As kindergarten teacher Patricia Collins stands and shares tidbits about herself, Village Green Environmental Studies School teachers look on with warm smiles and excitement as they ready themselves to welcome her to the Village Green family with applause. The process is repeated more times as they welcome Jacqueline Baptiste-Harris and Margot Williams to first grade, Ashley Foreman to the kindergarten team, and Erin Saunders as the new speech language pathologist. Gina Burns joined the second grade team after this opening day event.

Village Green teacher Christopher Kelly tracks his progress on the professional development learning goal. The professional development session was facilitated using the research-based strategies that teachers use in the classroom to focus on quality instruction in order to help students succeed.

Although Josiah Fullwood is a first-time kindergartner who is scheduled to attend Frances K. Sweet, he has already made a huge impression on teachers at Village Green Environmental Studies School during the opening professional development day. As 100 Book Challenge trainer Meighan Radigan models how teachers should level an incoming kindergarten child for his appropriate reading level, teachers and administrators were both stunned and thrilled that Josiah continued to ascend the reading levels to match first grade reading fluency and comprehension! Josiah shared with the group that he enjoys reading about animals and even pointed out that he saw a fish in the … Read More

Boys’ and Girls’ State are summer leadership and citizenship programs for high school students between their junior and senior years. American Legion post 318 sponsored Posrt St. Lucie High School cadet First Sergeant Troy Conover and cadet Second Lieutenant Jeremy Dardon for Boys’ State, while Girls’ State Chairperson for American Legion Post 318 Ladies Auxiliary Ms. Rita Woodburn sponsored Port St. Lucie High School cadet Devynn Rhodes to participate in Girl’s State. The students had the opportunity to go to Florida State University in Tallahassee, where they learned government processes and earned college credits. Pictured, from left, are cadet First … Read More

Three St. Lucie County public schools were recgonized at the August 14, 2012, St. Lucie County School Board meeting for continuously maintaining accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS-CASI) for 25 years. Windmill Point Elementary, Village Green Environmental Studies, and Northport K-8 Schools were presented a plaque to commemorate the achievement. While the highly regarded accreditation is a set of rigorous protocols and research-based processes for evaluating an institution’s organizational effectiveness, accreditation also examines the whole institution — the programs, the cultural context, the community of stakeholders — to determine how … Read More

The school district’s 21st Century Learning Centers summer programs just completed last week and served over 200 children in a wide variety of activities to enrich, educate and enlighten. Four sites hosted the programs, including C. A. Moore and Weatherbee elementary schools, Garden City Early Learning Academy, and Sam Gaines K-8 School. Activities ranged from a wildlife hospital presentation, swimming and basketball camps, Girl Scouts’ leadership and positive character empowerment, and a community gardening project where children not only learned how to grow vegetables, but utilized literacy and math skills in the process. Hands-on science activities involved project in robotics … Read More

The 2012 St. Lucie Public Schools’ Annual Report to the Community focuses on the value of the school system to the greater community. The report has been published and posted on the school district website. To view the publication, click on the following link: http://www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/pdf/AnnualReport2012.pdf.

Port St. Lucie High School biology teacher Leslie Taylor was nominated to receive the Outstanding Biology Teacher Award (OBTA), sponsored by the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT), which recognizes an outstanding biology educator grades 7-12 in each of the 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C, Canada, Puerto Rico, and overseas territories. Candidates for this award do not have to be NABT members, but they must have at least three years public, private, or parochial school teaching experience. A major portion of the nominee’s career must have been devoted to the teaching of biology/life science, and candidates are judged on their … Read More

The distinction of “Master Board” was awarded to the St. Lucie County school district leadership team by the Florida School Boards Association at their Annual Spring Conference, held June 13 – 15, 2012, in Tampa. The St. Lucie County school district is one of only thirty-five (35) school districts in Florida to currently hold this prestigious award, or about half of the state’s school districts. The Master Board Program is a voluntary program which provides opportunities for the leadership team (defined as the superintendent and the school board) to engage in training that enhances its capacity to provide visionary leadership … Read More

Fort Pierce Central High School AP World History teacher and department chair Sharon Ortiz recently participated in the College Board’s Annual AP Reading in World History. Each June, AP teachers and college faculty members from around the world gather in the United States to evaluate and score the free-response sections of the AP Exams. AP Readers are high school and college educators who represent many of the finest academic institutions in the world. The AP Reading is a unique forum in which an academic dialogue between high school and college educators is both fostered and encouraged. “The Reading draws upon … Read More

Through the continued generosity of Cheryl and Ray Lalloo, who lost their daughter Jessica several years ago, Laura Lenihan, who lost her husband, the Jessica Clinton Foundation and the cooperation of AED provider Cardiac Science, a portable AED was donated to Fort Pierce Central High School at the June 12, 2012, St. Lucie County School Board meeting. Pictured, from left, front row, FPCHS ROTC instructor First Sgt.(Ret.) Darin Randall, Cheryl Lalloo, Lenihan, Assistant Principal Susan Seal, Ray Lalloo, Assistant Principal Arthur Jamison, and Rob williams of Cardiac Science. Back row, from left, Principal Todd Smith, school volunteer Tom Estep, Athletic … Read More

Kindergartners at Manatee Academy recently dressed to impress and celebrated Fancy Nancy Day in the media center by exploring (that’s a fancy word for discovering) a Fancy Nancy glitter puzzle, listening to an original story by Media Specialist Debbie Remington titled “Radical Tad”, playing the Rad Tad fishing game, listening to the latest Fancy Nancy chapter book, “Nacy Clancy” and of course sipping sweet tea, pinkies up of course!