The first week of school at The Out-of-Door Academy’s historic Siesta Key campus brought together 275 students and educators.

“It’s an exciting time,” said Jen Horvat, ODA’s director of communications.

In 1994, the Siesta Key campus was named to the National Register of Historic Places. In the spring of 2024, the school celebrated its 100th anniversary, only months before three devastating hurricanes impacted Siesta Key and damaged the campus.

As the 2026-27 academic year, which began in mid-August, unfolds, ODA is beginning a new chapter in its 102-year history. Renovations and alterations that followed the three 2024 hurricanes have been completed. The campus has a more open look, with additional space for children to play, study and enjoy the outdoors.

In an interview last fall at the start of the 2025-26 school year, Jessica Banks, ODA’s head of lower school at the Siesta Key campus, told the Siesta Sand that “last year’s hurricanes dealt a significant blow to our campus, but fortunately, we only lost one historic building — our administrative building at the time. Originally an Army barracks, it was donated to the school and became an enduring part of our history.”

She went on to say that “our two other historic buildings — the Catherine Gavin Memorial Library and the theatre (now the multipurpose room) — were miraculously spared. Both were designed by Ralph Twitchell in 1932 and 1935, and the library was even built by students. Today, the library houses my office, while the theatre serves as our multipurpose room, learning lab and music classrooms.”

Twitchell was a celebrated architect and one of the founding members of the Sarasota School of Architecture.

As the new school year begins, the two Ralph Twitchell buildings have been reimagined and given new life. What was the multipurpose room is now the Riley Welcome Center. The center houses a reception area as well as offices for admissions, security, IT and administrative leadership. Collaborative meeting spaces, flexible work areas and the David V. Mahler Historical Gallery are also located in the Riley Welcome Center.

Instead of adding to the campus footprint, ODA elected to reimagine the existing historic spaces.

“The project reflects responsible stewardship, intentional growth, and respect for the history and architectural legacy of the Siesta Key campus,” Horvat said.

She noted that by removing the damaged former Army barracks, which did not have historical architectural relevance, the campus now has a large open space for learning and play.

“As students return, the excitement on Siesta Key is about more than new or renovated spaces,” Horvat said. “It is about a campus that has emerged from several challenging years with its history intact and its spaces better positioned to serve the next generation of ODA students.”

Another positive development in the aftermath of the 2024 storms was a generous philanthropic gift from ODA parents Katie and Peter Hayes. Katie Hayes is an alumna, and the couple’s children, Susannah, Kent and Kelsey, followed in their mother’s footsteps and graduated from ODA.

A gift from Jim and Heather Riley, parents of current ODA students Isabel and Mason, as well as Sheri Riley, grandmother of Tristan and Isla Harless, also helped make major improvements to the campus facilities possible.

Additional funding established an endowment dedicated to the long-term care, maintenance and enhancement of the Riley Welcome Center at ODA’s Siesta Key campus, helping ensure that the historic building is cared for well into the future.

The Out-of-Door Academy is an independent K-12 school. The Siesta Key campus serves preschool and elementary students in pre-K through fifth grade. Following their fifth-grade graduation from the Siesta Key campus, ODA students continue their studies at the school’s Lakewood Ranch middle and upper school campus for grades 6-12.

In August 2024, ODA opened its third and newest campus on Clark Road.