Page 25 - Florida Sentinel 6-28-18

Local
4 Failing Schools Improve Grades
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Last fall, the Florida De- partment of Education issued an ultimatum to the Hillsbor- ough County School District. In a letter sent to the District, they were given an ultimatum to develop a plan to provide the TOPs (Turnaround Option Plan) to be implemented into seven (7) failing schools.
Six of the seven schools were on the elementary level: Foster Elementary, Mort Ele- mentary, Oak Park Elemen- tary, Potter Elementary, Sheehy Elementary, and B. T. Washington Elementary Schools. Memorial Middle School is the only secondary school on this list.
On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Education re- leased the school grades for 2018.
According to the report, Mort Elementary, Potter Ele- mentary, B. T. Washington El- ementary and Memorial Middle School all elevated “F” grades to “C” grades.
A spokesperson for the Hillsborough County School District said those 4 schools will be removed from the list. The other three will fall under the leadership of Phalen Lead- ership Academies (PLA).
The organization is the Ex- ternal Operator chosen earlier this year.
Phalen staff will work with the staff at Sheehy Elemen- tary, Foster Elementary, and Oak Park Elementary for a pe- riod of one year to improve their grades.
Four other elementary schools were given “F” grades in the 2018 report. Kimbell and James Elementary re- ceived a “D” grade last year. Shaw Elementary and the Vil- lage of Excellence Academy
JEFF EAKINS Hillsborough County School District Superintendent
Charter School both fell two grades from a “C” last year to a “F.”
Several Public Schools Show Grade Improvements
In a year where Hillsbor- ough County Public Schools set an all-time graduation rate record, academic performance continues to shine with more schools earning A and B grades than last year.
The District is also excited to announce four schools that were set to be run by an exter- nal operator this fall are now off that list, earning a C grade. Two of those schools, Potter Elementary and B. T. Wash- ington Elementary both went fromanFtoaCgrade.
The results of the 2017- 2018 school grades were re- leased last Wednesday by the Florida Department of Educa- tion. Students in Hillsborough County Public Schools con- tinue to make significant gains.
Some of the highlights from the 2017-2018 school grades include:
53 traditional schools graded “A” in 2018, up from 51 in 2017;
40 traditional schools graded “B”, up from 38;
All high schools earned a grad of C or better.
MS. TAMARA SHAMBURGER Hillsborough School Board Member
Jeff Eakins, Hillsbor- ough County School District Superintendent said, “I am
proud of our teachers, admin- istrators and staff. A few of these schools in particular have had challenges they have been trying to overcome for years.
“It is great to see the huge progress they made. With the help of our community part- ners, support from our fami- lies and a laser focus on students’ needs, these schools made significant gains.”
Ms. Tamara Sham- burg, Hillsborough County School Board member said, “I’m very proud of the hard work the principals, teachers,
and staff have done to break the cycle of low grades at Pot- ter and B.T. Washington; as well as the commitment from our students and parents.
“This is a direct result of our priority in closing the achievement gap and ensuring that all students succeed. We still have a lot of work to do to ensure these results are sus- tained at a minimum, but hopefully improve. I won’t be completely satisfied until all of our schools, especially in dis- trict 5, are all high functioning. I’m optimistic we’re moving in the right direction.”
FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 2018 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 13-A