Parents and students who saw the only public elementary school on the Gulf Beaches close in 2009 have a much brighter outlook for the new school year.
The Pinellas School Board will reopen Gulf Beaches Elementary in St. Pete Beach and King’s Highway in Clearwater this fall as K-5 technology magnet programs. As a result, the Board of the Academy by the Sea charter school, which had sought the Gulf Beaches site as its primary location, has suspended its current application and offered its support to the new tech school program. Also on St. Pete Beach, St. John Vianney Catholic School reports a 75% enrollment increase and many new programs and facility enhancements these past four years.
Gulf Beaches Reopening
The Pinellas School Board voted unanimously March 11 to approve the reopening at the former Gulf Beaches and Kings Highway Elementary Schools this fall for grades K-5 as “ Centers for Innovation and Digital Learning,” as dubbed by Superintendent Mike Grego when he introduced the idea last December. Both schools were closed in 2009 along with six other campuses due to declining enrollment, and the County has not opened a new school in the past decade.
Maximum enrollment is up to 348 at Gulf Beaches and up to 232 at Kings Highway, with applications for both schools available online from March 12 to 17. About 200 people attended a School Board open house the prior evening.
Total applications received at the March 17 deadline were 249 for Gulf Beaches and 141 for Kings Highway, according to School Board spokesperson Melanie Marquez Parra. She said, “We are very pleased with the response that was received. We opened up applications again for open spots during the Late Application Period that began the end of March.”
Half the seats at each grade level are reserved for students who live in the previously closed schools’ zones. For Gulf Beaches, this is the previous Gulf Beaches zone on the barrier island of St. Pete Beach. For Kings Highway, this is the previous Kings Highway and North Ward zones, including the barrier island of Clearwater Beach and Island Estates. Another 20% are reserved for students not receiving prior zoned school priority, but living closest to each school. The remaining 30% will be assigned by random number lottery from each school‘s North or South application area. In coming years, both campuses also could serve middle school students.
Students at each “new” school will get a laptop or tablet to access online programs focused on boosting reading skills and FCAT performance. Through the “flipped classroom” practice, students would watch views or Web programs online outside of school when traditionally they would be doing homework. They would use this information during next day’s class, in effect, extending the school day.
It will cost an estimated $680,000 to renovate both schools for the new tech program, with work beginning soon in-house by the Pinellas County Schools Operations Department. Applications for Principal at both schools are being taken by the School Board.
Dr. Grego told Paradise News, “The opening of our two Centers for Innovation and Digital Learning at Gulf Beaches and Kings Highway elementary schools greatly expands choices for parents in Pinellas County. We’ve seen an increased desire among parents to have more choices in the educational options for their children. In an effort to meet that need, we are expanding the number of magnets and other application programs at all levels throughout the County. We have numerous programs to pick from, and we invite parents to inquire about schools that are of interest to them.”
Academy by the Sea Options
Last November 12, the St. Pete Beach-based Academy by the Sea Board got approval from the Pinellas School Board for its application to open what would be the District’s only Montessori middle school and at that time the only public school on the barrier islands. At that meeting, parents, students and then St. Pete Beach Mayor Steve McFarlin noted the need that school would fill for their community, with about 1,900 families with children enrolled in public and private schools. Academy by the Sea would also have offered options for other area Montessori students.
Included were two private Montessori schools — SPB elementary school Montessori by the Sea and Alegria Montessori School in St. Petersburg, as well as Gulfport Elementary School’s Montessori magnet program. There have been no Montessori middle schools in Pinellas — public or private — and there are no Montessori high schools.
The St. Pete Beach City Commission unanimously passed a resolution in support of Academy by the Sea last year and has a “universal agreement to re-establish a school in the city,” said Commissioner Jim Parent. Prime location for the new charter school was the former Gulf Beaches Elementary School, with other alternative sites on Treasure Island and Madeira Beach.
With the School Board approval of new tech magnet schools at the former Gulf Beaches and Kings Highway locations, on behalf of the Academy by the Sea Board, Chairperson Luann Schecht said, “After meeting with Superintendent Michael Grego, Academy by the Sea has determined that our continued efforts to open a charter school would be duplicative of efforts by the Pinellas County School Board to open its own school at the Gulf Beaches facility to serve the same student population. Academy by the Sea will, therefore, suspend its current charter application. We will remain in contact with Dr. Grego and the School Board to assess the means by which our volunteer force can contribute toward the new school at the Gulf Beaches location.”
Joe Schulte of Uni International Transportation & Logistics in St. Pete Beach, an Academy by the Sea Board member, told Paradise News, “As a father of two elementary age children and SPB resident, I was excited with the prospect of a public school option returning to the area. Our children have been in the Montessori system since age 3, as we found that it expands the child’s mind to see the entire world around them as an opportunity to learn, and learning is positive and exciting. I became involved as a Board member for a public charter school seeking to affect positive change and based on the Montessori methodology as it appeared to be a step in the right direction.
The result was charter approval after two years of efforts and a spectacular education program developed and codified by Board member Sarah Byrd. Soon after the charter was approved, the Pinellas County Schools announced they were re-opening the Gulf Beaches school as a ‘Technology Magnet School.’ The goal was and is for our local children to have a local public school option and I am in full support of this positive change.” St. John Vianney Progress Jill Hudson, Principal of St. John Vianney Catholic School, told Paradise News, “I’m very passionate about St. Johns, as I grew up on St. Pete Beach and graduated myself from St. Johns in 1991. Talk about full circle!
“When I started as a teacher in the 2010 school year we had about 147 students, and this year have a current enrollment of 259 students, with a capacity of about 280, Much of this is due to my predecessor, Dr. Kristy Swol, and her dedicated vision plan committee (see Paradise News, March 2009 issue).
“In 2011, St. John’s became Pinellas County’s first International Baccalaureate (IB) world school for the middle years program (MYP) grades 6 to 8. IB provides a framework of learning that encourages all students to become creative, critical and reflective thinkers. The MYP emphasizes intellectual challenge, encouraging students to make connections between their studies in traditional subjects and to the real world. It fosters the development of skills for communication,
intercultural understanding and global engagement, qualities that are essential for life in the 21st century. In addition, academic enrichment classes now offered to advanced students in grades 1 to 5.
“Our performing arts program has expanded in the past few years to include a children’s praise and worship band for grades 3 to 8 in addition to our weekly band program. We are in our second year of offering a junior international thespian society program for our middle school students. The performing arts department also presents a Broadway Junior Musical each spring in the Monsignor Trainor Parish Hall, with this year’s production of ‘Little Mermaid, Junior,’ May 7 to 9.
“St. John’s offers a competitive sports program for boys and girls in grades 5 to 8. Competitive sports teams include flag football, volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball, softball and track & field Cheerleading is also available for grades 6 to 8. Extra-curricular activities include golf club, running club, spirit squad, yearbook, safety patrols, student council and homework club.
“From a facilities perspective, we’ve taken on small construction projects every year, modifying and expanding school offices, adding a decorative security fence and playground shade structure, remodeling classrooms and bathrooms, among other projects.”
St. John Vianney offers many tuition assistance opportunities to qualifying families including, Step Up For Students (SUFS) that offers scholarships for low-income students in grades
K to 12. The program, which administers the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, empowers families to choose the school that best meets their child’s needs.
Principal Hudson emphasizes, “Our pastor, Father John Blum, offers unbelievable support to the school. Our IB program has been stellar for us in our continuing progress, while other Catholic schools in the Tampa Bay area have closed due to lack of support and students.”
Story by STEVE TRAIMAN
Photos by Heidi Leply, Aloha Photography and Jim Tizzano – www.JimTizzanoPhotography.com
Date: April 2014
[Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Melanie Parra, Pinellas School Board PIO; Wendy Savage and Joe Schulte, Academy by the Sea; Jill Hudson, St. John Vianney Catholic School.]
[Steve Traiman is President of Creative Copy by Steve Traiman in St. Pete Beach, offering freelance business writing services. He can be reached via at straiman@mindspring.com.]