PCS took home three top awards in the National History Day competition. Dunedin Highland Middle School was awarded first place for Junior Group Performance and Largo High won the Equality in History Award for Senior Group Website. Amanda Dogu of Boca Ciega High School was named the Florida History Day Teacher of Merit.

Carwise Middle School competed in the National Future Cities competition.

Palm Harbor University High School team won the 2023-24 NextGenTech360 competition for an AI-driven fitness app.

Brayden Lyons of Madeira Beach Fundamental School earned a spot at the International Geography Bee.

Seminole High School Warhawk Marching Band was invited to perform at the 2025 Tournament of Roses Parade.

Elisa Nelson Elementary School Odyssey of the Mind team placed second at the world championship.

Grayson Burns of Largo High School earned a perfect SAT score. He is in the top 1% of over 2 million test takers.

Tarpon Springs High School Outdoor Performance Ensemble was the Regional Bands of America Grand Champion.

Alana Hogan from Gibbs High School was named Best Dancer at the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, known as the Jimmy Awards.

Gibbs High School basketball coach Larry Murphy was named the 2024 Florida Dairy Farmers Boys Basketball Coach of the Year. The team brought home the state championship for the first time since 1969.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) honored Seminole High School students and staff as Planet Stewards for their Landscape Architectural Project.

Palm Harbor University High School Robotics Team was invited to the FIRST® World Championship for the second year. 

Elisa Nelson Elementary School was awarded a 2023 Florida Power-Library School.

Boca Ciega High School was revalidated as an AVID National Demonstration School.

Safety Harbor Middle School was recognized as a Middle Years Programme IB World School.

PCS was awarded continued districtwide accreditation status by Cognia, scoring in the highest level of performance and earning accolades for noteworthy practices.  

18 Pinellas schools won National Merit Awards from Magnet Schools of America (MSA): 

Merit Award of Excellence Winners:

• Countryside High
• Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary

Merit Award of Distinction Winners:

• Dunedin Highland Middle
• East Lake Middle Academy of Engineering
• Elisa Nelson Elementary
• Gulfport Montessori Elementary
• Jacobson Technical High
• James B. Sanderlin K-8 IB World
• John Hopkins Middle
• Lakewood High
• Largo High
• Largo Middle IB World
• Midtown Academy
• Mildred Helms Elementary IB World
• Perkins Elementary
• Ridgecrest Elementary
• Seminole High
• Tarpon Springs Middle

PCS Employee Honors

• Linda Burris - Principal of the Year, Tyrone Ms
• Katrina Carpenter - Emerging Teacher of the Year, Mount Vernon ES
• Paul Comini - School Resource Officer of the Year, Countryside HS
• Dr. Amanda Daniels - Emerging Teacher of The Year, Palm Harbor University HS
• John Darby - Jessie Dorsey Campus Activities Monitor of the Year, Lakewood HS
• Brett Faulk - School Resource Officer of the Year, Countryside HS
• David Gonzales - Support Employee of the Year, Garrison-Jones ES
• Candice Metcalf - Assistant Principal of the Year, Hollins HS
• Yaritza Ramos - School Safety Officer of the Year, Douglas L. Jamerson Jr. ES
• Rebecca Spencer - Student Services Employee of the Year, Prevention Office

Gerard Madrinan - PCS Teacher of the Year, Seminole High School

• Azalea Middle School Engineering and Aviation Instructor Willis Reese III was named Magnet Schools of America (MSA) Regional Teacher of the Year.
• Dr. Jennifer Maronie, a district occupational therapist, was awarded the Landis M. Stetler Memorial Award by the Florida Council for Exceptional Children.
• Jamerson Elementary School teacher Rafael Robinson was named the Florida Association of Science Educators Outstanding Science Teacher of the Year.
• Mark Hunt, Executive Director of Career, Technical and Adult Education, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida
  Association for Career Technical Educators (FACTE).

“A” DISTRICT
PCS has earned a district-level “A” for the first time in its history. Every Pinellas County School has earned an A, B, or C school grade. PCS reached the highest levels of proficiency in ELA, Math and Science in nine years, reaching first among large districts in the state.

Field Trips
PCS provided 466 standards-aligned field trips to over 37,500 students. Some experiences included St. Pete Grand Prix, MacDill Air Force Base and American Victory Ship and Museum, as well as on-campus field trips from authors and scientists, college campus visits and career days.

Arts Education
Over 270 middle and high school students attended the PCS Ignite Arts Camp to enhance their band, chorus, orchestra, musical theater and dance performance skills.
PCS provided 466 standards-aligned field trips to over 37,500 students. Some experiences included St. Pete Grand Prix, MacDill Air Force Base and American Victory Ship and Museum, as well as on-campus field trips from authors and scientists, college campus visits and career days.

• PCS was named as one of the Best Communities for Music Education by NAMM for the fifth consecutive year.
• 3,446 K-12 students’ 2D and 3D artworks were displayed in over 25 exhibitions at local museums, centers and galleries.
• 450 scholastic art awards were earned by 324 middle and high school students.
• 4,500 students participated in arts fields trips to local museums.

Read Across Pinellas (RAP)

90 Read Across Pinellas (RAP) trained tutors worked with individual kindergarten and first-grade students twice a week. For the second year, RAP was extended through the summer. Over 2,200 students in grades VPK through second grade were tutored by 156 PCS alumni and community members in June. 

Pinellas Early Literacy Initiative (PELI)

PCS expanded PELI training sites throughout the county. PCS teachers have accrued more than 11,000 hours of PELI training.
The University of Florida Literacy Initiative (UFLI) phonics program expanded and is implemented in all kindergarten classes.

College Readiness

• PCS graduates attend colleges throughout the country.
• 17 College and Career Centers
• 8.5 K Students Served
• PCS students and families saved $14 million in college tuition by completing 23,037 courses for 69,111 college credits.

Career Education

• 97% of seniors enrolled in a career dual enrollment program completed the program prior to high school graduation or transitioned to PTC after graduation to complete the program.
• 43% of graduates for the 17 traditional high schools earned at least one industry certification.
• 169 students participated in summer internships with 50 businesses.
• PCS received the Power of Hope award from the National Postsecondary Strategy Institute for engaging school counselors to lead and increase college and career outcomes for students.

Transforming Middle Schools

PCS is transforming the middle school experience to accelerate student achievement while supporting students’ transitions from elementary to middle and middle to high school. The major components of change include:

• Embedding Enrichment Activities that Promote Team Building
• Integrating Cross-curricular Hands-on Learning Experiences
• Rapport-building Through Teacher Teaming
• Enhancing Field Trip Opportunities

Impact 2023-24 

The six schools that implemented the middle school initiative outperformed the non-pilot schools:

• Increased student achievement
• Reduced D and F grades in core courses
• Reduced discipline infractions

Future Cities Competition
Six middle schools hosted a schoolwide Future Cities competition, totaling over 100 projects. The winning class from each school competed in the first districtwide middle school Future Cities competition. Students were tasked with imagining, researching, designing and building a city 100 years in the future that would mitigate the impacts of wind and rain during hurricane season.

Book Markets
Free, pop-up middle school Summer Reading Book Markets were hosted in all middle schools. To make reading feel exciting and special, students selected a novel of their choice from the market, in addition to receiving a drawstring bag, bookmark, pen and sticky notes.

Middle School Science
All 21 middle schools hosted the Great Explorations Planetarium on-site field trip for more than 5,000 eighth graders. The 180-degree immersive video experience complemented the science standards and helped students learn how the curriculum applied to the real world.

96% of middle school students demonstrated grade-level or higher knowledge of the standards covered in the planetarium experience, based on the state science assessment.

Middle school students engaged in hands-on science and innovation labs designed in partnership with ARK Educate. During the labs, students created reusable rockets, sustainable Florida structures and built and coded robots. Their projects were showcased during the Science and Engineering Showcase.

Positive Cultures of Learning

The Student Support division is supporting schools and addressing student behaviors using a multifaceted approach that includes:

• Designing and refining systematic processes to address behaviors across all tiers 
• Providing high-quality professional development to build capacity and shift mindset regarding discipline and consequences
• Increasing stakeholder input and engagement
• Strengthening support to schools

Digital Responsibility

PCS elicited feedback from school staff, families and the community regarding the use of cell phones in schools. Using the feedback from stakeholders, the School Board
revised its wireless communication device policy and designed a communications strategy to encourage schools and families to power up learning and power down distractions.

Student Leadership Summit

The annual Student Leadership Summit brought diverse groups of students from every school to the USF St. Petersburg campus to engage in a conference-style leadership experience. Throughout the day, students:

• Provided feedback to the superintendent and district leaders
• Competed in hands-on challenges that exercised their communication skills
• Explored the college campus during a scavenger hunt
• Applied their leadership skills to partner with their school’s SAVE Club and organized activities for See Something, Say Something week utilizing the skills harnessed

Driving Positivity in PCS

Anthony Burgess, a PCS bus driver, encouraged students to decorate the bus with positive messages. Mr. Anthony then taped the positive messages next to each seat, so children could read the messages creating a fun climate and culture for his students. Anthony’s story was recognized internationally.

Algebra Bowl

Middle school students participated in the Transformation Zone Algebra Bowl. Students competed to answer three rounds of FAST-style algebra questions plus a 15-minute, 15-question lightning round. Tyrone Middle School earned the championship for the second year in a row.

Boys Read and Guys Read Book Battle

The Boys Read Book Battle Teams are composed of boys in third through fifth-grade. The teams read a series of books based on topics of interest, and tested their comprehension and evidence-finding skills in a quiz-bowl-style district competition. The competition was developed as a strategy to support boys’ literacy skills while competing and having fun. The Boys Read Book Battle expanded to high school in a similar competition called Guys Read.

Bridging the Gap

The Bridging the Gap Plan is dedicated to closing the achievement gap for Black students in Pinellas County. In 2023-24, the district demonstrated improvement in areas within all six goals and is committed to the work to accelerate progress. To learn more about the plan go to www.pcsb.org/BTG.

Functionable Clubhouse

The FUNctionable Clubhouse at Nina Harris ESE Center is a custom-designed, innovative space where special-needs students experience multisensory play. The creation of the FUNctionable Clubhouse was made possible by the Mr. Strong Foundation.

Reading Royale

The inaugural Reading Royale was a literacy competition for third-grade students in the Transformation Zone. Each school team utilized their literacy skills to compete in games and a poetry slam. During the games, students deepened their knowledge of making words with morphologic knowledge and reading new BEST passages.

Adult Learning

The Adult Learning initiative is designing a system that sets expectations for all trainings and guarantees a continuum of learning options to meet staff needs and interests. All PCS facilitators are expected to take the Skilled Facilitator Essentials course. Over 750 staff members completed the training in the first six months.

Employee Child Care Launch

PCS launched a new child care program for employees with young children. The program offers developmentally appropriate curriculum with enrichment and parent communication. The program welcomed its inaugural class in July 2024.

Family-friendly Workplace

PCS was awarded as a Family-Friendly Workplace that demonstrates a commitment to creating a workplace that cares about the needs of employees and the needs of their families.

Superintendent’s Leadership Summit

The superintendent’s Leadership Summit brought staff together to kick off the school year with interactive experiences that model adult learning expectations.

Listen & Learn

The superintendent and school board hosted community Listen & Learn sessions throughout the year to hear first-hand input from the community. The input gathered during these sessions is used to inform district improvements and further strengthen the partnership between the district and its community.  

Experience PCS

PCS welcomed over 3,000 people to Experience PCS, an event that featured family-friendly activities such as a chess competition, a flag football tournament, a chalk mural competition, and a contest to create the tallest Lego tower.

Volunteers and Mentors of the Year

• Rebecca Carroll - Most Active Lunch Pals Volunteer
• Christine Collinson - Lunch Pals Mentor of the Year
• Jack Fletcher - Take Stock in Children Mentor of the Year
• Garius Goshay - High School Mentor of the Year, Largo HS 5000 Role Models Program
• Todd Haraminac - Elementary Mentor of the Year, M.K. Rawlings ES 5000 Role Models Program
• Jasmine Henderson - Middle School Mentor of the Year, Seminole MS Girlfriends Program
• Bill Schmidling - Senior Volunteer, Oak Grove MS
• Daryl Simmions - High School Mentor of the Year, Largo HS 5000 Role Models Program
• Sue Spurgeon - Adult Volunteer, Shore Acres ES
• Tiffany Whitman - Youth Volunteer, M.K. Rawlings ES

Transportation

PCS enhanced the efficiency of bus routes and the bus driver hiring process, resulting in on-time routing. 

20 electric buses were tested in summer 2024 and launched in the fleet in August 2024-25 school year.

Finance

PCS is modernizing the purchasing processes through a contract with OpenGov, which is a cloud-based, end-to-end procurement platform. As of April 2024, 87.6% of all ESSER/ARP funds received by PCS were expended, positioning the district for full expenditure by the September 2024 deadline.

ESSER/ARP funding provided PCS students with summer enrichment experiences in STEM, arts, culinary and robotics.

Technology

PCS has begun the development and implementation of a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to improve all essential financial and human resources processes.

Back-to-school forms and property removal forms have been fully converted from paper forms to online forms.

Facilities and Operations

Gulf Beaches Elementary Pocket Village - Completed: Aug 2024
$3.1M new construction of a six-classroom pocket village at Gulf Beaches Elementary School

Mangrove Bay Middle - Completed: Aug 2024
State-of-the-art YMCA and middle school shared facility designed to meet both organizations’ needs.

Sandy Lane Elementary - Completed: Aug 2024
$14M remodel of the existing Sandy Lane Elementary School campus, which houses the Conservatory for the Arts.

Leadership Center - Groundbreaking: January 2024
$15M new construction of a 21st century leadership center to enhance the growth of professionals within the district and the surrounding community.