2010 11 Greater TampaSt Petersburg Education Guide 2010 11 Greater TampaSt Petersburg Education Guide : Page 42

2010-11 Greater Tampa / St. Petersburg Education Guide PUBLIC SCHOOLS Just The Facts… Annual Budget: $1,481,422,335 Total cost per student per year: $6,588.66 Percent of budget spent on instruction: 68.5% Number of Schools: 160 Number of students: 93,115 Dropout rate: 4.1% Graduation rate: 73.2% Tests administered: IB AP ACT SAT PSAT NAEP FCAT FLKRS FAIR CELLA FAA TIMSS PIRLS Polk County Public Schools Superintendent, Sherrie Nickell Ed. D. Contact Information: Polk County Public Schools www.polk-fl.net 1915 South Floral Avenue • Bartow, FL 33831 863-534-0500 • Fax 863-534-0705 Superintendent Sherrie Nickell, Ed. D. sherrie.nickell@polk-fl.net 863-534-0521 • Fax 863-519-8231 Dear Community Members: POLK COUNTY 42 We are proud of the achievements of our students, schools and staff. Our students are engaged in amazing learning opportunities and activities every day. We are very thankful for the hard work of our teachers and staff in making these learning experiences possible for our students. We also appreciate every single parent or guardian partnering with us to ed-ucate students. We know that no one person or entity is as strong as we are collectively. Together we can move mountains, and pave the way for our students to have a future brighter than they can imag-ine! Polk County also has incredible community partners. The Polk County community has always valued education and their support is essential to our success. We are pleased to note that the school district received its third consecutive overall grade of "B" with the release of the 2009-2010 FCAT reports. Polk also received a B in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. Much more on our achievement can be read in the next page of this guide. Polk enjoys a talented teaching staff. The average experience of a Polk teacher is nearly 12 years. Ap-proximately 24 percent of Polk teachers have advanced degrees beyond a bachelor’s degree. A total of 97.5 percent of core content courses were taught by teachers designated as “Highly Qualified” ac-cording to the federal government’s rigorous No Child Left Behind standards. As stated earlier, we are fortunate to have a highly supportive community. More than 26,000 commu-nity members provided assistance in schools last year as volunteers. More than 792,000 hours were volunteered as mentors, tutors, chaperones, classroom speakers and other volunteer roles. Volunteers are parents, community members, business partners, school neighbors and other supporters. The Polk Education Foundation awards more than $600,000 in scholarships to Polk students annually. More than 2,500 local organizations partnered with schools in programs and projects. These include busi-nesses, civic, faith-based and non-profit community organizations. Students provided more than 475,000 hours of service to the community through service projects that link the curriculum to com-munity needs. Also last year, the Polk Public Schools had 71 active parent organizations including PTAs and PTOs with a total membership of more than 14,200 parents and guardians. I encourage you to contact and visit our schools to learn more about how we prepare our students for the future. Sincerely, Sherrie B. Nickell, Ed. D. Superintendent of Schools www.americaseducationguide.com

Polk County Public Schools, Scores & Grades

Sherrie Nickell Ed. D.

Contact Information: Polk County Public Schools www.polk-fl.net 1915 South Floral Avenue • Bartow, FL 33831 863-534-0500 • Fax 863-534-0705 Superintendent Sherrie Nickell, Ed. D. sherrie.nickell@polk-fl.net 863-534-0521 • Fax 863-519-8231 Dear Community Members: We are proud of the achievements of our students, schools and staff. Our students are engaged in amazing learning opportunities and activities every day. We are very thankful for the hard work of our teachers and staff in making these learning experiences possible for our students. We also appreciate every single parent or guardian partnering with us to educate students. We know that no one person or entity is as strong as we are collectively. Together we can move mountains, and pave the way for our students to have a future brighter than they can imagine! Polk County also has incredible community partners. The Polk County community has always valued education and their support is essential to our success. We are pleased to note that the school district received its third consecutive overall grade of "B" with the release of the 2009-2010 FCAT reports. Polk also received a B in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. Much more on our achievement can be read in the next page of this guide. Polk enjoys a talented teaching staff. The average experience of a Polk teacher is nearly 12 years. Approximately 24 percent of Polk teachers have advanced degrees beyond a bachelor’s degree. A total of 97. 5 percent of core content courses were taught by teachers designated as “Highly Qualified” according to the federal government’s rigorous No Child Left Behind standards. As stated earlier, we are fortunate to have a highly supportive community. More than 26,000 community members provided assistance in schools last year as volunteers. More than 792,000 hours were volunteered as mentors, tutors, chaperones, classroom speakers and other volunteer roles. Volunteers are parents, community members, business partners, school neighbors and other supporters. The Polk Education Foundation awards more than $600,000 in scholarships to Polk students annually. More than 2,500 local organizations partnered with schools in programs and projects. These include businesses, civic, faith-based and non-profit community organizations. Students provided more than 475,000 hours of service to the community through service projects that link the curriculum to community needs. Also last year, the Polk Public Schools had 71 active parent organizations including PTAs and PTOs with a total membership of more than 14,200 parents and guardians. I encourage you to contact and visit our schools to learn more about how we prepare our students for the future. Sincerely, Sherrie B. Nickell, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools Just The Facts… Annual Budget: $1,481,422,335 Total cost per student per year: $6,588.66 Percent of budget spent on instruction: 68.5% Number of Schools: 160 Number of students: 93,115 Dropout rate: 4.1% Graduation rate: 73.2% Tests administered: IB AP ACT SAT PSAT NAEP FCAT FLKRS FAIR CELLA FAA TIMSS PIRLS www.polk-fl.net 1915 South Floral Avenue • Bartow, FL 33831 863-534-0500 • Fax 863-534-0705 The Polk Public Schools were one of 33 school districts nationally to win a 2010 Magna Award from the Virginia-based American School Board Journal magazine. Polk won the award for its implementation of 31 career academies at 15 high schools. Polk was the only Florida school district to win a 2010 Magna Award. Polk won the award in the 20,000 and over student enrollment category. Magna Awards recognize school districts demonstrating innovative programs advancing student learning. Lakeland’s Lincoln Avenue Academy was one of 18 schools nationally to be named as a finalist in the 2010 Intel Schools Of Distinction Awards. Lincoln is the only Florida school named as an Intel School Of Distinction Award finalist. This was the second time in six years that Lincoln has been honored by Intel. In 2005, Lincoln was named the best elementary school in the country for technology innovation in a national program sponsored by Intel and the Scholastic educational resource company. The most recent statistics from the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) show that the Polk Public Schools are among the best school districts for energy efficiency. The report was issued by the FDOE Deputy Commissioner of Finance And Operations. Of all 67 school districts, Polk was listed in the report as best in the state for lowest comparative electric and energy use. Polk was listed in the same report as second lowest in the state for energy cost per square foot. Polk has 120 schools that received the Energy Star designation as an energy efficient building. Polk had 28 students recognized in the various stages of the 2010 National Merit Scholar program. The various stages are commended, semifinalist, finalist and Scholar. Schools with students recognized in the National Merit Scholar program were Bartow High, Bartow IB, George Jenkins High, Haines City High, Haines City IB and Harrison School For The Arts. One hundred sixty-eight high school seniors were named 2010 Superintendent’s Scholars. Superintendent’s Scholars have a minimum grade point average of 3.75 and a score of 1270 (critical reading and math) or above on the SAT or a 28 or better on the ACT. Bartow High is ranked 168 in Newsweek magazine’s 2010 list of the best 1,623 high schools in the U.S. The ranking puts Bartow High among the nation’s top 10 percent of the nation’s best high schools, according to Newsweek. The magazine ranks high schools according to a ratio devised by the publication that examines the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school divided by the number of graduating seniors. In addition to a traditional high school, Bartow High houses an International Baccalaureate program and Summerlin Academy, a military high school that is a school of choice. 2011 School Holidays Friday, Jan. 7, 2011 Teacher Planning, No School Monday, Jan. 17, 2011 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, Feb. 21, 2011 Presidents’ Day Monday – Friday, March 14-18, 2011 Spring Break Monday, March 21, 2011 Teacher Planning, Students off Friday, April 22, 2011 No school Monday, May 30, 2011 Memorial Day Wednesday, June 1, 2011 Last Day of School Mission To ensure rigorous, relevant learning experiences that result in high achievement for our students.

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