District saves $1.7 million in utility costs

SARASOTA — Thanks to a comprehensive energy conservation program, Sarasota County Schools has saved more than $1.7 million in utility costs since June 2007, compared to the previous one-year period.

The original one-year period in 2006-07 was measured to serve as the benchmark for future comparisons so the school district can gauge its progress in future years. The $1.7-million figure represents the difference between what the district projected it would have spent on utilities for the 2007-08 year (a projection based on the benchmark year) compared to what it actually spent.

To ensure that energy is being used efficiently at schools and offices, district energy specialists perform energy audits at each site to evaluate consumption and make recommendations for changes that will result in savings.

Energy specialists evaluate the use of heating and air conditioning equipment, such as chillers, air handlers, exhausts and pumps to determine whether changes in the usage times and frequency could affect the district’s power bills. The expensive task of air conditioning 43 schools and a number of district facilities has been made less costly and more efficient by making ice at night during low-demand energy hours, then storing the ice in thermal energy storage tanks. Water is circulated over the ice during the day to create the chilled water needed for air conditioning.

The district’s custodial staff also helps identify potential savings and avoid potential loss at each site. Resources are well maintained to ensure optimum performance. Teachers and staff are coached to make sure lights are out when a room is not being used, windows and doors remain closed while air conditioning is in use, and electronic equipment is turned off each night. “Everyone plays a part in conserving energy,” said Alisha Miller, an energy manager for the school district’s Facilities Services team. “When we show people how they can help, they’re glad they can contribute to this effort to use our resources wisely.”

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New principal named for Heron Creek Middle

New Heron Creek Principal William Bolander

SARASOTA — A veteran educator with 33 years of experience has been named the next principal of Heron Creek Middle School in North Port. The School Board of Sarasota County approved the appointment of William G. Bolander to the position, effective July 17, at its regular meeting June 17. He succeeds Michael Desjardins, who has accepted a position with Charlotte County Schools.

Bolander has taught math and coached baseball, basketball and cross country; served as principal of elementary, middle and high schools for 16 years; and most recently was assistant superintendent of South Madison Community Schools in Pendleton, Ind. Most of his career has been spent in Indiana public schools; he taught middle-school math in Seminole County Schools (Florida) in the mid-1990s.

As assistant superintendent, Bolander was in charge of curriculum and instruction. He also supervised the directors of professional development and technology. Tom Warmke, superintendent of South Madison Community Schools, described Bolander as "A-plus in everything he does, undoubtedly one of the best administrators I have worked with."

Warmke cited Bolander's human relations skills, his ability to use technology effectively as an instructional tool and his knack for solving problems creatively. Warmke also pointed to the curriculum initiatives Bolander introduced, which resulted in significant gains in student achievement for the South Madison district.

“I am confident that Dr. Bolander's depth of administrative experience will assist him in providing strong leadership for Heron Creek Middle School,” said Page Dettmann, executive director of middle schools for Sarasota County Schools. “We are pleased that he will be joining the district team and the Heron Creek family.”

Bolander holds doctorate degrees in Educational Leadership and School Administration and a master’s degree in School Administration and Supervision from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Math Education from the University of Florida in 1975 and began his teaching career that year in Indiana.

Heron Creek Middle School is located at 6501 W. Price Blvd., North Port. More information is available at www.SarasotaCountySchools.net/HCMS.

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Suncoast Polytechnical HS job shadowing, luncheon build partnerships

SARASOTA — As Suncoast Polytechnical High School takes shape in preparation for its opening August 18, Principal Jennifer Putnam and the school’s teachers are already building relationships with local businesses.

Suncoast Polytechnical High School (SPHS), located on Beneva Road on the campus of the Sarasota County Technical Institute (SCTI), represents yet another step forward for the district’s focus on Career and Technical Education (CTE). The idea behind CTE is to prepare students for 21st century workforce skills and opportunities in higher education.

From June 11 through June 13, SPHS teachers participated in “job shadowing” at local businesses, the Geographic Information System (GIS) department of Sarasota County Government, and an animation firm in Orlando.

“Job shadowing is a great way for our teachers to observe local businesses whose work is related to the courses our students will study,” said Putnam. “We are fortunate that a number of forward-thinking business leaders in our community see the value of giving teachers real-world experiences they will be able to apply to the classroom. This experience was very valuable, and will bring a great deal of value to our classrooms. We hope to provide many more of these opportunities for our teachers, and later for our students. Executives see this as a way to support education and to ensure that they will have a highly qualified workforce in the years to come.”

Businesses partnering with SPHS for this first round of job shadowing included new media company Anexio; civil engineering firm Ayres Associates; water purification systems developer Crane Environmental; Orlando-based digital animation company EA-Tiburon; horticultural resources business Florikan E.S.A.; web design firm GravityFree; environmental, industrial and agricultural bioproducts developer Osprey Biotechnics; Rapid Pathogen Screening, a developer of diagnostic devices to detect ocular diseases; Sun Hydraulics, a designer and manufacturer of hydraulic cartridge valves and manifolds; Trent Culleny Landscape Contractors and automotive dealer Wilde Lexus of Sarasota.

In addition to the job shadowing opportunities for teachers, the school hosted the Suncoast Polytechnical High School Business Partner Advocacy Board Luncheon. The June 18 event welcomed guests from local businesses tolearn about the SPHS program, met its faculty, explored potential school-business partnerships and toured the new high school.

“Our goal for the luncheon,” Putnam explained, “was to present business and community leaders with a sort of ‘Suncoast Polytechnical 101,’ and to demonstrate our commitment to partner with business, education, government and not-for-profit organizations in our mutual goal of achieving a sustainable economy in Sarasota County and all of Southwest Florida throughout the 21st century. The event was very well-received by the business community. Our guests who put on hard hats for the tour were very excited to get a sneak preview of the community's newest high school. ”

Keynote speakers at the luncheon included Kathy Baylis, president of the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County and Dr. Dick Puglisi, director of the Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education at the University of South Florida, Tampa. Baylis talked about what SPHS will mean for the future of local business and industry in Sarasota County and how it will help attract desirable businesses to the area and retain those already based here. Puglisi discussed the partnership between SPHS and the Stavros Center and how it will help SPHS provide a strong economic and business core for its high school curriculum.

More information about Suncoast Polytechnical High School is available at www.SarasotaCountySchools.net/SPHS.

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Community Foundation gives district over $500,000 in literacy grants

SARASOTA — In response to the ongoing need to close the achievement gap and improve literacy at early ages, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County has awarded Sarasota County Schools grants totaling more than $517,000 for new programs in elementary and middle schools. The money comes from the foundation’s Allen Wirtz Nobbe and Jo Bowen Nobbe Fund.

After intense study of the literacy problem in Sarasota County, the Education Focus Team of the Community Foundation presented the board of directors with a funding opportunity for programs in pre-K through middle school. The programs build on partnerships among the School Board of Sarasota County, the Early Learning Coalition and Children First, among others. The multi-year commitment will be tracked for outcomes and impact.

The School Board of Sarasota County approved the acceptance of the two grants for the elementary and middle school portions of the literacy initiative at a meeting earlier this month. The programs, designed to help young students improve their reading skills and encourage parents to play a key role in fostering a love of reading in their children, are scheduled to be in place for the 2008-09 school year. Other elements of the literacy initiative that are being implemented by various organizations bring the foundation’s first-year financial commitment to the issue to a total of about $675,000. The comprehensive early-literacy initiative is the result of a year of study by the Community Foundation’s Education Focus Team, chaired by Javier Suarez.

“We are immensely proud that our new grantmaking process will allow all students to increase their reading abilities, while also training teachers and parents in literacy techniques,” said Wendy Hopkins, vice president of grant and program services for the Community Foundation of Sarasota. “This is one of the most significant grants our foundation has made in partnership with our excellent school system.”

Sarasota County Schools Superintendent Lori White said, “The grants will have a significant impact on our elementary reading program and on our sixth-grade students in middle school.”

The elementary-school program, Partners in Print, was funded at more than $300,000 over two years. It draws on the latest research in early literacy, family literacy, and parent involvement to help children develop strong literacy practices. The objectives of the program are to increase parent involvement in children's literacy development and to reinforce the role of parents as positive and caring forces in their children's reading development.

"Since parents are a child’s first teachers, the partnership between parents and teachers is critical in developing a love of reading in every child,” said John Zoretich, executive director of elementary schools. “We’re excited about Partners in Print because it builds on this partnership in creative ways.”

At the middle-school level, the Starbooks Reading Program received about $217,000 in funding for the first year of the program. Starbooks encourages student reading with the involvement of parents, teachers, media specialists and literacy coaches. Teachers will have the opportunity to attend workshops with literacy expert Douglas Fisher, author of “Creating Literacy-Rich Schools for Adolescents.”

Because children become better readers by reading, the program promotes student reading for enjoyment, entertainment and information. To foster this love of reading, each sixth-grade student will receive a book and meet the book's author through a videoconference. Students will read the book, discuss it in small groups and participate in online discussion boards with students at other middle schools. The culminating activity for students and their parents at each middle school will be a day-long visit with the author whose work has been read at that school. The day will include an evening family literacy event with the author.

“The idea behind Starbooks is to get students excited about and engaged in reading, so they share their love of reading with their classmates,” said Page Dettmann, executive director of middle schools. “It also encourages continuing parent involvement in a child's experiences in reading and literature. We’ve very grateful to the Community Foundation for their generosity and for helping build a key skill in our students that will help them throughout their lives.”

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District FCAT results show gains in reading, math and science

SARASOTA — The efforts of Sarasota County Schools students and teachers over the past year have paid big dividends, particularly at the high school level. The district’s 2008 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores showed gains over last year at all grade levels in math and science, and all grade levels except grade four in reading. FCAT scores were released Tuesday by the Florida Department of Education.

“We’re very pleased that the hard work of our students, teachers, administrators and support staff is paying off, as we’re seeing in these FCAT results,” said Superintendent Lori White. “This past school year has been a time of significant change for the district, but despite these challenges everyone did their best to raise the bar.”

The statewide results were for grades four-10 in reading and math, and grades five, eight and 11 in science. The FLDOE also released grade 10 FCAT passing rates, which are reported separately for each content area. The FCAT results are based on all students tested, including English-language learners, students with disabilities and charter school students.

The district report below combines grade three results, originally published May 21, with the information reported today to provide a comprehensive review of student performance at all grade levels tested.

Highlights of the 2008 FCAT results for Sarasota County Schools in reading, math and science include the following:

Reading, grades three-10

The 2008 average reading scores improved over 2007 at all grade levels except grade four, which declined one point. Average scores for the district are eight to 19 points higher than state averages in grades three through 10.

Compared to 2007, the percentage of district students reaching the proficiency level or higher in reading increased at grades three, seven, eight, nine and 10, and held steady at grades four, five and six. (The state defines “proficiency” as scoring at achievement level three or higher.) Grades eight and nine posted the most significant improvements in the percent of students proficient in reading, with 9 percent and 6 percent increases, respectively.

Compared to the state, district proficiency rates in reading are 10 to 11 percentage points higher at the elementary level; eight to 12 points higher at middle school, and six to nine percentage points higher in high school.

Mathematics, grades three-10

District and state average math scores improved at all grade levels from 2007 to 2008. Sarasota County’s averages are higher than statewide averages.

The percentage of students scoring in achievement levels three or higher (proficiency) in math increased at all elementary, middle and high school levels. The largest increases were 6 percent for grade five, 8 percent for grade eight and 5 percent for grade nine.

Sarasota County’s proficiency rates in math are five to 10 percentage points higher than those for students statewide. The 2008 proficiency rates at all grades in math are at their highest over a seven-year period (2002-2008, inclusive).

Science, grades five, eight and 11

Average science scores improved at grades five, eight and 11 at the district and state levels. Most significant is the district’s 10-point increase at grades five and eight, with district averages now 21 points higher than state averages at grades five and eight, and nine points higher at grade 11.

The percentage of students scoring in achievement levels three through five (proficiency) in science increased at all grades tested. State percentages also increased, but the district improved at a greater rate than the state at grades five and eight.

Grade 10 FCAT graduation-requirement passing rates

The grade 10 district passing rate increased from 59 percent to 63 percent in reading and from 83 percent to 85 percent in math.

District passing rates are six points higher than state passing rates in reading and four points higher than state passing rates in math.

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Sarasota County students earn workforce readiness credentials

SARASOTA - Sarasota County Schools Career and Technical Education (CTE) department today announced that over 100 students were awarded the Florida Ready to Work (FRW) credential in May. Students from district high schools participated in this career readiness program to demonstrate to potential employers that they have specific core skills needed to learn new jobs.

Recognizing a tighter job market and the need to gain a competitive edge, these Sarasota students passed three Workkeys assessments in applied math, reading for information, and locating information. Workkeys, developed by ACT, Inc., is a research-based job skills assessment system measuring real-world skills that employers believe are critical to success. The Florida Ready to Work Credential’s foundation is based on WorkKeys.

As Sarasota students earn Florida Ready to Work credentials, workforce partnerships with local industry have been developing. In recognition of the higher skills and higher standards that credentialed students demonstrate, the following local businesses and organizations have agreed to become employer partners with Florida Ready to Work:

Applebee's Restaurant North Port
Pierce Manufacturing
PGT Industries
Sarasota Memorial Hospital
Hyatt
Nielsen Media Research
Tervis Tumbler
Sarasota Chamber of Commerce
North Port Chamber of Commerce
Latin Chamber of Commerce
Wal-Mart North Port

Businesses interested in partnering with the Florida Ready to Work program can work with Sarasota County Technical Institute (SCTI), which has recently become established as a FRW Assessment Center. SCTI is available to provide the FRW assessments for area jobseekers.

In Sarasota, the District’s Career & Technical Education department directed by Mellissa Morrow has enrolled students in grades 10–12 in the Florida Ready to Work program. Sharon Albrecht, FRW program coordinator, is spearheading the business outreach event.

About Florida Ready to Work
Florida Ready to Work is a career readiness credential program funded by the Florida Legislature and administered by the Florida Department of Education, Division of Workforce Education. Locally, the initiative is implemented by Sarasota County Schools. For more information, visit http://www.floridareadytowork.com/.

Teachers have 'active' summer honing their skills

SARASOTA COUNTY — Hundreds of Sarasota County’s public school teachers spent some of their own time honing their classroom skills at two events being held this month. The first Annual Camp Activ Educator was held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 4 through Friday, June 6, at Sarasota Middle School. The three-day event tapped into the creative energy of more than 250 educators, curriculum specialists and technology trainers to impact all district classrooms.

The goal of Camp Activ Educator was to develop teaching and learning resources to complement the interactive classroom presentation screens known as ActivBoards. Some 3,000 ActivBoards were installed in all classrooms and in a number of teacher training facilities throughout the district in 2007. They allow students to experience information from the World Wide Web, interactive maps, photos, videos and teachers’ notes written directly on the screen with an electronic stylus.

The touch-screen capabilities of the ActivBoards, combined with hand-held wireless ActiVote student response systems, allow educators to engage, educate, assess and motivate learners. Promethean, a U.K.-based company with offices worldwide, developed the ActivBoard and related interactive technology.

At Camp Activ Educator, teachers worked in collaborative teams to develop multimedia tools, called “flip charts” in ActivBoard vernacular, which are aligned to the state and county curriculum.

Differentiated Instruction

For the third summer in a row, the district will host a four-day summer institute, Differentiated Instruction: Putting NeXt Generation Concepts into Practice, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 10 through Friday, June 13, at Taylor Ranch Elementary School in Venice. About 120 teachers and administrators are expected to participate.

Differentiated instruction is based on the concept that students have many different styles of learning. It encourages the use of a variety of teaching strategies within the same classroom. Since 2001, the district’s efforts to teach differentiated instruction methods have been supported with funding from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice, as part of that organization’s Strategic Grantmaking in Education initiatives.

The summer institute in differentiated instruction began in 2006. The foundation funds most of the workshop, with additional funding from the school district. As with Camp Activ Educator, interested teachers attend the institute on their own time.

Participants in the institute will learn how differentiated instruction aligns with the principles of the district’s key strategic initiative, NeXt Generation Learning, which strives to create a pathway to success for every child.

Wednesday, June 11, a representative of the textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will present information about the district’s new elementary reading series attending on June 11. Thursday, June 12, Tonya Moon, a consultant from the University of Virginia, will discuss grading and assessment as part of differentiated instruction.

In addition to the teachers and administrators who will attend the institute all four days, principals and teams of teachers from all district schools are invited to attend Thursday’s sessions. Several teachers will also help present breakout sessions on topics such as vocabulary, instructional technology, brain research and differentiated literacy centers.

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