Bernie Axelrod never finished high school, but rose through the ranks of union print shops in new York City, founded a travel agency, and was a pioneer in donating technology to schools. He joined the Flagler Education Foundation in the 1990s.
Matanzas High School
Flagler Schools Will Start Earlier, On Aug. 16, End June 8, As District Sets 2012-13 Calendar
Thanksgiving will still be a full week off, but Christmas break will entail two broken weeks at either ends, so students can come back on Jan. 2 and have more time to prepare for the new FCAT: end-of-course exams. Printable calendar included.
In Quiet Coda to Controversy, School Board Unanimously Approves Uniform Policy Details
The new uniform policy makes broad allowances for color, types of clothing and shoes, but makes the wearing of IDs compulsory in all middle and high schools. The policy goes in effect next fall.
Mediocre Results for Flagler Schools, Worse for Its Charters, in Controversial State Rankings
School-by-school rankings follow last week’s district rankings. Belle Terre Elementary and Indian Trails Middle ranked best, but still barely in the top quartile, while Flagler’s three charter schools scraped the bottom, in contrast with several top-performing charters elsewhere in the state.
Deaf District as Flagler Students Are Cheated Out of Dozens of Hours of Test Preparation
As high schools prepare students for the FCAT writing test in a few weeks and end-of course exams in May, Matanzas High School’s Jo Ann Nahirny explains how the district’s abbreviated schedule is hurting student preparation and will likely hurt results. Yet administrators seem deaf to alternatives.
Flip-Flops OK, Tuck-In Not Required: District’s Uniform Policy Will Be Relatively Permissive
The Flagler school board met this morning to iron out the wording of its new “uniform dress code” policy, which merely tightens existing standards rather than imposes a rigid uniform standard.
Full Text of Proposed Uniform Policy for Flagler County Schools
The full text of the proposed “uniform dress code” policy the Flagler County School board agreed to on Jan. 25, and is scheduled to vote on adopting, at its Jan. 31 meeting.
Flagler School Board Adopts Uniforms on 3-2 Vote But Only Vaguely Defines What It Means
The Flagler County School Board’s 3-2 decision to institute uniforms in all schools Tuesday evening was only vaguely defined beyond what may be only a somewhat more stringent dress code than the one in effect now.
As School Board Votes on Uniform Policy, a Reality Check From the Trenches
Drawing on arresting experiences, Jo Ann Nahirny, a veteran teacher at Matanzas High School, disputes assumptions on school uniforms in a letter to Flagler County School Board members.
FPC and Matanzas, Penalized By Lower At-Risk Graduation Numbers, Maintain B Rating
FPC and Matanzas had the numbers for an A, but were docked a letter grade because they graduated fewer at-risk students than the state requires.
Matanzas Graduation Rate at 90%, FPC at 83% As Charter School Drags Flagler’s Down
When the numbers from heritage Academy, a charter school, are excluded, the Flagler school district’s graduation rate improves to 84.4 percent. The district’s single-year drop-out rate was 1.7 percent.
Uniform Fashion Show Punctuates School District’s Last Forum Before Final Policy Vote
The show, during a forum meant to be more even-handed than shilling, was designed to give an audience of about 45 some idea of what the uniforms might look like, if the school board–currently favoring the policy 3-2–finally ratifies the initiative on Jan. 17.
Steve Knob, 5-Year Band Leader at Matanzas, Resigns After Downloading Porn at School
Steve Knob had brought a long and distinguished career to Flagler. Matanzas High School Principal Chris Pryor and others caught him in the act of downloading porn on Oct. 7, but Pryor attributed his resignation to “family medical issues.”
Superintendent Will Recommend Tasers In Schools; Majority of Board Signals Agreement
Three school board members favor allowing school deputies to carry Tasers, some of them with reservations, as the board prepares for a decision as early as next Tuesday. The initiative is part of the fallout from a student’s fight with a deputy at Matanzas High School.
SAT Scores Fall Across the Board; Flagler Below U.S. But Above State Averages
Average SAT scores nationally fell to the lowest level recorded since 1995 on the combined reading and math tests. In Flagler County, Matanzas High School students fared better than Flagler Palm Coast’s, and both did better than Florida’s averages.
Recycle Your Electronics at Matanzas High School Saturday
Come dump your recyclable electronics at Matanzas Saturday, Sept. 17, from 9 a.m. to noon and help do a little byte clean-up while helping Matanzas’s Future Problem Solvers.
16-Year-Old Student Head-Butts Deputy in Matanzas High School Fight
The student was involved in a fight with another student over a boy-girl issue when Cpl. Don Apperson intervened–and was struck on the right temple. The student was charged with felony battery. Another employee was hospitalized.
From Bad to Worse: Flagler and Florida Students Near Bottom in National ACT Scores
There’s plenty of back-patting when Flagler students are compared to their Florida peers. When Flagler and Florida students are compared to students across the nation, the story is much bleaker.
Paging All Parents: Flagler Schools Launch “Graduate One” Campaign on Aug. 4
Flagler schools want parents better informed and more involved as graduation requirements increase. The district is hosting a countywide orientation session at nine locations on Aug. 4 under the banner of its “Graduate One Everyone” campaign.
Florida Graduation Requirements for Students Entering 9th Grade, 2011-2017
Florida high school graduation requirements for entering 9th graders from 2011-12 to 2016-17: a year-by-year guide including FCAT, end-of-year-course assessments and science requirements.
Do Flagler School Administrators Making $97,000 a Year Need A Raise? They Say Yes.
Some 25 Flagler school administrators make between $80,000 and $105,000 a year. They’re saying they were disrespected when denied a 2 percent raise. The school board is reconsidering.
Flagler School District Maintains A for 4th Year in a Row As Elementaries Shine
The A rating was powered by substantial improvements at Rymfire Elementary and other schools maintaining their high achievements. Charter schools didn’t do as well.
Alexa Miller
Miss Flagler County Contestant (2011)
Alexa Miller is a Miss Flagler County Scholarship Pageant contestant in the 16-23year old category of the 2011 Flagler County Pageant.
Ashley Nicole Pelose
Miss Flagler County Contestant (2011)
Ashley Nicole Pelose is a Miss Flagler County Scholarship Pageant contestant in the 16-23year old category of the 2011 Flagler County Pageant.
Sara D’Esposito
Miss Junior Flagler County Contestant (2011)
Sara D’Esposito is a Miss Junior Flagler County contestant in the 12 to 15 year old category of the 2011 Miss Flagler County Pageant.
Shanna Mae Merceron
Miss Junior Flagler County Contestant (2011)
Shanna Merceron is a Miss Junior Flagler County contestant in the 12 to 15 year old category of the 2011 Miss Flagler County Pageant.
A Pig’s Tale With Hitchhiking Advice from Thoreau as 327 Graduate Matanzas High
The fourth graduating class in six years at Matanzas included 43 seniors graduating magna cum laude and 23 graduating suma cum laude, with 28 percent of the class receiving high honors.
Select Flagler School Seniors Receive 239 Scholarships Worth $240,000 at Ceremony
The annual ceremony hosted by the Flagler County Education Foundation celebrated its 25th year Tuesday as 108 organizations’ scholarships were presented to 138 seniors. See the full list.
FCAT Writing Results Are In: Big, and In Some Cases “Abnormal” Improvements
Almost every school’s 4th, 8th and 10th graders improved in Flagler County, some dramatically so. State improvements were also unusually steep. It’s not clear why, though the district is welcoming the results.
Middle School Day Will End at 1:40pm as District’s New Bell Schedules Toll Backlash
Elementary start and end times change only a little, but high school students will start at 8 a.m. and finish at 2 p.m., and middle school students will start at 7:40 a.m. The shorted school day is designed to save money.
Flagler Schools’ Problem Solvers Clean Up Again: The Winners’ Complete List
Following the Problem Solvers state competition in Cape Canaveral late last month, FPC’s Ryan McDermott filed a complete list of winners from nearly every school in the district. Many qualify for the international competition in Wisconsin in June.
The Art League’s Nomadic Spring Festival Finally Finds a Home at City Market Place
Formerly known as Art in the Park, the Flagler County Art League’s Spring festival inaugurates its new home at City Market Place this weekend with some 50 vendors, 10 galleries and hundreds of artists and their works.
Merit Pay’s Trap: When Lawmakers Are Clueless About Teachers’ Classroom Realities
Jo Ann C. Nahirny, a teacher at Matanzas High School, describes the gulf between merit pay assumptions about teachers and everyday classroom realities that are beyond teachers’ control. Lawmakers appear clueless.
Get Some: Sex Ed Survey Now Open to Flagler Parents; Student Survey March 23 and 24
Parents with children in school and residents without children are invited to take the Flagler school district’s sex education survey to guide school board policy. Middle and high school students take the survey March 23 and 24.
Unresolved: Who’s To Arbitrate Daring Artistic Expression–Principals or the School Board?
The triumph of “Mockingbird” is past. The Flagler County School Board’s confusion over how to prevent another controversy without chilling artistic expression isn’t, as a pair of proposed policy changes indicate.
A First for Matanzas High School: Rebecca Wight a National Merit Finalist
Matanzas High School senior Rebecca Wight is one of 15,000 finalists across the United States, a little more than half of whom will be selected for an award in march.
Matanzas High School’s Cheerleaders Take 3rd in State Championship
Matanzas High School’s competitive cheerleading team won third place at the FHSAA’s annual Florida championship. Next up: national competition at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando.
More Power to Principals, Less Transparency as Board Kills Policy Inspired by Mockingbird
The rejected policy had called for supporting plays “that challenge, nurture and extend student skills” while respecting community sensibilities. Instead, the board retreated to more general “tweaks” of two existing policies.
Kathy Summerlot, 2011 Employee of the Year: Matanzas High School
I feel privileged every day when I drive onto the campus at Matanzas High School. Ten years ago when my family moved to Palm Coast from Atlanta, Georgia, I was not completely sold on Flagler County. However, I quickly began volunteering at both of my sons’ schools and learned to love the area and its […]
Louise Wolfe, 2011 Teacher of the Year: Matanzas High School
Louise Wolfe, 2011 Teacher of the Year: Matanzas High School
Between Authority and Authoritarianism: Conklin and Pryor Clash Over Principal Power
The school board is debating a new policy and procedure controlling the staging of controversial plays. Matanzas Principal Chris Pryor doesn’t want to be “second-guessed.” Board member Conklin doesn’t want unilateral decision-making.
FPC Improves from D to B, Matanzas High School Maintains a B, Heritage is an F
The Flagler County school district as a whole was tentatively awarded an A last year, pending today’s results. Heritage’s F is not expected top affect that overall grade.
Music, Dance, Art: Auditorium’s 5-Day Holiday Extravaganza Will Boost Art in Education
With arts funding in free fall in Florida, the Flagler Auditorium’s series of concerts, performances, art showings and auctions Dec. 8-12, half of them free, will raise money to help art programs in Flagler schools.
Graduation Rates: FPC Falls to 83.5%, Matanzas Soars to 90.4%, Both Beat State’s 79%
It’s Matanzas High School’s best graduation rate to date, helping the district increase its overall graduation rate by either state or federal standards.
Mockingbird‘s Fate Still Hanging as Appeals Panel, Endorsing the Work, Punts on the Play
A majority of the committee clearly wanted the play staged. But it’s recommendation goes no further than declaring Mockingbird “appropriate” for instruction–a matter never in doubt.
Live Recap: Mockingbird Appeals Committee’s Minute-By-Minute Deliberations
The nine-member appeals committee, meeting this morning at Matanzas High School, will recommend a fate for “To Kill a Mockingbird”–whether FPC’s students will stage it or not, and how. It’s up to Superintedent Valentine to make the final decision.
Mockingbird Appeals Committee’s Challenge: Loyalty to “Protocol” vs. Free Expression
Interviews with appeals committee members reveal a divide between instinctive revulsion of censorship and hesitancy over second-guessing a principal’s decision even as the facts of the case continue to be muddled by unspecified generalities.
Two Bus Stop Robbery Suspects, Riding With Schoolgirls, Arrested Following a Wreck
Sebastian Dominguez, 18 and Brandon Smith, 19, were riding in a truck with a 14 year old girl from Indian Trails Middle School and a 15-year-old girl from Matanzas High School when they allegedly decided to hold up a Matanzas High School student.
Proposed Coral Farm at Matanzas High School Raises Tentacles of Possibilities–and Questions
In an untested, risky arrangement, the proposal would have the school district lease land to a private company that would, in exchange, share some of its profits with the district.
Preliminary SAT Results Show Higher Scores for Flagler’s Class of 2010
In all but math at FPC, students at the county’s two high schools improved when compared with last year’s seniors. Some 1.6 million students took the test in the last round.