Winston School, on the National Register of Historic Places
The Winston School is a school building in Lakeland, Florida, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally built around 1900 as a simple brick structure, it sits on roughly 3 acres with eight buildings and now operates as a magnet school focused on science, technology, engineering, and math education.
The school was founded around 1900 as a simple one-room classroom and became known as the Strawberry School from 1928 to 1954 when farming families sent children to school only during summer months. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 and transformed into a magnet school focused on engineering and science in 2013.
The school was historically connected to strawberry farming, as students would help with winter harvests and attend classes only during summer months when farm work was light. This heritage remains part of local memory and shapes how the community views the school today.
The school is located at 3415 Swindell Road in Lakeland and can be easily found on local maps given its recognized historic status. A commemorative marker and informational plaque at the site help visitors understand the building's significance and history.
The school shares its history with the novel The Strawberry Girl, which documents life in this Florida region during the farming years and preserved the community in a work of American children's literature. This literary connection transforms the building into more than just a historic site, making it a testament to a family and community immortalized in a published book.
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