Letter from the Florida Public School Choice Consortium President

Audrey Lewis-Potter

Audrey Lewis-PotterMay 20, 2009

Dear FPSCC Members and Colleagues,

As President of the FPSCC, I have enjoyed collaborating and hearing about the wonderful events sponsored by many of our Florida Public School Districts, Professional Groups, Community Organizations and Parent Resource Centers this school year.  Now as the summer months are approaching, and school is ending, this will give all of us a chance to reflect, analyze, plan and organize for future opportunities for promoting public school choice. In addition, we must stay vigilant in accomplishing our main goals, which are to continue promoting the awareness of  school choice benefits, accessing “best practices” and sharing these through networking and professional development. Under the outstanding leadership of Dr. Judith Stein, the team for the VPSC grant project at Nova Southeastern University Fischler School of Education has been extremely helpful in assisting us with many of our choice efforts, coordinating the new Parent Resource Centers and securing additional PRC’s in other counties, to join and collaborate in these promising efforts.  Read more »
 

2009 Palm Beach County Kaleidoscope Winners

Christina Feraco

The 12th Annual Kaleidoscope “Go Back 100,” provided free entertainment to the public, allowing them to celebrate cultural diversity and learn about their neighbors from around the world. The “Go Back 100” theme allowed the community to learn about the history of our area as the event marked the Palm Beach County and School District of Palm Beach County centennials. This celebration took place on Sunday, January 25, 2009 at the Meyer Amphitheatre in Downtown West Palm Beach and was produced by the City of West Palm Beach in partnership with the School District of Palm Beach County.  Read more »

JAM's Art Students Steal The Show!

Laura Robinson

Laura RobinsonThis article covers JAM's outstanding art students whose artwork was submitted to the Ridge Art Association's Young Artists Show. The show was held on February 26, 2009. The students are taught by Barbara Brooks, art teacher here at JAM.



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Judy's Journal

Judy Stein

Judith SteinAs school comes to a close for 2008-09, there are many things to be proud of and some to dismay. We are pleased to continue our cooperative agreement with the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) for the Voluntary Public School Choice grant and to work with Miami-Dade and Hillsborough counties which were also funded among only fourteen grants in the nation under the Voluntary Public School Choice (VPSC) program.

We are pleased to continue our work for school choice and educational options in Florida.  Nova Southeastern University, Fischler School of Education and Human Services (FSEHS) has provided the home of initiatives for school choice through the National Institute of Educational Options (NIEO), which has been part of the FGSEHS since 1998.
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2009 Career Academies on the Hill

Constance Scotchel-Gross

Connie Scotchel-GrossThe Florida Public School Choice Consortium (FPSCC) in collaboration with the Banner Center for Secondary Career Academies of Excellence, the Florida Association of Career and Technical Educators (FACTE), the National Career Academy Coalition, and the Southeast Coalition of Essential Schools Center, hosted the 3rd Annual Career Academies on the Hill Conference on April 7-9, 2009, at the Doubletree Hotel in Tallahassee.  The goal of this conference is to promote the mutual understanding about Career Academies and their impact on academic and career technical education programming.   Participants from throughout Florida interacted with state and national organizations promoting career academies and shared strategies and successes with other practitioners. In addition, educators got the attention of the Florida legislators to showcase some of the finest Florida career academies and the students who are in them and learned how many Florida academies strive to...
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Florida Public School Choice Consortium’s Online Calendar

Nigel Whyte

CalendarThe Florida Public School Choice Consortium (FPSCC) is working to refresh and renew its website with a more contemporary look and feel and functionality with a new public share calendar.  Look for a reorganized site with rich updated information, member access only pages and a new online calendar in the coming weeks. 

This new calendar is hosted on the www.FPSCC.net website, has a search feature, and one can submit events and items for inclusion by clicking on “Add New Entry” at the bottom of the page.  The www.FPSCC.net site averaged over 2,000 unique visitors last quarter, so others can see events of interest that you post.

The new public calendar can be viewed and used at http://www.fpscc.net/calendar/month.php.

Journal of School Choice Call for Papers

John Merrifield

The young Journal of School Choice (JSC) guarantees the best review process in the peer-reviewed journal universe.  Authors get 2-3 blind reviewer comments within 6-9 weeks, PLUS substantive comments from 2-5 members of the very active JSC Editorial Board.

The JSC publishes original empirical research, scholarly commentary, book reviews, and short non-refereed ‘News’ and ‘Views’ articles focused on impacting research agendas.

The JSC team feels strongly that academic journals’ typical laser focus on original empirical research has kept the issues of research design, research interpretation, and issues lacking direct empirical evidence from getting as much attention as they deserve.

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Hairy Day: 60 Liza Jackson boys shave heads to show support for cancer survivors

by Wendy Victora
Taken from Northwest Florida Daily News

About 60 boys at Liza Jackson Preparatory School shaved their heads Thursday in a show of support for cancer survivors.

The school has held activities all week linked to the evening's Relay for Life at Etheridge Stadium at Choctawatchee High School.
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FACSA News

Carolyn Bridges

Carolyn BridgesThe Florida Association of Charter School Authorizers (FACSA) is a membership organization for charter school authorizers dedicated to promoting the principles and standards of high quality charter school authorizing.  Its mission is:

The mission of the Florida Association of Charter School Authorizers (FACSA) is to collaboratively equip districts with professional standards and best practices to authorize and support excellence in chartering for all students.
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Keeping Up with the Florida VPSC Grants

Hillsborough County Develops Unique Career Academy Through Voluntary Public School Choice Grant

Pansy Houghton

Pansy HoughtonAmong many attractor programs developed through the Voluntary Public School Choice Grant is a unique career academy opened this year by Hillsborough County Public Schools.  The Health Administration Academy at Tampa Bay Technical High School opened its doors to 22 sophomore students last August.
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Palm Beach and Monroe Counties Work as Partners for the Voluntary Public School Choice Grant

Elizabeth Shapiro

Marathon High School, Palm Beach County’s Volunteer Public School Choice (VPSC) grant partner school, started an after school culinary program for middle school students as a way to recruit eighth graders for the new Choice Culinary Career Academy  starting in the fall of 2009. The after school program, which meets twice a week, is where the students learn basic knife skills, culinary terms, and food service sanitation and safety as well as commercial tools and equipment.  Read more »

Improving student success through Voluntary Public School Choice
Polk County

Carla McMullen

Carla McMullenPolk County has been very busy over the last several months working with nine coalition districts through the Voluntary Public School Choice grant.   Polk, Hillsborough, Osceola, Lake, Indian River, Manatee, Sumter, Pasco, and Orange counties have collaborated to complete the objectives and goals of the Polk VPSC grant. 
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Acceptance into Haines City International Baccalaureate

Laura Robinson

Every year, hundreds of students all over Polk County apply to attend International Baccalaureate in Haines City.  During the test, all students go through a practice session and the real test, which is about two hours long. They have to write an essay about an assigned topic with amazing detail. The data looked at to be qualified is their FCAT NRT scores, and their 6th, 7th, and first semester of 8th grade unweighted GPAs. Twenty of our very own students passed the IB test and were accepted into Haines City IB. 
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Polk Schools, CFAA Receive $1.4 Million NASA Grant

Alyson Gernert

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has awarded Polk County Public Schools a $1.4 million education grant to enhance Kathleen High School’s Central Florida Aerospace Academy (CFAA), an aviation-oriented high school/career academy located on the campus of the Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In.

“This major grant from our nation’s space agency not only recognizes the quality and potential of the CFAA program, but also places Polk County Schools among some of the country’s top science and technology programs,” said Superintendant of Schools Dr. Gail F. McKinzie.  Read more »

Keeping Up with the Parent Resource Centers (PRC)

Fresh Ministries Parent Resource Center - Jacksonville, FL

 

Things are getting hot at Fresh Ministries/East Jacksonville Parent Resource Center, adults, children and even homeless dogs visit us for assistance.

Spring and summer is usually an exciting time at the PRC. Parents are concentrating on end of the school year activities as well as making plans for the next term. Parents have so many choices when it comes to their children’s education. Some of the common questions asked are: how can enroll my child in a private school if I am on a limited income or what can I do to help my child who is failing in public school?


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Successful Choice Chats at Churches Prompts More Visits For the Gadsden PRC Mobile Unit

 

The Parent Resource Mobile Unit is a welcomed new and needed component added to the services offered to parents in Gadsden County. The Florida Department of Education, along with a partnership agreement with Nova University extended a grant-funded purchase for a PRC mobile, which has given Gadsden a jump-start in getting the word out to parents, and the caretakers of students. “It has also provided a much-deserved avenue for community members to join in and assist us as well,” said, Audrey Lewis-Potter, Parent Services Coordinator. She further stated, “What a wonderful idea to get information to parents in “Hard to Reach’ areas of the county and a fantastic way to touch a large number of parents in places they frequent on the weekends which is the church”.  Read more »

Florida School Choice Parent Resource Centers to create new location in the Panhandle

Katy Beth Twist-Harty & Ofelia Hampton

Katy TwistThe Florida School Choice Parent Resource Centers are very excited as they continue planning the creation of a new Parent Resource Center (PRC)  funded by the Florida Department of Education located in the panhandle.  Escambia County was chosen as the next location due to the 21 schools Ofelia Hamptoncurrently on the Florida Department of Education’s  (FDOE) Differentiated Accountability School List for 2008-2009 (http://flbsi.org/DA/index.htm).


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We are the Cuban American National Council (CNC) and we are getting ready Open House at our Parent Resource Center or PRC in Orlando, Fl

Vicky Llevada

The time frame selected is usually after school to accommodate students and parents alike; this is done twice a week for an average of two hours each session. 

The Exhibit tables is placed outside our center, lending itself for people to   stops and ask questions about who we are and what our mission is.  This is the perfect opportunity for us to provide a large amount of information about Florida Choices in Education.  After discussing Choice Options, those who have never heard of these educational options begin to get excited at the possibilities.  Questions vary from parent to parent, some want to know how they may receive tutoring, what does the letter grade awarded to each school mean?, etc. As with all sessions, parents are given Choice Options that are specific to their needs or interests.  In addition to providing information, we also aid parents by providing them assistance with applications, translating and or speaking with teachers and school or district administrators. Read more »

Statewide School Choice Parent Advisory Council Update
Five Meetings held in North, Central and South Florida

Bill Storms

Bill StormsThe “Statewide School Choice Parent Advisory Council” (SCPAC) has now completed five official meetings. The fifth was held on April 7th, 2009 at Florida Department of Education Turlington Building in conjunction with the “Academies on the Hill” Conference in Tallahassee. The Council’s Mission, “All Florida Parents will be informed of all educational options and opportunities” is quickly becoming a reality.  In the meetings and back home in the member’s regions, platforms for parent information on all choice options are being established. SCPAC members are establishing a much needed communication link between local school choice stakeholders and the Department of Education. The statewide council is now actively involved in establishing local advisory councils which will meet with the state advisory council on a regional basis. This statewide group, composed of school choice stakeholders including parents, school district Choice leaders, and other community leaders with a special interest in School Choice, is a resource to interact with parents throughout the state for issues related to School Choice. Coupled with our Florida School Choice Parent Resource Centers and school district School Choice Supervisors, the School Choice Parent Advisory Council will establish working local School Choice Parent Advisory Councils in districts throughout Florida before the end of the summer. Read more »

VyStar Invests in St. Johns

Jay Steele

Jay SteeleIn this age of budget cuts and decreased educational funding, a local credit union emerges as an educational leader in North Florida.  VyStar Credit Union, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, has partnered with the St. Johns and Clay County school districts to support career academies and financial education.  VyStar Credit Union has a rich history of financial and community service to people that began in 1952.  VyStar has become one of the largest financial institutions in Northeast Florida and among credit unions today.

In 2007, the value of VyStar's investment at Bartram Trail High School in St. Johns County exceeded $100,000 and allowed the school district to open their first student-run credit union. The “Bear Branch” became the crown jewel of the Academy of Business and Finance.  In exchange for the incredible partnership between the St. Johns County School District and VyStar Credit Union, the school district gave VyStar naming rights to the academy which became the VyStar Academy of Business and Finance.  Bartram Trail students and staff were able to utilize the credit union during schools hours for deposits and withdrawals and all of their banking needs.  The success of the Bartram Trail branch prompted VyStar to open two other student-run branches in 2008 at Pedro Menendez High School in St. Augustine and Fleming Island High School in Orange Park. Read more »