[4] Dedicated while still under construction by Florida governor Sidney Johnston Catts on the Fourth of July, 1916, the Redland Farm Life School opened its doors to 195 students on October 16, 1916, consolidating one-room schools from Redland, Goulds, Eureka, Modello, Princeton, Murray Hill, and Silver Palm into a single modern educational facility with classrooms for grades one through twelve.

[1][2][4] The school contained indoor bathrooms, electric lighting, drinking fountains, a science laboratory, a home economics department, cloak rooms, a cafeteria, and a stand-alone 3200-square-foot (300 m2) auditorium that seated 300 people.

[2][3] The buses consisted of a slatted, roofed “cattle car” type of trailer with seats for 85 children hauled by a separate tractor.

[5] Andrew destroyed the stand-alone auditorium at the top of the structure's U-shape, and the school board sought to demolish the rest of the building.

However, the South Florida Pioneer Museum obtained grant money to restore the outside of the structure, fix the roof, and install impact-resistant windows.