Just like that summer is over and we are back at it! Let’s celebrate going back to school and our teachers! Welcome to the 2019-2020 school year.
The mission of the PTA is to make every child’s potential a reality by empowering and engaging families and communities to advocate for all children.
Our kids are going back to school in a county where the school district received an A grade. But do you know what that means and everything that goes into that school grade? The Florida State PTA is proud to be awarded a grant to look at data and school report cards which is different from student report cards. New regulations through ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) require every school, district and state to produce a report card. Through the ESSA report card we could partner to find resources to meet a child’s needs and improve outcomes. I also wanted to highlight an article that our legislative chair, Megan Hendricks, has written for the Gainesville Sun that explains how the Florida Department of Education determines how your school is graded. I have included the article here, which is the first part of a three part series.
The ACCPTA is trying to help families understand what all of this means and what it means for your kids.
Along with focusing on data and school report cards, we are continuing our focus on youth mental health, exceptional student education, developing more programming to educate our families on the effects of vaping in our youth and also managing social media. Our chairs of these committees are working diligently to bring you informative workshops.
In Alachua County we are 3603 members strong and we hope to grow this number again this year. We thank you for being a PTA member and supporting all of our efforts in advocating for all children. Did I mention that you don’t have to volunteer to be a PTA member? Just by being a member, you are supporting the work of your local unit PTA and your ACCPTA. If you are not a member already, please join today.
I hope you all have a fun, safe and successful 2019-2020 school year and remember:
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.” – Dr. Seuss
Sincerely,
Pam Korithoski, President
ACCPTA