Congratulations to Lowell Hudson, agriscience teacher and FFA advisor at Poplar Springs High School, for receiving the Golden Apple Award from WJHG-TV!  Click the link below for the news story and video.

http://www.wjhg.com/content/news/The-Golden-Apple-Goes-to-Lowell-Hudson-404028006.html

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION RELEASES NEW ONLINE TOOL TO EMPOWER AND INFORM FLORIDA FAMILIES

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., November 29, 2016 – Today, the Florida Department of Education unveiled a new website that will help Florida families make critical education decisions by enabling them to access school and district-level data and will better inform families about the state's college and career ready standards and the quality of learning taking place in their students' classrooms.

The website is live at www.FloridaStudentsAchieve.org.  

“We take great pride in the fact that Florida leads the nation in school choice and student performance,” Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said. “Through the Florida Students Achieve website, we provide a central location where parents and families can access the information they need to make the best education decisions for their students. It is my hope that all Floridians will take advantage of this tremendous resource.”

One of the website’s primary functions is the school performance search tool, which ultimately enables parents to search by district, zip code, city or other geographic data view and then compare school and district data.

“I am confident that this new tool will revolutionize the way students and parents learn about the schools in their area and throughout the state,” State Board of Education Chair Marva Johnson said. “I commend the department for responding to the needs of Florida’s families with this informative, intuitive and transparent website, and I look forward to its continuous development.” 

In addition to performance data, the site provides information relevant to current and future students of all ages and includes easy-to-find information about the Florida Standards, school and district performance results in core subjects, educator effectiveness and graduation and postsecondary statistics.

Thanks in large part to its business-friendly climate, companies from around the nation have moved their headquarters to Florida; more than 1.1 million private sector jobs have been created; and the state’s unemployment rate has continually dropped. Another benefit to the Florida Students Achieve website is that is can be a helpful for anyone interested in moving to Florida.
 
“Education is one of the key factors that business leaders consider when determining the best location for their company’s operations,” Tony Carvajal, Florida Chamber Foundation Executive Vice President said. “This innovative approach to sharing school performance data and the state’s progress in education is precisely what we need to continue attracting prospective businesses that will bring more jobs to Florida.”