Manatee County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 399,710. Manatee County is part of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its county seat and largest city is Bradenton. The county was created in 1855 and named for the Florida manatee, Florida's official marine mammal. Features of Manatee County include access to the southern part of the Tampa Bay estuary, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, and the Manatee River.
Ruskin is an unincorporated census-designated place in Hillsborough County, Florida. The area was part of the chiefdom of the Uzita at the time of the Hernando de Soto expedition in 1539. The community was founded August 7, 1908, on the shores of the Little Manatee River. It was developed by Dr. George McAnelly Miller, an attorney and professor at Ruskin College in Trenton, Missouri, and Addie Dickman Miller. It is named after the essayist and social critic John Ruskin. Miller established the short-lived Ruskin College. It was one of the Ruskin Colleges.
Bradenton is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. Downtown Bradenton is along the Manatee River and includes the Bradenton Riverwalk. Downtown Bradenton is also home to the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature.
Palmetto is a city in Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was listed as 13,323. It is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton metropolitan statistical area.
Sarasota is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Greater Tampa Bay Area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Bay and several barrier islands between the bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Sarasota is a principal city of the Sarasota metropolitan area. According to the 2020 U.S. census, Sarasota had a population of 54,842.
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke is a public university in Pembroke, North Carolina. UNC Pembroke is a master's level degree-granting university and part of the University of North Carolina system. Its history is intertwined with that of the Lumbee nation.
New College of Florida is a public liberal arts college in Sarasota, Florida. The college is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. In 2023, the state government of Florida overhauled its board of trustees in an attempt to transform the school into a conservative institution. Since then, nearly 40% of faculty have resigned. New College has the smallest student population in the State University System of Florida with 669 students (2022).
Fayetteville State University (FSU) is a public historically black university in Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the University of North Carolina System and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (BTWHSPVA) is a public secondary school located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. Booker T. Washington HSPVA enrolls students in grades 9-12 and is the Dallas Independent School District's arts magnet school. Many accomplished performers and artists have been educated in the school, including Norah Jones, Erykah Badu, Adario Strange, Valarie Rae Miller, Edie Brickell, Kennedy Davenport, Sandra St. Victor, Roy Hargrove, and Scott Westerfeld. Baseball Hall of Famer Ernie Banks is among the most notable graduates of the school previous to its conversion to the Arts Magnet.
State College of Florida, Manatee–Sarasota (SCF) is a public college with campuses in the Manatee and Sarasota counties of Florida. Part of the Florida College System, it is designated a "state college" because it offers a greater number of bachelor's degrees than community colleges. SCF is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Founded in 1957 as Manatee Junior College, it was known as Manatee Community College from 1985 to 2009.
The Detroit School of Arts (DSA), originally known as the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts, is a public, magnet high school located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan.
Manatee High School is the oldest public high school in Bradenton, Florida, operated by the Manatee County School District.
The Sarasota metropolitan area is a metropolitan area located in Southwest Florida. The metropolitan area is defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) consisting of Manatee County and Sarasota County. The principal cities listed by the OMB for the MSA are North Port, Bradenton, Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, and Venice. At the 2020 census, the MSA had a population of 833,716. The Census Bureau estimates that its population was 891,411 in 2022.
The School District of Lee County manages public education in Lee County, Florida. As of the 2019–20 school year, there were 95,647 students attending 119 schools in the district, which had an operating budget of $1.327 billion.
The University of South Florida Sarasota–Manatee is a branch campus of the University of South Florida in Sarasota, Florida. USF Sarasota-Manatee was established in 1975 as a regional campus of the University of South Florida and gained separate accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate and master's degrees in June 2011. It was consolidated with the other two USF campuses as of July 1, 2020. Day, evening, weekend and online classes serve more than 14,000 students annually.
The School District of Manatee County, in Manatee County, Florida, provides education to over 50,000 students. It employs over 7,000 people.
St. Lucie Public Schools, previously known as St. Lucie County Public Schools, is the branding for St. Lucie County School District, which is the school district that manages schools in St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. Whereas, the total staff in the district consists of over 6,500 teachers and 2,300 administration staff.
The Iron Block Building, so named for the words Iron Block embossed high on its front facade is an historic two-story commercial building located at 530 12th Street West across from the Manatee County Courthouse in Bradenton, Manatee County, Florida. The Iron Block Building was built in 1896 in the cast iron style of architecture by Dr. Charles Ballard. It originally housed Reed's Cash Store. The building would be moved from its original location at the southwest corner of Manatee Avenue and 12th Street West to its present location in 1921. It has been restored and according to A Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture features original "pressed metal facades on three sides."
The Del Couch Music Education Foundation offers children free access to music education, recording equipment and mentorship. The foundation is located inside the Manatee School for the Arts in Palmetto, Florida, where the program founder and director Del Couch conducts four levels of classroom training in music recording and production and providing performance opportunities through events and mentorships. Alumni of the program include 2014 fifth-place American Idol finalist, Sam Woolf, and singer-songwriter recording artist Matt Walden, Carolina Opry star Colton Cason, Christian artist/singer songwriter Taylor Zebracki, Andy Pursell, who recently was signed as a national Salt Life artist, David Smash who was from Lithuania, couch produced his first US Cd and he went on to become a major You Tube personality, Trevor Bystrom. Mario martinez,aka "The Lazy Menance", Isabella Bank and others. The foundation's head intern Maguire Fraatz, a senior at MSA, produced the first CD for "Penny Fountain" an alternative rock band consisting of Tony Massaro-Koon (guitar) Xavier Wilkinson (bass/vocals) & Joel Lopez (drums) the band recently opened for national act "We The Kings" at the Bradenton Area Regatta, and performed on the upcoming realty tv show "No Covers". Couch has produced the music the Bradenton Area Regatta for 5 years. Couch has also toured with Jeff Cook & The Allstar Band, and recorded on Rick Derringer's "Free Ride " smooth jazz CD. Couch has worked with actresses Audrey Landers (Dallas) and Jane Seymour and her son. Couch also produced the popular Winterfest concerts drawing over 20,000 fans enjoying listening to national acts and featured foundation students throughout the day long events.
Braden River High School is a public high school in Bradenton, Florida, United States. It is a part of the School District of Manatee County.
