beaten track.

“I set up an entrepreneurship program. I hired a teacher who was really excited about getting students excited about starting their own businesses,” said Restino. “Lehigh is booming. Fort Myers is one of the fastest growing cities in the country.”

With that growth comes the need for more jobs and businesses. As a board member of the East Lee County Chamber of Commerce, he wants students to develop their own businesses and concepts.

“We bought a giant laser engraving machine,” Restino said. My dream is to make an Etsy account, or some sort of account for Lemuel Teal,“he said.”They can put in their orders and kids can use the money to work and learn about the cost of a cutting board and how much they’re going to sell for after using a laser engraver. It’s a dream project.”