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Education
The Greek philosopher Plato said, “The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life.” The challenge facing educators today is providing an education that equips students for the future in a rapidly changing world. Seminole County schools, with their wide array of options for educational development are working hard to do just that. Public Schools
The mission of the Seminole County Public Schools is to ensure that all students acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to be successful in adult life. By their own standards, as well as others, they are earning high marks. Results of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests (FCAT) earn the district an “A” – a mark it has earned every year since 1999. Ninety-seven percent of the schools in the district achieved either an A or B in the latest report. Seminole County Public School students score above the national averages on both the SAT and ACT, the standard college entrance exams. For the past 22 years, SAT scores in Seminole County have consistently exceeded state and national averages. Seminole County Public Schools have gained national recognition for the quality of their programs as well. Money Magazine lists Seminole County among the top 100 districts in the nation. Three of the district’s schools have earned the National School of Excellence designation. All of the four-year high schools in the district ranked in the top five percent of Newsweek Magazine’s annual school rankings. Committed to meeting students’ diverse needs and learning styles as well as preparing them for a rapidly changing technological world, the district recently established a Visioning Committee. While the district has spent more than $39 million on technology in the past five years the committee is charged with finding innovative ways to integrate technology within the educational program. Comprised of staff and community members, the Visioning Committee, rather than identifying specific technologies, seeks to build an infrastructure that will permit students and staff to access the latest, most effective technologies available. Crooms Academy of Information Technology, the only magnet school in the county, stands as the model of innovative teaching in a technology-rich environment. Every student is given a laptop computer, loaded with all of the latest software, to be used for all of their classes. Classrooms are also equipped with traditional desktop computers and “Smart Boards” which allows students and teachers to easily save and share digital files. Along with the technology, small class sizes and the personal attention of faculty, Crooms is preparing students to be successful beyond high school. With last year’s graduation rate of 100 percent they are well on their way toward accomplishing that goal. The 67,000 students in the Seminole County Public Schools are served by 4,700 teachers in 36 elementary schools, 11 middle schools, nine high schools and three special/alternative student education centers. In the past ten years the district has spent more than $450 million on renovation and construction of new schools. The newest construction project is a replacement building for Midway Elementary in Sanford. The new facility, set to open in January 2009, is designed with the school’s art-infused curriculum in mind. The two-story brick building will house spaces for dance, music and drama as well as a digital art computer lab, an art room for 2- and 3D exploration and a television production studio. In an effort to help students be successful in school as well as throughout life, English Estates Elementary School developed a model leadership program, “Leadership is Elementary.” Based on Stephen Covey’s popular book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, all students and staff at English Estates learn the seven habits which emphasize personal responsibility and personal leadership, respect for others and the most effective classroom practices. The habits and character traits are incorporated in all school activities and are used to continually improve school practices and procedures. Together students and staff use Covey’s thinking tools to analyze progress and improve instruction. The 2007-08 academic year marked the beginning of the Florida Department of Education’s Major Areas of Interest (MAI) program. All students entering 9th grade select an MAI which allows them to pursue in-depth study in an area of choice, learn more about professions or lifetime skills, and explore individual interests. Students in Seminole County are able to choose a MAI in academics, advanced studies, arts, business, career, technology or vocational areas. By charting their academic career path early, students’ should be able to make better choices about their post secondary education. More than 4,500 Seminole students have received Florida’s Bright Future Scholarships, making a college education possible for those who choose that path Thanks to the district’s partnership with the business community, both students and teachers benefit from the programs funded by the Foundation for Seminole County Public Schools. The foundation contributes nearly one-half million dollars annually to grants for teachers’ good ideas, scholarships for college-bound students and other programs that contribute to the quality of Seminole County schools. In light of the current economic challenges, such support is critical. Despite the anticipated enrollment declines and corresponding budget cuts, the Seminole County Schools are committed to providing quality education with the resources available. Several alternative educational approaches are available within the community school system. Charter schools are available in Sanford and Longwood, with UCP Centers to meet a range of special needs available at six centers throughout the county. Ray of Hope (Sanford) serves at-risk students in the middle school grades while Choices in Learning (Longwood) implements Success for All, a curriculum researched and developed by Johns Hopkins University. Success for All is proven to help students achieve at greater rates in comparison to their peers who use other curriculum. This curriculum encourages outstanding reading and math skills and excellence in all areas of academics. See the public schools’ web site at www.scps.k12.fl.us or call 407.322.0000 for more information. Private Schools
Additional choices beyond those offered in the public schools can be found in the nearly 50 private schools in Seminole County. They offer the choice of religion – Catholic or a strand of Protestant Christianity—or non-sectarian approaches. The Geneva School offers a classical curriculum within the context of evangelical Christianity for students in Pre-Kindergarten through high school. The smaller Lake Mary Montessori Academy (PK-6) focuses on the curiosity, creativity and imagination found within each child and cultivates a commitment to develop those gifts for the benefit of others and the global community. Many parents find the smaller class sizes and the ability to choose an educational approach that is best for their child or in keeping with their personal faith and beliefs good reasons to choose private education as an alternative. Seminole Community College
Seminole County is also home to two excellent institutions of higher education—Seminole Community College (SCC) and the University of Central Florida (UCF). The two institutions have partnered for many years through the 2+2 program in which students earn an associate degree at SCC and complete their bachelors or masters degrees at UCF. Continuing this long-time partnership the two schools are about to break ground on a joint-use facility to be located on SCC’s home campus in Sanford/Lake Mary. The cornerstone of a larger $85 million construction and renovation campaign, a $35 million, four-story Joint Use Facility, will house classrooms, student services facilities and a new 40,000-square foot library. Scheduled for opening in Spring 2010, the new building will provide a base for the 20 UCF degree programs already offered at SCC, while making it easier to continue adding degrees at the main campus. Later this summer construction will begin on SCC’s Center for Public Safety, which will bring the Criminal Justice, Fire Science and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) programs together in one prominent location on the Sanford/Lake Mary Campus. The new Center will provide high-tech classroom space and allow for expansion of SCC’s public service programs. This facility will bring all the classes and programs under one roof and better serve the 1,600 students enrolled in the three programs, as well as allow for more cross-training among faculty. Additional expansion is already underway with the construction of a new fire simulation tower on campus. The tower, which will allow live firefighter training, will have a simulation room and other props for training firefighters. The final component of the campaign on the home campus is construction of a signature office building for the SCC Foundation. The two-story building will be located at the north entrance to SCC’s Sanford/Lake Mary Campus at Lake Mary Boulevard. Funded in part by a $1 million donation from Insight Financial Credit Union, the donation exemplifies the support of the business community which makes SCC’s quality education possible. Seminole Community College also has campuses in Altamonte Springs, Heathrow, and Oviedo. See SCC’s web site, www.scc-fl.edu or call 407.708.4722. University of Central Florida
With an enrollment of 48,000 the University of Central Florida is the sixth largest university in the country. One of the top research universities, UCF offers nearly 100 bachelors programs and a similar number of masters programs, along with 28 doctoral programs. U.S. News and World Report recently ranked several UCF graduate programs among the best in the nation. The electrical engineering, education, physics, public administration and speech-language pathology programs all ranked in the top 100 in the magazine’s annual Graduate School Guide. The UCF College of Medicine was established in 2006 by the Florida Legislature and the Florida Board of Governors to increase opportunities for medical education in Florida. The college currently offers programs in biomedical sciences and will offer a doctor of medicine (M.D.) degree program beginning in the fall of 2009. The M.D. Program will enroll an initial class of 40 students and eventually produce about 120 medical graduates each year. Students in the charter class will pursue their dreams of becoming medical doctors – for free - thanks to 40 scholarships fully funded by the Central Florida community. Each scholarship is worth $160,000 – about $20,000 for tuition and $20,000 for living expenses and fees for each of the four years of medical school. The four-year medical program will capitalize on UCF’s existing strengths in biomedical sciences, modeling and simulation, optics and photonics. Other programs in materials science, psychology, chemistry, film and digital media and nursing will support the program. Construction is currently underway on the 198,000 square-foot Burnett Biomedical Sciences, the first of a series of buildings planned as part of the medical complex in Lake Nona. The state-of-the-art building will host facilities for medical education, health sciences education and biomedical research. The campus will be home to the UCF College of Medicine and its Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences and will include the UCF College of Nursing in the future. Within walking distance will be the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, a University of Florida research facility, a Veterans Affairs Medical Center, a Nemours Children’s Hospital, M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Institute and more. The opportunities that Seminole County educational institutions offer are insuring that Orlando will be more than a vacation destination. It will also continue to be an attractive place to live and learn. For more information, see UCF’s web site at www.ucf.edu or call 407.823.2000.
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