Madison Education Center Archives

Educating students where they live and work is a core part of Saint Leo. Since 1973, the university has taught students at education centers and other teaching locations, in addition to University Campus.

Center students for the most part are older and nontraditional students, meaning they may not enter college at age 18, immediately after graduating from high school. They often are working full time and juggling family commitments with studying. Saint Leo’s centers focus on offering classes when students need them.

Making education center students feel a part of the university is crucial to their success. The centers sponsor many activities and clubs to bring students together, including participating in Saint Leo Serves projects in their communities. Saint Leo changes our students’ lives and makes a difference in the communities where centers are located.

University administration continuously monitors center locations to make sure they are meeting the needs of current and prospective students. In the past few years, Saint Leo has opened new locations and expanded others to better provide educational opportunities for the surrounding communities. Soon, the university will better serve the Charleston, SC, region with the opening of a new center in Summerville, SC, and a second one on the Naval Weapons Station Charleston at Joint Base Charleston. Here’s a look at some of Saint Leo’s new and expanded education centers.

Florida

Tampa

– MacDill Air Force Base

East Pasco Education Center
at University Campus

–Brooksville Pasco-Hernando

–State College Office

–New Port Richey PHSC Office

–Spring Hill PHSC Office

Gainesville

Lakeland

Lake City

Key West
at Naval Air Station Key West

Jacksonville

–Naval Station Mayport Office

The Jacksonville center moved in December 2017 to a new location in the Oakleaf Town Center, an open-air regional shopping center. The 8,400-square-foot center gives students access to five classrooms, administrative staff, and a computer lab, as well as Saint Leo’s online library collection, online tutoring, and personalized career services.

Madison

Ocala

Saint Leo’s Ocala location opened in the fall of 2016. Its 9,172 square feet features 10 classrooms that include the latest technology, a computer lab, and student lounges.

Tallahassee

Georgia

Atlanta

Classes began in January 2019 at the new Atlanta Education Center at Lindbergh City Center. The centers in Morrow and Marietta, GA, ceased operations in December. Saint Leo occupies the entire second floor of the new Atlanta center with more than 23,000 square feet. It features eight classrooms with plans to develop more, a Learning Resource Center, cybersecurity lab, and student lounge.

Gwinnett

Savannah

A grand opening ceremony was held in October 2018 at a new location, but Saint Leo has served the Savannah community since 1975, when it began offering classes at Hunter Army Airfield (HAAF) and Fort Stewart. The new location is 14,900 square feet. It features 13 classrooms, a “cyber bar,” Learning Resource Center, computer lab, student study room, and student lounge. In addition, the center boasts the university’s third Military Resource Center for student-veterans and military-related students.

Virginia

Fort Lee

South Hampton Roads

–JEB-Little Creek Office

–Naval Air Station Oceana
Office

–Naval Station Norfolk Office

Saint Leo University celebrated the grand opening of its new location in 2016 at Naval Station Norfolk.

Chesapeake

Newport News

–Fort Eustis Office

–Langley Air Force Base Office

Saint Leo University celebrated the grand opening of its expanded Newport News location in April 2018. The center added 4,386 square feet to its site, enabling it to open with a fully equipped cybersecurity lab, as well as additional classroom space, a study lounge, and a Military Resource Center.

South Carolina

Charleston

Summerville area
The new location for the Charleston Education Center is in the booming Nexton area of Summerville. It opens this fall and will offer updated technology, larger classrooms, a dedicated computer lab, learning resource center, student lounge, and more support services. Moving into a stand-alone location also will provide an opportunity to build stronger business partnerships that will benefit students and alumni.

Naval Weapons
Station Charleston

Opening this fall.

Shaw Air Force Base
Sumter Office

Texas

Corpus Christi
at Naval Air Station
Corpus Christi

Mississippi

Columbus
at Columbus Air Force Base

California

San Diego
at Naval Base
San Diego

Feeding people and feeding young minds is Megan Hotchkiss’ life. After Hurricane Irma swept through Florida on September 10, Hotchkiss did what her family does: She fed people.

Hotchkiss—who will graduate from Saint Leo University’s Madison Education Center in 2019 with a degree in elementary education—her fiancé, and her toddler daughter evacuated their new mobile home in Hamilton County, FL, before Irma struck. “When it was all clear, we went to the house and I saw the damage,” Hotchkiss said. A large oak fell on her home and destroyed one side. “I said, ‘I can’t deal with it now.’ I had to get the restaurant open. We had food. My loss had to be pushed to the back of my mind.”

The Saint Leo junior recently had opened Crossroads Contract Food Services, a café on the North Florida Community College campus. Her parents own Crossroads Market & Grill in Jasper, FL. “We went to the restaurant, got the generators going, and set up a buffet line so the community would have a place to convene and get hot food,” Hotchkiss said.

At 5 p.m., she received a call from Henry Land, emergency management director for Hamilton County. All of the county’s emergency personnel had to stay at the headquarters. He told Hotchkiss they needed to feed 150 people breakfast, lunch, and dinner. “I told him, ‘I’ll figure it out,’ and we made spaghetti,” Hotchkiss said with a laugh. A police escort led Hotchkiss to emergency management headquarters to serve the meals.

Then at 10 p.m., Land had another request. “He said, ‘I’ve got 300 electric workers coming and staying at the elementary school,’ ” Hotchkiss recalled. “ ‘Is there any way you can handle them?’ ”

Hotchkiss readily agreed. “I didn’t talk to my parents or anything,” she said. “I just said ‘yes.’ I was still in a state of shock.”

Megan-Hotchkiss-prepping-meals-(1) — Megan Hotchkiss sets up breakfast for 300 electric workers who were trying to restore power to Hamilton County, FL, following Hurricane Irma.

She told them not to be mad, but they would be feeding breakfast to the first 300 people at 4 a.m. She headed to the restaurant at 2 a.m., and was ready to serve the first group. Meals were served around the clock to electric workers who had traveled from throughout the country to restore power, as well as to emergency personnel.

For nearly a week, Hotchkiss and her family fed those who had left their own families to help.

“We survived on one or two hours of sleep a night,” she said. “I tried to go home, but the power was still out.”

The fallen tree damaged the electric box and left a gaping hole in the roof and water damage to the bathroom. “I was so crushed and so beaten,” Hotchkiss said. “There are very few times you feel that kind of despair. You let it consume you for an hour. I only gave myself a little time. I had to get the restaurant in Madison restocked because the campus was reopening.”

As she prepared for returning to classes, she was able to reach her Saint Leo instructors. “I told them my house is gone, Internet [connection] is just a dream,” she said. “I’ve never been one to ask for handouts. I’ve never asked for extra time for assignments. But Elisabeth [Ballew, education instructor] and Christy [Roebuck, Madison Education Center director] were there for me. I caught up in two weeks. I can only imagine if I’d chosen another school. Saint Leo was there for me. I walked into Christy’s office and just cried.”

Before entering Saint Leo, Hotchkiss already had earned an associate degree, but said she made the bad decision to wait to pursue a higher degree. Her sister, Edie Hotchkiss ’13, graduated from Saint Leo and encouraged her to enroll. She learned about Saint Leo’s education program, and its field placement program. “The internships really helped me to choose Saint Leo,” she said. “I wouldn’t have seen the inside of a classroom [as a student-teacher] until my senior year. The way Saint Leo structures curriculum is so student-friendly.”

The young entrepreneur always knew she wanted to be a teacher. “I’ve trained horses, I’ve been in early education, I’ve opened businesses, but truly, education is where my heart is,” she said.

Megan-with-cooler — Megan Hotchkiss ’19, a student at the Madison (FL) Education Center, and Jennifer Ryan, shown at Crossroads Market & Grill, take meals to feed emergency personnel and electric company workers following Hurricane Irma.

As part of her Introduction to Education class, she joined a mentoring program. “I gained rapport with these kids who were in horrible situations,” Hotchkiss said. “I was able to reach five, and they graduated. I mentored 15 students in two years.”

Whether it’s feeding the community and those who help the community or teaching and mentoring youngsters, Hotchkiss embraces Saint Leo’s core values. “Every value we have in the university is essential to being a good human being,” she said.