- November 23, 2024
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Everywhere I go I tell people this is my dream job. I can’t believe how quickly this first year as Superintendent of Flagler Schools flew by, but now we’re about to embark on a new school year.
I can’t wait to see all our returning students, teachers and staff back in our schools, and I welcome all the new faces starting with us August 10th. There are so many opportunities available as you start or continue your educational journey with us.
Our successful Flagship program expands this 2018-2019 school year. These programs are tied to the economic engines running Flagler County. The launch of our Fire Leadership Academy at Flagler Palm Coast High School went so well, we now have the opportunity to take the wraps off our Law and Justice Flagship at Matanzas High School. The partnership with Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly, Judge Melissa Moore Stens, the law team of Chiumento, Dwyer, Hertel, Grant & Kistemaker as well as the law offices of Farrah and Farrah makes this possible.
Additionally, smaller school districts like ours are are always looking for ways to find the best and brightest educators to fill our teaching ranks. We think we may have a home field advantage though. Flagler Palm Coast High School unveils the Future Educators of Flagler Flagship program. Graduates will be well on their way to a teaching degree, and we will do all we can to find them a place to begin their career right here in Flagler Schools.
Over the summer, Flagler Schools received our “school grades” from the state Department of Education. For the seventh consecutive year Flagler Schools is a “B” rated district. While a lot of hard work from our teachers, students, staff, and administrators has gone into maintaining that grade, all of us strive for an “A.” We are currently working with our school administrators as well as our Office of Teaching and Learning to ensure we get there. Many factors go into these grades, some of which is data which lags behind other numbers. We’re extremely proud of the work many stakeholders had in the Graduate 100 program this past school year. Their efforts allowed many seniors to walk across that graduation stage. Our goal is to graduate 100 percent, and we're expecting to see the results of this work in December when graduation and acceleration data becomes available from the Florida Department of Education. I’m confident we are moving in the right direction as Flagler Schools is on the cusp of some special things here.
Finally, I ask all of you to consider becoming a mentor for one of our students. We have a number of groups and organizations leading this charge including the Flagler County Education Foundation, Flagler Schools through the African American Mentor Program and Mentoring Matters, as well as Flagler Volunteer Services. We have about 13,000 students in Flagler Schools which creates about 13,000 available mentoring possibilities. Flagler County has faced a series of challenges over the last few years, and I can think of no better way to give back to our community, as well as support the future of our area, than to invest time in our students.
If you’d like additional information on mentoring, check out our website: http://www.flaglerschools.com/district/mentoring-program.
