When the Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High School, Biscayne Bay Campus, opens in August, it will have the best of everything:

• State-of-the-art computer and biology labs;

Sally Alayon, principal of the new Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High School, Biscayne Bay Campus

• Advanced Placement courses and a dual enrollment agreement with Florida International University next door;

• Special programs in marine biology, legal studies, communications and hospitality management plus a Scholars Academy;

• A full range of service clubs and activities;

• Programs for gifted students, special education classes and programs for students for whom English is not their first language;

• A full gym and weight room plus access to an adjacent football field with synthetic turf.

But the real key to success will be in achieving broad parental involvement, both in building a vibrant PTSA and in keeping students focused on learning, Mourning High Principal Sally Alayon told the Sunny Isle Beach City Commission June 18.

Alayon, the former principal of Highland Oaks Middle School, walked the commission through a slide presentation on the new school that opens Aug. 24. The first year, about 700 9^th and 10^th grade students will roam the halls, with about half of them coming from the Sunny Isles Beach area. At full capacity, the school will educate 1,638 students with the goal of sending them all on to college, Alayon said.

Sunny Isles Beach Community School will be among the feeder schools.

The four-story high school is nearing completion on a “tight” 5-acre lot at the entrance to the FIU Biscayne Bay campus. Its innovative design is the work of the same architect who designed the American Airlines Arena in Miami and represents the firm’s first foray into school construction.

Students will be required to wear a uniform that includes a shirt with the school’s logo and slacks. The schools colors are navy blue and silver; the nickname will be the Sharks.