Miami Springs is at an important crossroads in public education — one shaped not by theory, but by reality. For years, families in Miami Springs, Virginia Gardens, and Medley. The River Cities have increasingly chose alternatives to the local middle school. Enrollment has declined, facilities have aged, and despite the best efforts of educators, the school’s reputation and performance have struggled to recover. The result has been a cycle familiar to many communities: fewer students lead to fewer resources, which in turn makes improvement even harder. That context matters when evaluating the proposal now moving forward — the conversion of Miami Springs Senior High School into a 6–12 campus, currently referred to as Miami Springs Preparatory Academy, a 6–12 School....