Education Archive

Jamie Edmondson, Holley-Navarre Primary School’s teacher of the year, has always wanted to be a teacher, even if the journey took a little longer than she intended.

A graduate of Tate High School and the University of West Florida, Edmondson grew up playing school.

Just as teacher and parent communication can be critical for the success of an individual student, communication between the school district and parents is vital for the continued success of schools across the district.

That parent feedback is the reason Santa Rosa County District Schools created the District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC).

The University of West Florida has been designated one of 16 new Centers of Excellence for Domestic Maritime Workforce Training and Education by the U.S. secretary of transportation through the Maritime Administration for developing engineers and technical professionals powering Gulf Coast shipbuilding.

This designation certifies UWF’s ability to produce exceptional graduates for the maritime workforce through high-quality education and training.

Meet the furriest school resource officer in the county.

Gulf Breeze High School welcomed K-9 Roux of the Gulf Breeze Police Department this semester, and he fit in right away.

As students settle back to school, one Northwest Florida program is helping children strengthen their reading and math skills with some unexpected study partners — horses.

At Life Horse at Grand Review Farm in north Santa Rosa County, founder Stacy Waterous leads the Horse Powered Reading program. Just as it sounds, the program uses activities with horses to help children practice reading and math skills.

A school resource officer for eight years, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office Dep. Jared Psinas knows the importance of reaching children at an impressionable age.

He leads the LEAD program at East Bay K-8 and oversees its implementation at other schools in the county. An acronym for Law Enforcement Against Drugs and Violence, LEAD is a 10-week educational course designed to teach children about the dangers of drugs and how to deal with things like peer pressure.

The teachers of the year from each school in Santa Rosa county have been announced.

Santa Rosa County District Schools is recognizing National Suicide Prevention Month this September by connecting families with the mental health resources they may need.

Each September serves as National Suicide Prevention Month, a time to bring awareness to mental health issues and the resources that could save people’s lives.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide was responsible for 48,824 deaths in 2024, the most recent year the agency has statistics for. While this amounts to a little over 1.5 percent of the total deaths across the U.S., CDC stats show a profound increase in the suicide rate per 100,000 from 2001 to 2024. Suicide tragically touches everyone, including children.

Inside the Navarre High cafeteria Friday morning, a documentary on Sept. 11, 2001, plays in the background. The scenes of that tragic and chaotic day in American history play out on the screen before the start of the NJROTC Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony.