Ep 114 | What schools are good here?

SPEAKER_02 0:00

It probably means more to the parents than the students. Because I again I go back to a school of excellence is a place where a student feels valued and loved and they enjoy their their classmates and their teachers.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambia County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. Of the many responsibilities that parents have, shaping the young minds of their children is certainly at the top of the list. It's the weight of this responsibility that makes school choice an important one, with many parents looking at a school's rating as a determining factor. In early 2024, 783 schools in Florida received a School of Excellence Award, and seven of those schools were in Escambia County. My next guest is the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for Escambia County Public Schools. And today we're going to talk about the schools that made the list and those that didn't. From social work to superintendent, Pensacola Local, Washington High graduate, Mr. Denny Wilson. Thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

No problem. I think the first question just out of the gate is how big of a deal is it that seven of our schools got this award?

SPEAKER_02 1:41

I think it's a very big deal to have this honor being named a School of Excellence. The award was actually started in 2017. And we have some schools that receive this honor because they have performed well for the last several years.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

And what schools are they?

SPEAKER_02 2:14

So the schools that received it for it's actually for the 2022-23 school year, but it was given in 2024 of March of 2024. So it's NB Cook, Codova Park Elementary, AK Suter Elementary, Molino Park Elementary, Pensacola Beach Elementary School, Brown Barge Middle, and West Florida High School.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Nice. And you mentioned that the qualifications include a history of excellence consistently. What are the other qualifiers for a school to be eligible for this kind of award?

SPEAKER_02 2:55

So when I was looking into actually what did this award actually mean? Um, because we do have several schools that have been an A or B for some of them, that's all they've ever been since the grading system has come out. But the School of Excellence Award really is truly recognizing those schools that are achieving at the very highest rate that you can be an A or a B school. So looking into it, it's it's the several schools make an A, but they are at the highest percent that you can be. So you have to score 80 percent of the highest.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

So like if A was a spectrum and at the bottom is like you barely squeaked in, and at the top is like you kind of set the bar, if you will, these schools are closer to that end.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

Aaron Powell Absolutely. Okay. So that's so they truly are the highest performing A schools. You cannot be lower than a B, but you have to score at that highest level of whatever the number of A schools are in the state, you have to be at the top of that. So we have a lot of schools that have been performing at, you know, a very high rate for a while, but we continue to push and say, yeah, you've been a B school or an A school, but when you look at all the schools that are A's or B's, what can you do to be at the top of that list? So it's a way of just pushing those schools that have have had a record of being a high-performing school. What can you do to step that up? And that these schools have obviously done that.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

Aaron Powell Do the schools that are received that award, do they by chance have the opportunity to talk to those schools that are almost there to kind of collaborate and put their minds together on how to push them over the edge into that top 80 percent?

SPEAKER_02 4:49

I don't know specifically if they've been able to do that, but I know that we do meet together, area principal meetings that are that come together that are in the you know geo geographical location. We just had a principal meeting earlier this week. And so they do breakout sessions, and that's some of the things they talk about. What's working well at your school that some maybe another school is struggling with. But that's a that is a good idea to have those those principals and leadership teams work with other schools to share what has been working so well for them.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

Aaron Ross Powell And I alluded to the people that the schools that didn't make the list. Right. And you kind of hinted at that, that there's so many other schools that are A B, they're not in that 80%. And I was talking with um a friend this morning about how this certainly happens when we meet people, right? And we meet them and they're maybe in an interesting place in their life. And then maybe we don't meet them again after that interesting season of their life. And so they are frozen in time in that air quotes interesting space. So, like a school that maybe had a really poor rating back in the late 90s, in the minds of maybe many citizens, that is frozen in time. And so what's what's interesting about our discussion is to kind of get updated on the schools that are making this awesome list, but the schools that didn't make the list but are also doing really great. Can you tell us some about some of the schools that aren't in the School of Excellence award list but are also A B and doing great?

SPEAKER_02 6:29

Yes. The the first thing that popped in my head when you were talking about uh a school's perception stuck in time, you mentioned that I went to Washington High School great to be from Booker T. But I also was a workman jaguar. So workmen actually was the school that just popped in my head because we were I was at actually was at Codova Park Elementary, one of our schools of excellence, and was talking with some parents. And there's always that difficult decision of where what what happens next, what are we gonna do next for middle school? And everybody asked, what's the best middle school to go to? And and of course there's one of them right here is on the list is Brown Barge. Um that's a school that um has a very good reputation. But I always tell them, why wouldn't you send them to workmen? When I left Codova Park, we we all went to workmen. And but there's a perception because there's been some years where workmen was below a C, but for whatever reason, that conversation with the couple of parents, well, you know, workmen's a failing school. And I said, Well, hold on. You do know that workmen's a C. And they I don't think they I don't think they believed me. I don't think they thought I was lying, it's just they just assumed that it was a failing school. And actually it had been a C for three years in a row. So I do think that some of our schools exactly what you described, there's a perception that gets gets stuck. But but what you asked was, I mean, we do have an a lot of schools that have been A or B for many years. And I I think it's worth just saying those schools' names, because if somebody anybody's listening, I want them to to recognize that their school is one of those schools.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Well, exactly. And I I'm not sure, and I'm I may be ignorant here, but I'm I'm not sure where I would look up that information. And so I mean, if somebody is already used to listening to the show every week, this is this would be make this would make sense that we could get them a little bit up to date. So yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

Yes. So these are schools that have been an A or B for the last four years: Helen Caro Elementary, Bratt Elementary, Pine Meadow Elementary, Pleasant Grove Elementary, Scenic Heights Elementary, Beulah Elementary, Lipscomb Elementary, Kingsfield Elementary, Ransom Middle School, Tate High School, and then we have a lot of our students that take advantage of the virtual academy, has also been an A or B the last four years.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

That's so cool. There's that's a lot.

SPEAKER_02 9:10

It is.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

That's a lot. So back to the Schools of Excellence Award. Who designates that? Who's the person or the people who decide these are the schools that are receiving this?

SPEAKER_02 9:22

So through me looking up exactly what does it mean and how do you get it? It is those schools that that have earned being in you know the top 80 per you know 80 percent for for three years. So it it it's the state, the Florida State Board of Education is the one who who recognizes the School of Excellence.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Aaron Ross Powell Okay. And how long does that designation last?

SPEAKER_02 9:45

Aaron Powell So it lasts for three years, and then they have to not fall below a B. If they fall below a B, they would lose it for, you know, they would take that designation away. After three years, they can, you know, they would be looked at again if they're continuing to perform and it would be renewed for another three.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

What do you think this means to the kids who are at one of these schools?

SPEAKER_02 10:11

Um You know, I I think it's it probably means more to the parents than the students. Because I again I go back to a school of excellence is a is a place where a student feels valued and loved and they enjoy their their classmates and their teachers. So to me that could happen whether the student knows their, you know, what the grade is. So I think it I think the what it means to the the parents and the students is that they feel like they're school they're at a school where they know their student is getting the best education possible.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Aaron Powell So it's like assurance.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

Assurance, correct.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Yeah. Because I I imagine that parents are always, well, I mean, kind of needing assurance, right? Kind of second guessing themselves. Am I doing the right thing? You know, day to day. We have so much information available to us right now. It's not about, gosh, where can I get some information most of the time. Most of the time it's gosh, which information do I know to be correct? Right. And so having a little bit of that outside validation might be a little peace of mind.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

Aaron Ross Powell And all of this information, not specifically about the schools of excellence, but any parent that wants to find out about what is the history of their school's grades and those type of things, it's very transparent. You can go to the Florida Department of Education's website, you go to assessments, look up school grades, you know, enter Scambia County, and then just look for your school and click the button, and it'll give you a history going all the way back to I think it's 1999 when we first started doing school grades.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

So that's really helpful because the history might show might inform a parent like, okay, we had new leadership in you know 2002 or something, and then oh look, w we went from an F school to an A school, for example. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 12:10

And does and the and the tests have changed. We used to take the California achievement test way back in the day. Then the Florida was called the FCAT, and then we've gone I mean, we've had different tests, the standards have been continually raised, which I personally think is a good thing, but it it does change the target. So you can see where grades may have been consistent for a while and then maybe you know dropped a letter grade or two because the standards have changed, and you have to make sure that you're teaching the standard that's being assessed. So there's a lot of things that have happened over time since 1999 that schools and well districts have to adjust to what the standards are. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

That's true. It's not apples to apples since 1999. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Correct.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

I'll be sure to link that in the show notes so that if parents want to, you know, who maybe, like you said, kind of have a student in elementary school and they're going to middle school, that they can kind of get the information as accurately as possible so that they're not having a perception that's frozen in time based on something that used to be, or worse, based on a rumor. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

Right. So I mean, used to be that writing wasn't included, and then writing became its own component of part of the grade. Now it's built back into the ELA component. At one time we weren't assessing science as part of the school grade. Now we do. So there's been a lot of changes since 1999 that have affected maybe how a school scored and then adjusted to that.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

I alluded to you going from social work to education earlier. And I think people would be interested to know this because part of what my goal is with this platform is to kind of like humanize the people behind the titles. And so would you mind sharing what made you decide to go from social work to education in the way that you're in it now?

SPEAKER_02 14:09

It's a very interesting question. I I always knew that I wanted to work with students. And I guess then it would have been just with children. From the summer after I graduated from high school all the way up until my first administrative position, I worked city recreation and always worked with kids. So I just knew I wanted to do something with students. And then I guess when I was I was doing like I guess I was a children's therapist. And it just wasn't it what I didn't feel like I was reaching or or it it just wasn't satisfying what I was doing. It wasn't I didn't feel like I was really connecting with the child. I was more about okay, provide this so many minutes of therapy, and then you're done for the day. Instead of just it didn't feel like a it wasn't rewarding. Not that it isn't an important job, students need that, children need therapy. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying for me personally, it wasn't what I thought it was gonna be. And so I took and tried to rethink of what I was doing. I think I actually at that time I went and worked at the men's department at MacRay's and then I got in touch with the then head of student services, Dr. Grove, and there was an opening at Fairy Pass Elementary for a guidance counselor for somebody who had gone out on maternity leave. And I filled in for about half a year, and she decided to stay home. And I worked at Fairy Pass for several years as a guidance counselor, and it was probably the best job I've had in my career. It was wonderful. And then the principal at the time just saw leadership skills in me that I I didn't really think I had or just didn't know I had, and she Ruth Gordon pushed me to to continue my education. And so shout out to Ruth. Thank I she's a wonderful lady. I'm still in touch with her. And from that I just went, got into the leadership track, and that's that's how it happened. And you know, looking back, it was a it was definitely a different road than most people take to a principalship or in the position I'm in now. Social work degree, I think I used every day. So it was it was two really good d degrees social work and then the counseling to I I worked at Oakrest Elementary for eight years. It's still home to me. It will always be.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

So And that's an example of a school that had a poor rating when you began, right? And then now it has a good rating?

SPEAKER_02 17:16

It's had some of those it it did. That that that it did that did happen for me in my experience. But like I said, there's those the schools that we s we sometimes call them schools that just they kind of ebb and flow but but specifically when there's a a change to what the target is on a test, there's some years of adjustment. But OCrest had, you know, a dip since I left, but they've been a C three years in a row. So they're they're they're a steady performing school. But yeah, I was the youngest principal at the time, no ex you know, AP experience for four years, and we are sending you to OCrest Elementary. I had no idea where it was, no idea. And it's the it was have just got the only F rating for the entire district the year before. The grades had just come out when I got named. So I was thinking these these people don't know what they're doing. So but I was there eight years, and it's it takes time to change a whole culture of a school, and it took three, three years, and we you know went from an F to a D, another D, another D, and then a C, and then the next year we were an A. Wow. So and I always get a lot of credit for it, but I surrounded myself with amazing people. Many of them are still there doing the good work. I call it a mission field, and it is. So that was my experience, and then had the opportunity to go to the district level and work in what we now call school transformation office, which is working with the schools that are being monitored by the state because they've had issues with just being below a sea, really is the main factor.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

I think listeners will have a lot of, again, assurance to use that word again, knowing that there are people like you who have a varied background that are working behind the scenes to make all ships arise so that we can help the teachers, help the kids, and that improves our families and improves our communities. So before we wrap up today, is there anything else that you would want people to know about Escambia County public schools?

SPEAKER_02 19:31

There is. I've got to share a few more things. Okay. Because we're celebrating the schools of excellence, and and they deserve all this recognition to be at the the top of the top for the state is really truly amazing. And so for those schools, that's I I want to make sure that that we recognize the schools that we that that I named earlier. And let's just I'm just gonna say them again real quick MB Cook, Codova Park, A.K. Suter, Molino Park, Um, Pensacola Beach, Brown Barge Middle, and West Florida High School. I mean, shout out to the hard work of those principals. But to me, uh a school of excellence starts first with culture and knowing that when that parent drops that student off that they're being well taken care of and that they're loved and that their teachers prepared. So I have to talk about some schools because right now the school transformation office is really busy working with those schools that have done a great job over the last couple of years, but they right now we do not have a single school that is under state watch. And that's because of a lot of hard work.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

And so that sounds like a big deal.

SPEAKER_02 20:45

It's huge. It's a huge deal. That has not happened for a very long time. So we had Bellevue Middle that went from a D to a C, Brentwood Elementary went from a D to a C, Ensley Elementary from a D to a C, and then OJ Sims from a D to a C. That that's a lot of hard work. And it's it's hard work in every school. But when you're in a school where students have a lot of challenges and parents are dealing with a lot of issues, there's there's another level of of just work that it takes. And so that's really amazing and excellent job by them. Lincoln Park Elementary went from an F to a C, Montclair from an F to a C, Warrington Elementary from an F to a C, and then Global from an F to a C. So all those schools have really been under a lot of stress and pressure, pressure from the state, but no more pressure and sense of urgency that those principals and leadership teams and teachers put on themselves because nobody wants to have that letter grade of lower than a C. And so I know I know all of these leadership teams now are, you know, what do we do to become a B? And that's what they're thinking. But we had some that did that last year. We had Fairy Pass Elementary that went from a C to a B, Fairy Pass Middle from a C to a B, Beulah Academy of Science from a C to a B. Jim Allen Elementary went from a B to an A. Bellevue Elementary went from a C to an A.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

Home Elementary from a C to an A. And then MacArthur Elementary from a C to an A. So and then Pensacola State, one of our new charter schools, their first year to get a rating was an A. So there are excellent schools all throughout our district. And so that's what I would want people to know that we are the number one choice for education in Scambia County because we are working hard every day to to be the best, because we want to be the best for every student. And I love what you said earlier about that stuck-in-time perception, because I do think for a lot of these schools that I just named, there was a perception that they were not as good as. But your school is really as good as the person standing in front of your student. And that's what we are working for to make sure we have the highest qualified teachers in front of students every day.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

Well, I'm sure parents are so excited that they have so many good options in Escambia County, because, you know, kind of alluded to at the very top was, oh my gosh, the choice, the choices, you know, the the options and then the pressure to make the right choice. But to know that, you know, like when you go to a good restaurant and nothing on the menu is bad, you know, it's so nice to know. I'm so glad that you brought that list and you took the time to read it because parents will know, okay, okay, we got some really good, we got good options on the menu.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

Really do.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

Well, thank you so much for sharing this. This has been fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 23:58

Thank you. I've I really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share. Voices United in Education is a production of the Scambia County Public Schools.