Our middle & high school students participate in close to 2,000 athletic contests each year!

Important Dates in March

Mar 6 - Early Dismissal

Mar 8 - College & Career Fair at Golden Gate High School

Mar 9 - College & Career Fair at Lely High School

Mar 11 - Daylight Savings Time (set clocks ahead one hour)

Mar 11-14 - AdvancED SACS CASI District Accreditation Quality Assurance Review

Mar 13 - Regular School Board Meeting

Mar 14 - School Board Workshop: District Accreditation Report and Budget

Mar 22 - End of third quarter

Mar 23 - No School (Teacher Work Day)

Mar 26 - District Spelling Bee

Mar 27 - Referendum Town Hall Meeting

Mar 28 - Superintendent's District Advisory Council Meeting

UPCOMING:

Apr 16-27 - FCAT

Teacher Recruitment Fair

Message from the Superintendent

Even though Election Day is still eight months away, with all of the attention already being paid to the Presidential race, I think it is time to let you know about an item your school district has placed on the November ballot. We are seeking renewal of the Tax-Neutral Referendum originally approved by 79% of the voters in November of 2008. It expires in the 2012-2013 school year, so we need to renew it this fall. Approval will allow the district to increase operating funding millage by .25 mills while the district decreases the capital funding millage by .25 mills. It is therefore “tax-neutral” and approval does not increase your tax bill. Approval will enable us to shift $14 million from capital to operating, and approval will help us in our attempt to stabilize our funding during continued state revenue decreases. If the referendum does not pass, we would be forced to cut $14 million from the operating budget in addition to any state decreases. While current funding is less than the 2007-2008 funding, the good news is that we have made no major cuts to student programs and services since the last referendum was approved in 2008. We have reduced spending and made cuts in many other areas. Come learn more at our Tuesday, March 27th Referendum Town Hall Meeting which will begin at 7 p.m. in the School Board Meeting Room of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Administrative Center. ~ Dr. Kamela Patton

Message from a School Board Member

This has been a great year for communication among and between our superintendent, school board, staff, parents, and community-at-large. The implications for improving student learning are tremendous! Thankfully, within this foundation, we are poised to accept and triumph above the numerous challenges we are facing both financially and academically. On the academic side, we have begun to assess and determine strategies we will implement relative to the implications of the new testing cut scores on students, staff, and schools for the coming year. At our February 14th School Board Meeting, our Chief Instructional Officer, Beth Thompson, gave a thorough presentation on the implications of these changes and strategies CCPS will implement moving forward. As noted by international education researcher Michael Fullen in numerous publications including Change Forces...there will be an initial drop in scores before the learning curve significantly improves, a reality we will face in CCPS with the implementation of these new testing cut scores. However, with communication at an exceptional level, administrative and school board advocacy in place, our next steps will be to provide those tools our teachers will need to incorporate these changes and ensure our students will become successful in tomorrow's world of work and citizenry. to fully implement current programing without the disruption of new legislation. ~ Kathy Curatolo

Feedback Welcome

Let us know what you think about the newsletter, our website, or if you have suggestions for future newsletters. We'd love to hear from you at feedback@collierschools.com

The Community Foundation of Collier County has launched "Collier 211" for all Collier citizens. Collier 211 is an information & referral service available by dialing 2-1-1 or by visiting www.collier211.org. You can also call 239-263-4211. The backbone of Collier 211 consists of multi-lingual phone operators, who also serve as trained crisis counselors. They connect callers in need of services 24 hours/day, 365 days/year, to available community programs.

Information and Referral Services (I&R Services) help individuals, families, and communities identify, understand, and effectively use programs offered by community non-profits, government, and for-profit service providers. All calls are confidential.