Education, Civic & Community

Private School Moving in St. Johns County and Jacksonville

No district purchase order to wait on: the head of school and board decide, and the chapel, library, and classrooms each get their own release date.

(904) 209-9277

Licensed & Insured Fully Covered
Owner-Operated By Devin Vangel
Northeast Florida St. Johns + Duval + Beyond

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Planning a Private School Move

A private school answers to its own board, not a county purchasing office. That makes the approval path shorter, but it also means one person, usually the head of school or the business manager, has to say yes to the site, the spending, and the date. We start once that yes is on paper.

The campus itself is small enough that one courtyard or covered walkway may serve every room, and the rooms do very different work. Homerooms empty after the last day. The admissions office keeps giving tours to prospective families all summer. The library may run a summer reading shelf. A chapel with weekly services has its own calendar, and a parish school may share it with the congregation.

So we plan by release, not by building. Each space gets its own date on the schedule: classrooms first, then the library once the librarian closes circulation, then the chapel after its last summer service, and the admissions office last, so tours keep a presentable path until the final week.

Who usually signs off: Head of school or operations director, with the board approving the site change and spending before the move date is set
Timing that works: After commencement and before new-family orientation in early August, worked around summer camps, re-enrollment tours, and any chapel services the school keeps through summer

What typically moves

Homeroom teacher stations and reading corners Tagged to the new room number; beanbags, rugs, and low shelves travel as one homeroom group.
Lower-school cubbies Emptied by teachers, corners padded, and placed along the wall the grade team marks on the new-room sketch.
Library stacks and book trucks The librarian sets the shelf order; freestanding ranges come apart only after they are empty.
Chapel chairs, kneelers, and lectern Loose seating and the lectern move after the last service; anything bolted down waits for the school’s contractor.
Admissions and front-office furniture Loaded at the end and unloaded at the start, so the new lobby is ready for a visiting family.
Science demonstration carts and display cases Moved empty after the teacher packs specimens and supplies under the school’s own rules.
Uniform-closet and spirit-shop shelving Stock boxed by staff; freestanding shelving moves empty and is set to the new closet layout.

Access and scheduling

Private campuses rarely have a dock. The truck usually stands in the carpool lane or a staff lot, so the operations director tells us which hours camp drop-off and pickup use the lane, and we load between them. Tours get the same treatment: send us the admissions calendar and we keep carts off the tour route when families are on campus.

If the school leases its new building, the landlord may want proof of our coverage, which we send ahead. The chapel usually sets the hardest date. If services continue through summer, its move goes midweek, right after one service and well before the next, giving the new sanctuary days to be set before worship. Aim to finish before new-family orientation in early August. For a move in July or later, pick a second date with the board, since the week can move if a storm comes through.

Protection and handling

A small campus means short carries, but the same doorways take every load, so we pad those jambs and thresholds once and leave the padding up until the last cart. Chapel furnishings are wrapped apart from classroom pieces and kept off classroom stacks. Donor plaques or memorial items stay with the school to carry by hand.

Staff keep student files, transcripts, and anything with a family’s tuition or health details, and pack those themselves. The librarian decides which books go, which are weeded, and where each range lands. We move closed, labeled cartons and do not sort them. At the new campus the head of school or operations lead walks each room with us and confirms placement before anyone starts unpacking.

Who does what

Some of this job belongs to other trades. The written plan names each one.

Site, spending, and date approval: The board and head of school approve the move and its budget; the operations director signs the room release schedule we work from.
Bolted pews, fixed altar furnishings, and memorial items: The school’s contractor unbolts and reinstalls anything fixed to the floor or wall; staff carry memorial and donor items by hand.
Library collection decisions: The librarian chooses what is weeded, packed, and reshelved, and in what order; we carry the cartons and freestanding ranges.

Not part of our work

Packing student files, transcripts, or tuition and health records; school staff control those.
Unbolting pews or fixed chapel furnishings.
Taking down wall-mounted displays or anything wired into the building.

Around St. Johns County and Jacksonville

Private schools across Ponte Vedra Beach, St. Augustine, Mandarin, and San Marco often sit on compact sites where the carpool lane is also the loading zone. In spring, tournament traffic around Ponte Vedra Beach and A1A can slow a truck, which is one more reason most schools wait for summer.

The crew that shows up

Mover wheeling a hand truck of boxes along a walkway

Packed boxes staged indoors partway through a move

Private School Moving FAQs

Another question? Call (904) 209-9277.

Can the admissions office keep giving summer tours while the campus is being packed?

Yes, if we know the tour calendar. We clear classrooms away from the tour route first, keep carts off that path during scheduled visits, and move the admissions office and lobby last. At the new campus we set the lobby early, so the first family to visit sees a finished front door.

Our chapel holds services through the summer. When does it move?

Midweek, right after one service and well ahead of the next. The chapel lead marks which chairs, kneelers, and hymnals the next service needs. We move everything loose, and the school’s contractor handles anything bolted down. If fixed pews need more time, the school can hold that service elsewhere for a week.

Our parish shares the chapel with the school. Who decides what moves?

The pastor and the head of school agree on that before the date is set, and we take our list from whoever they name. Parish-owned furnishings can move on a separate day or stay behind. We label school and parish items differently, so each piece lands in its own building.

We are a small school with one business manager. How much of the planning falls on us?

Mostly decisions, not logistics. You approve the room list, the release dates, and the budget. We walk both sites, draft the room-by-room schedule for your sign-off, and handle the carrying and placement. Teachers pack their own rooms, and the librarian owns the library order.

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Plan your business move

Tell us both addresses, the building rules you know about, and the dates you cannot move. We will send back a written plan and estimate.

Call (904) 209-9277

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