MIAMI -- A Miami-Dade County teacher was arrested Wednesday morning, accused of performing sexual acts with a teenage student.

Shedrick Copeland, 29, a teacher at Robert Morgan Educational Center, was called to the Miami-Dade Police Department's sex crimes bureau on Tuesday night and was formally arrested there at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Police said a 17-year-old female student told them she had consensual oral sex with Copeland, according to his arrest form.

Copeland is charged with sexual activity on a minor and sexual battery. He bonded out of jail mid-afternoon Wednesday without commenting.

It did not take long for the news to spread around campus Wednesday.

"Everybody's giving rumors, giving texts like, 'Mr. Copeland got arrested! Mr. Copeland got arrested!' and we're like, 'Oh my god, why?'" said freshman Adelaida Leon.

"All my friends in chorus were talking about it, and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, what's happening?' And they told me he was having oral sex with a student," said freshman Danielle Pestana.

"They were pretty shocked, actually, because everybody thought he was a cool guy," sophomore Michael Cuentes said.

"He was a really good teacher. No one suspected this," said senior Danny Mejia.

Some students said they did suspect. The 17-year-old girl they named has Copeland as a friend on her Facebook page. Police reported that the girl said she consented, which, if true, does not make sex with a minor less of a crime.

"You send your kid to school to learn. How can a teacher take advantage of that?" said parent Ana Mercier.

Copeland has worked at the school for four years. The school's Web site lists him as a social studies teacher. Before Robert Morgan Educational Center, Copeland taught elementary school in Orlando. He was a mentor with the 5,000 Role Models program.

"He was a good role model. He showed me what to do. He was real cool," said sophomore Earl Burth.

School officials said Copeland has been reassigned away from the classroom during the case.