Wednesday, April 3, 2013
School Board members have adopted key dates for the 2013-14 school year.
Copies of the new school calendar are being distributed at public schools throughout the Bloomingdale-Riverview area to help parents and students prepare for the 2013-14 academic year. School board members also have approved a tentative calendar for the 2014-2015 school year. Superintendent MaryEllen Elia reportedly has sent an automated phone message to families notifying them that the calendars are available on the school district website. ______________ Hillsborough County Public School Dates and 2012-13 School Year Calendar:
Friday, March 29, 2013
Cassandra Mattison, a graduate of King High School, was named 2012-13 Teacher of the Year for Hillsborough County at a banquet hosted by the Hillsborough Education Foundation on March 28.
The Spoto High School community was set to congratulate Cassandra Mattison back at school today, the morning after she was named Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year, at a March 28 banquet hosted by the Hillsborough Education Foundation. In accepting the award, Mattison "thanked the teachers at every school she has attended in Hillsborough County, starting with Shaw Elementary and ending with King High School," according to a Tampa Bay Times report on the event. "I would not be standing where I am today if it were not for teachers like you," she reportedly told the audience of more than 2,000 educators. Earlier this year at Spoto High, a "surprise patrol" alerted the 31-year-old English teacher, who serves as head of the English …
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Families counting on this state program to help fund college dreams might find the rules of the game changing soon.
The state’s lottery-funded Bright Futures Scholarship tuition program is entering troubled financial waters and some say it’s time to change the rules of the game. “There’s more money going out than going in,” said Sen. John Legg, R-Lutz. Legg chairs his chamber’s education committee and sits on the education appropriations subcommittee. “Lottery revenues are increasing by about 4 percent a year,” said Legg. The problem is the money going out to Bright Futures awardees is increasing at a rate of about 13 to 14 percent a year, he added. “It’s not going to be able to sustain itself much longer.” Bright Futures was established in 1997 to create a merit-based scholarship program that would use lottery money two fund two main programs, …
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year finalists will be announced Friday.
Who will get surprise visits this week at work, signifying their selection as finalists for the 2013 Teacher of the Year award in Hillsborough County? According to Roselle Cronan, marketing manager for the Hillsborough Education Foundation, "surprise patrols" are set to visit schools Jan. 18 to announce this year's Teacher of the Year finalists. In contention for the honor are: For more information about the Teacher of the Year Program, visit Brandon Patch. For a list of past Teachers of the Year winners, visit the Hillsborough County School District website.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Photos from the scene show Bloomingdale High School students being evaluated and transported to Brandon Regional Hospital. Two school buses pulled off Bell Shoals Road after a rear-end accident. Injuries reportedly were minor.
Updated 2:37 p.m. The accident involving two school buses transporting students home from an early-release testing day at Bloomingdale High School were involved in a rear-end accident "within 50 feet east" of the Bell Shoals Road and Bloomingdale Avenue traffic light, according to a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office investigator at the scene. "They were not even traveling 10 miles per hour, if that," when the accident occurred, shortly after noon Wednesday, Jan. 16, according to Paul Dozier, the accident investigator. Reportedly, the bus drivers were traveling westbound on Bloomingdale Avenue when the second bus driver checked her left-side mirror. "When she looked up, the first bus was stopped," Dozier said, calling the incident a …
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The Superintendent recommended that Rodgers Principal Sharon Tumicki and Assistant Principal Shawn Livingston be removed from their positions at the school.
A three-month investigation into the drowning death of Rodgers Middle School student Jenny Caballero has resulted in Superintendent MaryEllen Elia calling for the firing of a teacher's aide and an exceptional student education attendant and the demotion of the school's principal and vice principal. Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent MaryEllen Elia announced her recommendations at a press conference today, January 9, at the school district headquarters. She said she wants the district to fire teacher's aide Terrance Sowa and ESE attendant Patricia Tobin and to demote Principal Sharon Tumicki and Assistant Principal Shawn Livingston. Her announcement was made after a "thorough investigation" by the district's Office of Professional …
Friday, December 21, 2012
Sheriff's spokesman Detective Larry McKinnon said the sheriff's office is working with the Hillsborough County School District to develop a committee to look into ways to secure elementary schools.
In the wake of the mass shooting Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is looking at long-term ways to better protect the county's elementary schools. According to sheriff's spokesman Detective Larry McKinnon, the sheriff's office is working with the Hillsborough County School Board to develop safeguards to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring at a local elementary school. McKinnon said the sheriff's office is developing a committee to look into ways to better protect elementary students, including the possibility of posting permanent deputies at elementary schools. The sheriff's office already has school resource deputies assigned to middle and high schools throughout the …
Friday, December 14, 2012
Normally, the school's ParentLink System is used to call or email parents in a crisis situation. But, in the event of a school shooting, officials caution that they may not be able to use that system.
It's something parents would rather not think about. However, in light of today's elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., it's a topic that can hardly be ignored. While the likelihood of there being a school shooting in Hillsborough County is slim, (Hillsborough County has the eighth largest school district in the nation and has never had a school shooting), the Hillsborough County School District isn't taking any chances when it comes to the safety of students and staff, said Cpt. Bamir Ode of the Hillsborough County School Security Services Department. "We have a crisis plan in place for each school in the district," said Ode. "I can't discuss details of the plans because it would put the plans in jeopardy. But we're prepared if …
Monday, November 26, 2012
Students in third through eighth grade will compete for a chance to win Justin Bieber concert tickets.
Kids who love to cook are invited to compete in the second annual Cook It Up! Student Recipe Challenge sponsored by the Hillsborough County School District's Student Nutrition Services. Between now and Dec. 12, Hillsborough County public school students in grades three to eight can vie for a chance to be "top chef" and possibly win two tickets to the Justin Bieber “Believe” Tour at the Amway Center in Orlando Jan. 25, including one-night hotel accommodations, compliments of Radio Disney. In addition, the winning recipe will be featured on the district-wide school lunch menu, the winning chef will receive an invitation to appear on Radio Disney’s “Kid’s Concern Show” and will celebrate with a school lunch party hosted by Radio Disney. The …
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office will not issue any criminal charges in the case of the 11-year-old student who drowned.
After an extensive investigation, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office closed the case surrounding the drowning of 11-year-old Rodgers Middle School student Jennifer Caballero. And the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office has ruled that no criminal charges are warranted in the case. On Oct. 22, shortly after 1 p.m., the little girl with Down syndrome walked out of the school gymnasium where she was being supervised in a class of 20 other special-needs students by a teacher and six aides. After an exhaustive search by sheriff's helicopters, K-9 units and divers, Caballero's body was discovered at about 6:15 p.m. at the bottom of a nearby pond. Divers searching the pond found the child in water approximately 12 feet deep and …
Samantha Warden
1:47 am on Friday, January 18, 2013
Our government is to blame for not training the teachers that are working with these kids if the job can't be done then they need to be honest about it. Nobody should have to go through this. The government can't even answer their phones, and emails why trust them with our children. We need to look at our schools more closely if teachers are not trained this is a red flag. I'm more concerned … more ›