Venice High principal attributes growth at his school to new affordable housing and the fact his community ‘is a great place to raise a family’
As the Sarasota County School Board continued discussions this week about how best to handle projected enrollment growth over the next 10 years, members and staff voiced surprise at the increase in the number of district high school students this year.
“I’d like to find out where those kids came from that we weren’t expecting,” board member Shirley Brown said.
Staff projections called for total enrollment at the high school level, exclusive of charter schools, to be 10,665. The district’s five-day count was 10,857, an increase of 192 students.
The school experiencing the biggest hike is Venice High. Principal Jack Turgeon told The Sarasota News Leader on Sept. 17 that his count as of that day was 2,115, three more than the five-day figure of 2,112. District staff had expected 2,001 students for the 2015-16 school year.
Turgeon attributed much of the growth to new development in the community. While he cautioned that he had “no factual data,” he said his conversations with local Realtors indicated Venice has “a more affordable [housing] option for families [and] Venice is a great place to raise a family.”
Further, Turgeon said, Venice High has “a nice variety of comprehensive programs.” Among them, starting this school year, is its International Baccalaureate Program.
Additionally, Turgeon continued, “We’re doing well academically.”
Another factor is that Venice Middle School is a natural feeder for the high school, he noted. “I think it’s a combination of things. We are excited.”
Booker High School reported the second highest increase in student growth, with 82 more enrolled than expected when the five-day count was recorded, for a total of 1,177.
Booker High School reported the second highest increase in student growth, with 82 more enrolled than expected when the five-day count was recorded, for a total of 1,177.
Principal Rachel Shelley told the News Leader in a Sept. 18 telephone interview that she could point to a number of factors contributing to the increase, especially “new programming that is really enticing and energizing students.”
For example, this is the first year for the Cambridge AICE Program at the school. As Booker’s website explains, this “is an international program out of the University of Cambridge [that] provides students an opportunity to take challenging courses and [it] provides examinations that can lead to earning college credits while in high school.”
Seventy-six students are enrolled in that program, Shelley noted.
Another attraction is the Booker High School Law Academy, Shelley continued, which was established about two years ago. More students have signed up for that as well.
The school’s Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) program long has been a draw, Shelley pointed out, and one new feature it boasts is a Film Academy, which operates in conjunction with the Sarasota Film Festival, thanks to community funding.
She added that more students have enrolled in the VPA music program this year, too.
Further, Shelley told the News Leader, she has seen an increase in the number of Manatee County and Charlotte County students coming to Booker High for its special offerings. So far this school year, she noted, eight new students have transferred from Bayshore High in Bradenton.
Additionally, more and more Sarasota County students for whom Booker is not their designated school according to their place of residence — what district staff refers to as a student’s “districted” school — are enrolling at Booker.
Yet other feature in which Shelley expressed pride is the Renaissance Program, which was created “to reward and recognize students who do amazing things inside and outside the classroom.”
Shelley also pointed out that because of its wide variety of course options, Booker offers “a college-like experience.”
Finally, Shelley spoke of the “brand new facility,” which was completed in early 2014. “It’s absolutely gorgeous,” she added. “It’s the most beautiful high school in the district.”
As of Sept. 18, Shelley said, enrollment stood at 1,195; the campus was designed for a maximum of 1,200.
In an interview with the News Leader this week, Sarasota Schools Superintendent Lori White explained that the district does not maintain a database with the specific types of information that might explain the overall increase in the high school enrollment.
The only possible factor she could suggest for the uptick this year, she continued, is the decrease in student enrollment at Sarasota Military Academy (SMA). The district projection called for 1,106 students. However, the five-day count showed 1,023, a decrease of 83.
Last year, Dan Kennedy, who started SMA, retired from his leadership position at the school and from its board of directors.
White did point out to the News Leader that principals work all through the summer to minimize disruptions to students if more end up enrolling than expected. The goal always is to make things run as smoothly as possible when classes begin, she added.
As School Board members discussed enrollment during the Sept. 15 workshop, Kathie Ebaugh, the district’s planning director, pointed out that, for example, if staff projects 100 new students will enroll in a given year, staff also divides that number by 13 grades. “We are assuming an equal distribution of students,” she said, “and that never happens, right? … That’s a guess on our part.”
Regarding the extra high school students this year, she added, “That’s just the way things work out sometimes.”
See the related News Leader story this week on growth management in the school district.
Editor’s note: This story was updated in the afternoon of Sept. 18.