Ave Maria's newest edition Ave Maria Elementary

We In our growing and thriving community of Ave Maria, Florida, this week marked an incredibly exciting milestone as students officially walked through the doors of our community’s new public school for the very first time!

The journey to this moment began on June 3, 2025, when the Collier County Public Schools (CCPS) district officially broke ground on what would become Ave Maria’s public school. For many families in our community, the groundbreaking represented much more than the beginning of a construction project—it represented another major step forward in the continued growth of Ave Maria and an investment in the future of the children and families who call our community home.

Designed to serve students from kindergarten through 5th grade, this new school provides Ave Maria families with the opportunity to attend a CCPS public school right here in our own community. As Ave Maria continues to grow and welcome more families each year, having a local public school is an important part of building an even stronger, more connected community.

Then, on November 21, 2025, another important piece of the school’s future was announced when Beverly Budzynski was selected to serve as principal.

Principal Budzynski brings years of experience in education and school leadership to Ave Maria. Before taking on this new role, she served as principal at both Naples Park Elementary School and Seagate Elementary School. Her leadership and dedication to students and education were also recognized when she was named the Collier County Public Schools Principal of the Year in 2019.

Having an experienced principal selected months before the school opened helped begin the process of building not simply a new school building, but a new school community—one with its own teachers, staff, students, families, traditions, and identity.

The leadership team continued to come together in January 2026, when Matthew Sibert was announced as assistant principal.

Before joining the Ave Maria school, Sibert served as an assistant principal at Lake Trafford Elementary School. His educational background also includes experience working as a science coach and classroom teacher, giving him experience in several different areas of education. Together, Principal Budzynski and Assistant Principal Sibert now have the opportunity to lead this school from its very beginning and help shape its culture for generations of Ave Maria students to come.

After months of construction, planning, hiring, preparing classrooms, organizing schedules, welcoming teachers and staff, and getting everything ready for students, Tuesday, August 11, 2026, became the day everyone had been waiting for—the school’s first official day!

What started with a groundbreaking ceremony a little more than a year ago has now become a school filled with students, teachers, staff, learning, friendships, and memories waiting to be made.

For Ave Maria, this is about so much more than opening another building. It is another sign of just how much our community continues to grow. Families now have a public elementary school right here in Ave Maria where children can begin their educational journey in kindergarten and continue through 5th grade.

Imagine the stories that will come from this school over the years—the first class pictures, the first school events, the first clubs and activities, the first athletic teams, the first awards, the first graduating class, and eventually former students returning years later to see how much their school and their hometown have grown.

Every school has a history, and we are fortunate enough to be here to witness the very beginning of this one.

Congratulations to Principal Beverly Budzynski, Assistant Principal Matthew Sibert, the teachers, staff, students, parents, families, Collier County Public Schools, and everyone who helped make this new school possible.

To all of the students who walked into their new school on Tuesday: you are officially part of the very first chapter of its history. That is something you will always be able to say.

It is another exciting day for education, another exciting milestone for our families, and another exciting chapter in the story of our growing and thriving Ave Maria community.

Here’s to a wonderful first school year and to many, many years of learning, growing, friendships, achievements, and memories ahead! 📚✏️🎒🏫

Welcome to the first year of our new Ave Maria public school!