Blankner School K-8, the first zoned K8 in OCPS, is located in South Downtown Orlando. Named after Ms. Francis Blankner, the first female School Board member of Orange County Public Schools, Blankner has been an “A” school for 20 consecutive years and is known for being a true neighborhood school. Blankner offers a wide range of academic programming for all of its students, from our unique Deaf and Hard of Hearing program to our AAIM class for advanced and highly gifted elementary students. Here we also serve our students through exemplary extracurricular programming; offering Orchestra for grades 4-8, and fine art programs for all grade levels; whether through an Art club/class in elementary to advanced courses for middle school students. Our middle school students also have the opportunity to participate in our middle school sports program that offers Volleyball, Basketball, Soccer and Track, and our elementary students participate in Smile Mile where they run or walk the track three mornings in the week for rewards.
Blankner is also an OCPS School of Innovation. Our focus as a School of Innovation is to provide new and innovating strategies to reduce achievement gaps and ensure all students are performing at high levels regardless of individual challenges. Alongside this goal, we are also full STEAM ahead as we work towards infusing science, technology, engineering, arts, and math into everyday learning. At Blankner, every child will learn to apply empathy and creativity with foundational knowledge to solve problems in our real world.
Principal Junella Kreil, EdD, has been an educator for 20 years, and an administrator for last 13 of them. Becoming the principal at Blankner School was a homecoming for her, as she is Blankner Elementary and Boone High School alumni. She attended UCF for her undergraduate and graduate degrees, where her focus of research centered around retaining quality teachers. She is the mother of two daughters (future Bulldogs, of course) who will soon be the third generation attending school in this wonderful community oriented neighborhood.
