Jack & Jill Center Hosts Ribbon Cutting for New Madelaine Halmos Academy

100 students receive 2-year prepaid college scholarships

Jack & Jill Center kicked off the school year with community leaders, donors, supporters and school staff during the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Madelaine Halmos Academy at 1315 W. Broward Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.

The new, private elementary school serves kindergarten through fifth grade students in small class sizes that allow exceptional teachers and staff to take an innovative approach to education and learning. The Madelaine Halmos Academy offers STEAM activities, a project-based curriculum, on-site counseling and therapeutic services, wellness activities, access to the Family Program for all members of a student’s family, engaging extracurricular activities and sports, educational field trips and more. Tours were given of the school which features 12 classrooms, an arts and science lab, a music and media lab, a rooftop play area and outdoor learning space, a wellness room, a dining hall with a restaurant-grade kitchen and state-of-the-art security and technology.

Following the official ribbon cutting and remarks from Jack & Jill CEO Heather Siskind, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis, Commissioner Robert Mckinzie and Principal Petrina Johnson, Steve Halmos from the Steven Halmos Family Foundation surprised nearly 100 families and their children with two-year, prepaid college scholarships upon their graduation from high school.

“My wife Madelaine and I hope to give kids from high-need families the same opportunity to live the American dream that we’ve had,” said Halmos, honorary co-chair of the Madelaine Halmos Academy Capital Campaign. “The new school is a wonderful reminder at how important early education is for the success of our next generation.”

For more information about Jack & Jill Center or to enroll in the new Madelaine Halmos Academy, please visit https://www.jackandjillcenter.org/.

About Jack & Jill Center

Jack & Jill Center’s mission is to strengthen children and families through innovative education, supportive programming, and community engagement. It achieves its mission by focusing on both the children and family units as a whole, so that the entire household, children and parents alike, are able to reach their full potential. For over 79 years, Jack & Jill Center has served more than 20,000 children and families in South Florida. It currently serves as a NAEYC-accredited year-round early learning program for children aged 6 weeks though preschool, as well as an elementary school ― with a brand-new elementary facility, The Madelaine Halmos Academy, housing kindergarten through fifth grade unveiled in spring 2021. For more information about Jack & Jill, visit www.jackandjillcenter.org.