The first day of school is days away.
The Back to School Jam was held Aug. 3 at the Flagler Palm Coast High School gym with administrators from each school, the transportation department and foods services answering questions.
Teachers were scheduled to begin pre-planning on Aug. 5 with the first day of school for students scheduled a week later on Monday, Aug. 12.
What's new this year? Here's a rundown for each school:
Flagler Palm Coast
- FPC is expanding its classroom to careers program with two agricultural teachers and over 300 students signed up for the entrepreneurship program.
- The school is beginning its 50th anniversary celebration. It is accepting nominations for the FPC Hall of Fame. The honorees will be annunced at the Potato Bowl game on Nov. 1. In the spring, the Bulldogs will celebrate the class of 1975, FPC’s first senior class.
- The parking lot renovation is scheduled to be completed by the first day of classes. The project added 100 parking spaces and improved drainage and traffic issues, making drop-off and pick-up safer and more efficient.
- The 100 gym (original gym) has been repainted and refurbished. Unused lockers have been removed from the straight hallway making room for past and future senior class signing boards and a new painted mural by art department instructors that proclaims, “Once A Bulldog Always a Bulldog.” The weight room has also been refurbished.
Matanzas High School
- Matanzas is celebrating its 20th year. One reason to celebrate is that the school received an “A” grade for the first time since 2015. It is also expected to open the centerpiece of its expansion project around the middle of the school year — a 20,000-square-foot, two-story building that will include a new media center, construction lab and six new classrooms. Renovation has already begun on converting the old media center into new cafeteria space. “It’s a really exciting time,” Matanzas Principal Kristin Bozeman said.
- The guard shack has been moved to the last entrance gate on Pirate Nation Way closest to Forest Grove Drive. It will be the only gate that will be open throughout the school day.
iFlagler Virtual School
- iFlagler has a new Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program (PBIS) in an effort to engage and encourage students. “That’s something we haven’t full-fledged done before,” Principal Erin Quinn said. “The students and staff are spread out and remote. We’re looking for ways to build a positive school culture.”
Indian Trails Middle School
- The new Mustang Success Class is an area of focus, said Principal Ryan Andrews. All students take the class which reviews material that will be on assessment tests to keep it fresh in students’ minds.
Buddy Taylor Middle School
- BTMS has two new assistant principals in Marquez Jackson and Mindi Scala. Jackson moves over from the district office where he was the director of student services. “Marquez brings district and school administrative experience,” Superintendent LaShakia Moore said. Scala was a dean at the school last year.
Rymfire Elementary School
- Rymfire was four points from being an “A” school in 2024 and that will be a focus this school year, Principal Travis Lee said. Rymfire had the largest English Language Arts learning gain in the district. Lee credited the school encouraging families to read together at night as one of the reasons.
- The school is expanding its medical, science, health and fitness classroom to careers program to include second and third graders. In the past, only fourth and fifth graders could participate. The Flagler County Education Foundation is working with businesses to come in and help support the program, Lee said.
Old Kings Elementary School
- OKES was named a School of Excellence in the spring and the school will be highlighting that this year, new Principal Jessica Fries said.
- The school’s first grade team is sponsoring a turtle nest at 1006 North AIA as part of Old Kings’ marine science program and after-school club. Students watched a turtle next hatching last year and that sparked their interest, Assistant Principal Tara Ossler said. The Education Foundation and the Flagler County Cultural Council are supporting the sponsorship.
Belle Terre Elementary School
- BTES has a new playground and a new autism spectrum unit with sensory rooms, Principal Jessica DeFord said. Teachers are doing collaborative planning heading into the school year, DeFord said.
Bunnell Elementary School
- This year, BES will have a new chorus and a new poetry club. Teacher and families will also be greeted by new landscaping.
Wadsworth Elementary School
- Wadsworth has a new PBIS initiative called Panther Gains, based on attendance, academics and behavior, with points awarded to grade level groups. “We’re trying to make it enjoyable and help students succeed,” Assistant Principal Robert Hallock said.
- The district has outfitted 12 classrooms with new furniture and technology.
- The recess playing field has new irrigation and sod.
Flagler Technical College
- FTC's main building has been renovated with the addition of a new lab and two classrooms for the health and science, GED and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) programs. The renovation came from an outside grant with district funding to finish the project, FTC Assistant Director Chris McDermott said.
- Community education: Shauna Kanter, FTC’s assistant director for community education, said the aqua fitness class at Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club will be focusing more on education and less on recreation; intermediate and Mac computer classes have been added to the computer education offerings; and the A1A Center has new stained glass and motorcycle training classes.
