Coral Gables Preparatory Academy, formerly Coral Gables Elementary School, is a public K-8 school in Coral Gables, Florida. A part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, it has its elementary school classes in the Lower Academy, in the former Coral Gables Elementary building, while the middle school classes are in the Upper Academy at the Merrick Educational Center. The school was given its current name in 2010.The lower academy facility is a historic school building designed by the architect Richard Kiehnel of Kiehnel and Elliott. It is located at 105 Minorca Avenue. On June 30, 1988, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.The school has an excellent academic reputation. For the past seven years, Coral Gables Elementary has received an "A" rating from the Florida Department of Education.The school is 64% Hispanic, 31% White Non-Hispanic, 3% Black and 2% Asian/other.HistoryCoral Gables Elementary School opened as Coral Gables Grammar School in October, 1923, with 39 pupils and one teacher, Mary Feaster Jackson. Abigail Gilday served as its first principal until 1945.The school was financed and built by George Merrick, founder of Coral Gables, with the understanding that the Dade County School Board would repay him $10,000 for the land and $25,000 for the school building. Upon completion of the third phase, in 1926 the school had grown to 1,000 students.Because Merrick believed that "beautiful things inspire higher ideals in the minds of children," he commissioned the nationally known architectural firm of Kiehnel & Elliott to build a school of Spanish colonial architecture. In recognition of the school's major role in the architectural and cultural history of Coral Gables, it was made a "City of Coral Gables Landmark" in 1982, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
