Archive for News & Updates

WSJ/NBC Survey: Grades for Schools

Citrus County School District is an “A” graded district for the State of Florida. While the bulk of this article doesn’t necessary apply to Citrus schools it does have some interesting figures and information. THOMAS

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A new WSJ/NBC News poll shows Americans give the nation’s public schools a GPA of 1.8 – not failing, but clearly in need of remediation.

Asked to grade the nation’s public schools using the common scale for students – A, B, C, D and F – only 2% of those surveyed gave them an A; 17% a B; almost half, 45%, said C; 25% a D, and 7% said F. Asked about the schools in their own communities, respondents handed out better grades: an overall GPA of 2.3, with 13% giving an A; 32% a B; 27% a C; 15% a D, and 9% an F.

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‘More freedom’ in middle school?

By Nancy Kennedy

Copyright www.chronicleonline.com. All rights reserved.

When you’re in middle school, lunch is the most important time of the day — and it’s not about the food.

“It’s like recess, but better; you get to talk with your friends,” says Julianne Cook, Inverness Middle School sixth-grade student.

The Chronicle is following Julianne as part of the year-long Students in Transition series, following a kindergarten student, a middle school student and a set of high school freshmen twins.

It’s Friday in the IMS cafeteria. Sixth-graders eat lunch from 11:15 to 11:50 a.m. Because some of the students are having difficulty following rules, everyone sits at assigned tables.

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On the road to completion

By Cheri Harris

Copyright www.chronicleonline.com. All rights reserved.

Progress has taken over the baseball field at Crystal River High School.

The former site of Crystal River Pirate baseball glory is now bustling with construction workers raising two new two-story buildings.

Gary Goodman, project manager for ACA Construction Group, the company in charge of the $20.7 million project, said Building 2, which will primarily house classrooms, is located on the site of the old baseball diamond and Building 1, which will house the administration offices as well as classrooms, is on what was part of the outfield.

The new Mike Hampton Field is under construction on the school campus beyond the tennis courts.

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More schools are making peace with skateboarding

Thursday, September 23, 2010 6:59pm PDT

More schools are making peace with skateboarding

By: Chris Mauro, GrindTV.com

There was a time, not that long ago, when skateboarders and school officials were hostile warring parties.

Administrators, school boards, and city officials fearing the long arm of litigation declared war on skaters years ago, making them outlaws for riding anywhere near a schools’ coveted features like high curbs, manicured concrete roll-ins, and flat handrails, all of which make campuses a target rich environment for skaters.

In several instances the bans became city wide. To this day, the cat-and-mouse game skaters play with most security detail, be they hallway monitors, mall cops or fully deputized police officers, is not just a past time, but a source of pride.

But times are changing.

More and more schools, desperate to do anything to encourage kids into some physical activity, are warming up to the idea of bringing some “controlled chaos” into the P.E. class by not only encouraging them to take up the sport, but instructing them in the fundamentals.

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ChronicleOnline: ‘Day of Caring’ 9/22/2010

‘Day of Caring’

By Nancy Kennedy

For Hugh Adkins, supervisor of the Marine Science Station in Crystal River, Tuesday was like winning the lottery or being on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

The site was chosen as one of about a dozen Progress Energy Day of Caring local projects.

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Citrus Springs Middle 9/21/2010

This morning I had the privilege of visiting  Citrus Springs Middle School.  CSMS is the school where my wife teaches 7th grade reading so I am more familiar with their campus, but I was interested in seeing some of the classrooms I had not seen before. CSMS has been a Florida graded “A” middle school for six years in a row.  I enjoyed visiting the language arts, science and math classes.  In the math class the teacher was using a Mobi while teaching her class.  The Mobi is a mobile interactive whiteboard and it allows teachers and students to write on the Mobi and for that to then be projected onto the large video monitor.  This is a great way for teachers and students to actively participate in the lesson.  I am looking forward to seeing a Mobi being used to teach Social Studies next.

Best of luck to the Falcon Football Team that is playing tonight!

Thomas

Related Links

Citrus Springs Middle School

Mobi