Year: 2020

St. Lucie Public Schools has an easy to use tool for parents to find bus stop locations and pick up times for their students.   Please visit the school district webpage http://www.stlucieschools.org then click on the “Find my bus Route” graphic on the upper right-hand side of the page.  This link will take parents to the Transportation website, where you can register your student for bus service and find the pick up times and locations.        

All students, regardless of which school they attend, must submit a new meal application for the 20/21 school year. Students will no longer be automatically approved for meals at no cost. Now is the time to apply for the 2020/2021 free and reduce meal benefit. This must be completed prior to August 24th so that an updated meal status is on file. The application can be found at https://foodservice.stlucie.k12.fl.us/. Only one meal application needs to be completed per family. Questions about completing a meal application can be emailed to mealapplication@stlucieschools.org. Don’t wait! Act now!

Last week, St. Lucie Public Schools held a Facebook Live Event to share information with the public about the reopening of schools.  Representative Delores Hogan Johnson, School Board Member Kathryn Hensley and Superintendent E. Wayne Gent shared detailed information about the upcoming school year including the health and safety protocols that will be implemented across the District and an overview MySchool Online.  The trio also fielded numerous questions from the public. The entire recorded video can be viewed by clicking on this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7Quw0t9aS4&t=7s  

The featured image shows Art Teacher, Amanda MacKenzie, preparing an inspiring bulletin message in West Gate’s main corridor.       The Fifth Grade ELA team consisting of Sharon Helding, Ashlen Smith, and Lisa Hamilton organize this year’s social studies curriculum.

CAST welcomed new teachers with a “STEAM Advocate Snapshot” presentation, as well as a tour of CAST’s beautiful and historic campus. Teachers learned about arts integration and the Leader in Me program. We also took a moment to be mindful and reflect on how we can be stress-free as we return to school.  

Congratulations to Coach Sides and Coach McKenna for being awarded the American Heart Association’s Kids Heart Challenge Grant! This grant will provide health equipment and resources for our Morningside staff and students.

The STEAM Advocates of CAST have been busy giving our Communique Cafe a makeover! This year, our cafeteria will display a LEGO brick theme entitled “Building Leaders.” Inspired by our LEGO Makerspace, we also included several posters reminding our student leaders of the 7 Habits and we can’t wait to feature some of our incredible students’ work on the walls too!  

A very special “Thank you” goes out to Carole and Doug Nichols! Carol and Doug are community members who handcrafted over 320 masks for our students. They made and donated masks in school colors for each Elementary and K8 School. The quality of the masks is unmatched and SLPS is very appreciative of their hard work. Thank you for all you are doing to keep our schools safe and healthy! #SLPSStayHealthyTogether #SLPSTogetherIsBetter

We know that parents and students have questions about the upcoming school year.  To help our families navigate the new year, St. Lucie Public Schools created a Parent and Student Guide to Reopening.  The guide provides both students and parents important information about the new safety protocols and guidelines to help alleviate any concerns.   The Parent and Student Guide to Reopening can be found at  https://www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/lets-stay-healthy-together.pdf  

Florida students enrolled in school, whether attending school in-person or virtually, are required to have age-appropriate vaccines with proper documentation on file at the school. Any students without the proper immunization documentation or exemption on file will not be able to start school on August 24th. The American Academy of Pediatrics stresses the importance for children to be up to date on vaccinations by the time school starts.  Furthermore, according to the Florida Department of Health in St. Lucie, “It is critical to ensure that routine vaccination is maintained during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to protect individuals and communities … Read More

St. Lucie Public Schools held its annual New Teacher Symposium last week.  The District welcomed 213 new teachers!  The symposium, which was held at Ft. Pierce Central High School, engaged new teachers in various small group sessions over the three day event.  A new schedule this year allowed for social distancing and increased the use of technology. The new teachers learned about digital tools such as TEAMS and Canvas alongside classroom management techniques.  Teachers also had the opportunity to get acquainted with their new classrooms on day two, as the sessions were held virtually through TEAMS from their individual schools. … Read More

St. Lucie Public Schools is delaying the start of the school year by two weeks. The first day of school for students will be on August 24, 2020. Superintendent E. Wayne Gent commented, “The additional two weeks gives time for the conditions in the county to improve and additional time for staff to finalize preparations for the school year. Our number one priority is to return to school safely.” Several factors contributed to the decision to delay the start of school.  The additional two weeks allows more time: For the establishment of general protocols for the safe reopening of schools … Read More

The U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistics in Schools (SIS) program has released four parent/caregiver toolkits that includes valuable resources for parents and guardians to use at home with students from Pre-K through high school. These new toolkits provide fun Census Bureau interactives that school-age children can enjoy at home while e-learning. “The Statistics in Schools program has always been focused on providing additional resources to make learning about statistics and the 2020 Census fun and engaging,” said Dr. Steven Dillingham, Census Bureau Director. “Many students have transitioned to learning at home to help stop the spread of COVID-19. The program has adapted … Read More

Kenya McGriff is a 7th grade Math teacher at Allapattah Flats K-8 school. In addition to teaching Math, she is an Ambassador for KhanAcademy. As an Ambassador, she encourages other teachers to try the program and is available to answer technical questions that they may have while using it. Khan Academy is a free program that students can use to sharpen their skills in a variety of subjects. Click on the link below to see a blog written by Khan Academy’s senior management, where they praise her efforts for preventing summer slide and encouraging students to use KhanAcademy over the … Read More

What is Summer Slide?  Summer Slide is the tendency for students to lose some of the achievement gains they made during the previous school year.  DON’T LET SUMMER “SLIDE” AWAY!!! Click on https://www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/summer-slide/ to explore the wide range of resources available for your child(ren).  Activities range from those suitable for VPK to high school students. Get started today with some of these Summer Reading Tips. 1. Read aloud together with your child every day. Make it fun by reading outdoors on the front steps, patio, at the beach or park. Also, let your children read to you. For younger children, point out the … Read More

The University of South Florida’s Interdisciplinary Center for Evaluation and Intervention (ICEI) is hosting webinars for parents and educators.  The webinars are a series of one-hour weekly webinars to help promote positive behavior in children and youth. The first webinar will be on July 14, 2020. Parents and teachers are invited to join them to learn ways to support behavior in the home setting and to prepare students for their transition back to school in the fall. For more information, see the attached document. To register, go to http://icei.fmhi.usf.edu/ ICEI Webinar Flyer

St. Lucie Public Schools will reopen for traditional face to face instruction on August 10, 2020. If you would prefer your child attend school on-line, you must complete the parent commitment form http://survey.stlucie.k12.fl.us/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=762H599# so that a virtual schedule can be developed for your child.  Everyone else is expected to return to school in person on August 10. To assist you with making your decision, please visit the district website at www.stlucieschools.org and click on “return to school information” where you will find videos in multiple languages, frequently asked questions, a PowerPoint slide show, and the parent commitment form for you … Read More

We are excited to announce that Dr. Karen Crocco, Instructional Specialist for Visual and Performing Arts for St. Lucie Public Schools, has been invited to be a presenter at the 2020 Summer Online Arts Integration and STEAM Conference this year. The Online Conference has inspiring TED-style talks plus hands-on teacher-led workshops. The conference is starting on July 16 and registration is open now at ArtsIntegrationConfernece.com. She will be speaking on the topic of Combined Footing: Building a Solid Foundation for Arts Integration. Make sure to watch on July 16.