According to the Florida Department of Education’s metrics, Escambia County Public Schools did very well this past school year.
Bellview Elementary, Reinhardt Holm Elementary, and L.D. McArthur Elementary moved from C’s to A’s.
Montclair Elementary, Warrington Elementary, Lincoln Park Elementary, and Global Learning Academy moved from F’s to C’s.
“We’re really excited for our teachers, students, all of our employees, and most importantly, our community,” School Superintendent Keith Leonard said on WCOA’s “Real News with Rick Outzen” this morning. “It really does take all of us. And I believe our community is poised to assist in taking this district where we know it can be. There’s no reason to be nervous. This is what we’ve prepared for, and we just keep striving, keeping our eyes forward to see stronger student achievement each and every year.”
The superintendent felt the district’s performance monitoring made a difference. He said, “It gives you a snapshot in time of each individual student. Our teachers, instructional coaches, school transformation office, and our level directors did a great job of disaggregating that data, providing it to our teachers and those teachers working with each individual student for academic improvement.”
Leonard sees all students as the school district’s students, whether they attend charter schools, alternative centers, or traditional public schools. He is optimistic about the district’s only D school.
“I truly believe that you’ll see Warrenton Prep, not just get a C, but get a higher grade than that in the very near future,” he said. “I’m very proud of what they’ve done. I’m proud of our director of alternative ed for working strongly with them each and every day. We met with Mr. Ruiz (Charter Schools USA Florida Superintendent) and one of the Department of Education representatives every other week to ensure we were keeping our finger on the pulse and doing everything we could to assist them. And that partnership will only grow stronger as time goes by.”
His team is disaggregating the test data down to each individual student so teachers can design unique learning plans for them. Families will know the plans and can follow them on the district’s website.
“That’s the way we are going to find success,” Leonard said. “And just remember, there is no reason for us to be nervous because we have seen success. This is what we’ve prepared for, and we’re just going to keep striving to where we turn those numbers around where instead of 25 C’s, maybe there’s 11 B’s, and we get about 25 A’s – that’s where we want to be.”
- School Grades (Excel)
- District Grades (Excel)