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In 1950, the first class of Coral Gables Cavaliers walked through the gates of a brand-new high school at 450 Bird Road. Imagine the thrill of being among the very first to fill the hallways where the smell of fresh paint mixed with excited chatter and anticipation.

Phyllis “Petsy” (Gautier) Metzy remembers it well. Her senior class had been transferred from Ponce de Leon High when it became a junior high, and she went on to be crowned Gables High’s very first prom queen. “I remember how new and beautiful Gables High was,” she said. “We were all so proud to be there!”

Seventy-five years later, the Cavaliers are still proud—and the scent of fresh paint is back. More than $30 million in renovations have transformed the campus with even more upg

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