Santa Rosa County School students can openly use cellphones this year, although there will still be restrictions. Students cannot use devices during instructional time, unless a teacher specifies otherwise. The new policy also allows use on district buses.
“I really am trying to do things differently,” said West Navarre Intermediate School Principal David Crissey. He has been busy this summer, busy developing new ideas for his students returning in just a few weeks.
Even as summer winds down, Navarre Beach Marine Station (NBMSS) summer camps are still in full swing. Kindergartners through second graders last week attended Fins and Flippers. The camp could be described as an introduction to NBMSS.
Nearly 11 percent of Santa Rosa County District School’s 26,584 students had missed around 18 days – or 10 percent of the 2013-2014 school year — by Feb. 26, 2014. District administrator David Johnson aims to reduce those high absentee rates, which put students at risk for dropping out of school.
For the first time in five years, the Santa Rosa County School District’s budget is increasing. At the same time, strong economic growth is allowing the district to reduce its total millage rate, which means savings for Santa Rosa County taxpayers.
A grant award for Gulf Islands National Seashore (GINS) will fund an innovative educational opportunity, so that local teens can better understand a special group of seasonal guests on area beaches, sea turtles. The grant from the National Parks Foundation will fund Gulf Islands’ “Turtle T.H.I.S. (Teens Helping in the Seashore) Program.”
Volunteers were at Santa Rosa County Wal-Mart locations in Gulf Breeze and Pace July 24 collecting school supplies for the annual Cram the Van campaign. The effort to help students in need in Santa Rosa and Escambia counties is in its 15th year.
A new assistant principal will greet students at Holley-Navarre Intermediate School (HNIS) when classes resume next month. Former S.S. Dixon Intermediate Assistant Principal Beth Mosley will make the move to HNIS. She replaces former HNIS Assistant Principal Nancy Haupt who became principal July 1 at S.S. Dixon Primary School.
What do you get when you merge water and technology? A five-day STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) camp called Sea3PO hosted at the Navarre Beach Marine Science Station. Campers learned to take water samples, conducted research with microscopes and built and drove remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).
Gulf Pointe Academy (GPA), Navarre’s only private school, is relocating to meet growing demand after Santa Rosa County twice halted its expansion plans. The school and its 75 students will be moving to leased space at St. Sylvester Catholic Church when classes resume Sept. 1.
