Category: School News

Northport K-8 School welcomed LA Hardy recently to bring his message of self respect , self esteem, feeling great about yourself, and how to say “Enough is Enough” to bullies. Mr. Hardy spoke about his past as a bully and he informed the students about the differences between teasing and bullying. He spoke with heartfelt emotion about his trips to Iraq and Afghanistan as part of a group of stand up comedians to bring special messages to the troops. Mr. Hardy, originally from Cleveland, Ohio presently is a radio host at WFLM 104.7 The Flame. He gave students an assignment … Read More

Manatee Academy boys gather for a great event where 13 Lads brought their Dads, uncles or Grandpas! Several boys gave Booktalks about a book they really liked. Two Dads gave Booktalks too. They then went on a website where they answered 10 questions to determine what kind of Superhero Reader they were. Each boy received a new copy of  Treasure Island to share with their significant male adult as well as a “Guys Read” bookmark. Pizza was enjoyed by all! Debbie Remington, Media Specialist, told them about recent research that showed that students who read for pleasure frequently not only improve their reading but also show … Read More

Northport K-8 School fifth grade students in Melanie Polascak’s class learned a valuable lesson on survival and how to flourish through a tragedy while learning about the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Mrs. Polascak integrated visual information using video clips of the original World Trade Center prior to 9/11 and of the Ground Zero Memorial, comparing and contrasting the scenes. The class noted the story of “The Survivor Tree” which sustained extensive damage during the attacks. The original tree, a callery pear tree, has been replanted at the Ground Zero Memorial for all to enjoy and learn the story … Read More

Northport K-8 School Culinary Arts instructor, Rachel Ellsworth and a group of her students honored local firefighters from Port St. Lucie, Station 3 on September 11 with a tray of homeade baked goods from the Northport Culinary students. Students walked to Station 3 after school and hand delivered the goodies. Along with the firefighters are Northport students from left, Ayana Kelly, Deja Gannon, Kelsey Krieger and Melissa Hruby. Northport K-8 School students delighted in honoring community first responders and were moved to remember all the heroes who acted courageously on September 11, 2001.

John Howard “mustache” you a question. Do you know the sound that the letter M makes? He does of course. Kindergarteners in Mrs. Michelle O’Keefe’s class at Frances K Sweet had fun wearing their mustaches while learning about the letter M.

In honor of the anniversary of 9/11, students in all grade levels at Frances K. Sweet wrote letters and cards to their local police and firefighters thanking them for their service to the community. The letters will be delivered to the Fort Pierce Police Department and the St. Lucie County Fire Department on Wednesday, September 11th. Pictured is fourth grader Ava McGoorty.  

Palm Pointe graduates reconnect with Hillary Cruz, 7th grade Civics teacher at Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition, and Janet Winikoff, representing the Humane Society of Vero Beach and Indian River County, regarding the students’ 2011/12 Project Citizen idea for a pet food stamps program. The students targeted low-income pet owners as the problem to focus on for their class project two years ago; claiming one of the most cited reasons for surrendering pets was due to the owners’ inability to financially care for them. Students had the idea to create a Medicaid-type program (called Peticaid), that would subsidize … Read More

Frances K. Sweet’s fourth grade students in Mrs. Nardi Routten’s class became scientists as they explored “ice balloons”.  Students recorded their observation as they performed several tasks.  First they compared and contrasted the results of scraping the ice balloon with a toothpick versus a paperclip.  Students also observed what happened after salt was poured on the top of the ice balloon, and then food coloring.  Finally, students observed what happened when the ice balloon was placed in a tub of water.  During each activity students formed questions and wrote them on post-it notes.  Later, these questions were grouped according to … Read More

Each year Northport K-8 School commemorates and pays tribute to the victims and heroes of September 11, 2001. The school media center is dedicated to the memory of the eight children who perished on 9/11. This year, the school media center program offered Power Instruction to sixth and eighth students on the Shark and Mariner teams. The Pledge of Allegiance was lead by eighth grader, Matthew Seama and the National Anthem was sung by choral student, Sharene Thomas. Mr. Kirk, Northport choral director and his vocalists, the Velvet Bluebirds, sang a powerful rendition of  “America the Beautiful.” An extremely informative … Read More

Northport K-8 School was abuzz with the excitement of Grandparent’s Day recently. A special luncheon was held in the cafeteria as grandparents met their children for lunch. Tables were decorated with floral arrangements and students were thrilled that special visitors had arrived. That afternoon, first grade teachers, Renee Immordino, Michelle McCloskey and Pam Mishler invited grandparents from their classes of students to a special children’s program with songs and poetry honoring all grandparents . Middle grades Culinary Arts instructor, Rachel Ellsworth collaborated with the teachers as her classes baked and showcased homeade apple pies, pineapple upside down cakes and offered … Read More

Students at Windmill Point Elementary were welcomed back to school with a Tunnel of Hope by our community, staff and parents!  We are proud to be a Kids at Hope school and believe that ALL children are indeed, capable of success, NO EXCEPTIONS! Pictured are Daniel Solorzano, 5th grader, and Isabella Solorzano, 3rd grader.

Lorri Rudzinski’s second grade class at Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition is learning place value. They practiced a game, “Race to a Flat” to learn how ten ones can be replaced by one ten, and ten tens turn into a hundred. Pictured are from left; Cooper Kuba and Nicolas Tovar winning with their hands held high, also pictured from left are Joshua Volcin, Karie Dyer, Breanna Sylvain, Naje’ Carter-Evans, Jack Lopez, Madison Kohn.

Miss Debra Snyder, Mrs. Kathy Perez, Mrs. Lydia Martin and Ms. Liz Pruitt all from the St. Lucie County School District stand with Mr. Wang XuMing, the former Ministry of Education in China spokesman before participating in a panel discussion in Beijing, China on August 18, 2013. International Education “Makes a Marvelous World” was the theme of the international conference with over 2,000 parents and distinguished guests attending. The famous headmasters from China and America held the summit to shine light on the characteristics and differences between the two countries’ education. This was followed by discussions on how to prepare … Read More

Students in Melanie Francisco’s class enjoyed roll playing Zero the Hero while learning about the value of the number zero. Sara Jones, Evan Shaw, Drayden McLaughlin, Addison Burgess, and Jeremiah Hill loved soaring throughout the classroom with their classmates to number songs and finger plays, wearing their super hero masks.

 Northport K-8 School will participate in the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Saint Lucie County’s special fundraiser, Bowling For Kid’s Sake on September 21 at 5:00 pm at Superplay in Saint Lucie West. Each year, Northport promotes a Hat Day and other fundraisers to earn enough money to support the cause of caring for all children in our community. We are pleased and proud to be a unified team who will assist in community events that make our school and our community stronger and more powerful. We will have a contingency of at least ten teachers and staff who will … Read More

Northport K-8 School sixth graders in Georgia Stone’s World History class are preparing to delve into yearly History Fair projects with an excellent lesson in the school’s media center. Students logged on to the National History Day website at www.nhd.org/gettingstarted.htm and utilized the “Conducting Research” bar. Students read all about primary and secondary sources and learned how to be a responsible researcher then answered two focus questions. Students also rotated to a center in the media center that offered scenarios and students, under the direction of Mrs. Stone, interpreted primary or secondary sources. The History Fair topic this year is … Read More

The Southport Middle School Odyssey of the Mind Team attended the State Competition at the University of Central Florida in April of last school year after placing first in the Regional Competition.  As members have graduated on to high school, the coaches are looking for new members for the coming school year.  For more information/application, please contact Chris Cook or Joey Cueto at Southport Middle School.  Pictured here: Front row from left: Titus Sirin, Jean Fede, Quinn Tucker, Oxaqn Fede.  Back Row from left: Hanna Spurr, Alyssa Hoce

Northport K-8 school middle grades students who are struggling to achieve target points for College and Career Anchor Standards for Reading are given the opportunity to build a foundation in reading skills using a broad range of high quality text and programming. One of the programs utilized at the school is the READ 180 program. The program is a curriculum based, focused reading program designed to ensure that students are progressing toward grade level essentials. It offers computer based, individualized instruction tailored to student needs. The program encourages independent reading for pleasure through its lexiled library as well as regularly … Read More

Cadets of the Port Saint Lucie High School Jaguar Battalion participated in the annual JROTC Cadet Leadership Camp which took place at Camp Tanah Keeta in southern Martin County.