Education Archive

Santa Rosa County District Schools has announced its comprehensive building projects, including the construction of the brand-new Southend High School, set to open its doors to students in August 2026. Furthermore, plans for a high school in the north portion of the county are in the pipeline.

For Brooke Cole, West Navarre Intermediate School’s teacher of the year, relationships are everything. From her relationship with her students to her peers and administrators, Cole considers her connections to those around her to be the best part of her job.

Santa Rosa Education Foundation has announced the award of 66 teacher grants totaling $66,000 to Santa Rosa public educators. SREF, in partnership with the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations, the Florida Legislature, and grant sponsors Navy Federal Credit Union, Pen Air Federal Credit Union, and Florida Power and Light is enabling teachers to implement grants that engage students in active learning while increasing student achievement in the areas of Artistic Literacy, Career Technical, Literacy, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education.

The Santa Rosa County school board approved a health insurance program for school district teachers and other employees at a special meeting Tuesday, Oct. 24.

The health insurance program for 2024 was a point of contention at the Oct. 12 board meeting and was tabled until the special meeting. The insurance committee, which comes up with recommendations for the school board when it comes to insurance and risk management, met twice in October to hammer out the details of a plan that would be agreeable to district employees and the district itself.

Holley Navarre Middle School, East Bay K-8 and West Navarre Intermediate School held STEAM nights this week. STEAM is short for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. Check out some photos from the STEAM nights.

A new south end high school is one step closer to becoming a reality after Santa Rosa County District Schools held a school board meeting Oct. 12.

The board approved a $102,792,900 bid from the Morette Company to build the south end high school, which will be named later. The school is expected to be complete by the start of school in 2026.

When most students (or people for that matter) think of the word “dissection,” they typically think of an animal, or maybe the smell of formaldehyde, but for students in Emily Simon and Danielle Hitchcock’s kindergarten classes, the word might conjure thoughts of a red and juicy fruit.

During September and October, the two teachers have been teaching lessons on various STEAM concepts using apples. STEAM is short for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.

After a nearly seven-hour meeting Oct. 12, the Santa Rosa County School Board is still waiting to approve the health insurance program for district employees. The current plan expires Dec. 31.

There is a little-known problem in Santa Rosa County’s schools. According to Santa Rosa County District Schools’ coordinator of federal programs Bobbie Lewter, the district has a poverty rate of 43.54 percent.