Danny Valentine, Times Staff Writer
Danny Valentine is based in Brooksville, covering education and general assignment stories for tampabay.com and the Tampa Bay Times. Always accepting story ideas.
Phone: (352) 848-1432
Email: dvalentine@tampabay.com
Twitter: @DannyValentine
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Superintendents warn new school grading formula means more F's
06/18/13K12TAMPA — This year's school grades aren't out yet, but Florida educators are worried.
With changes to the grading formula and higher testing standards kicking in this year, superintendents warned State Board of Education members and Commissioner Tony Bennett on Tuesday that they will likely see a dramatic drop in school grades despite relatively steady student test performance compared with last year....
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Florida Board of Education to take closer look at school grading formula
06/18/13 BlogTAMPA — This year’s school grades aren’t out yet, but Florida educators already are worried.
With changes to the grading formula and higher testing standards kicking in this year , superintendents on Tuesday warned State Board of Education members and Commissioner Tony Bennett that they likely will see a dramatic drop in school grades despite relatively steady student performance compared to last year....
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Just 40% of students pay $15 activity fee at Hernando schools
06/14/13K12Hernando High School principal Leechele Booker had hoped to hold more events to recognize students for their achievements and to teach positive behavior.
Pine Grove Elementary principal Thomas Earl Deen ran out of money designated for student activities and had to pull cash from other funds.
At West Hernando Middle, teachers dipped into their own pockets to pay for pizza parties and provide other incentives, said principal Carmine Rufa....
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Teacher suspended, bus driver cleared in two Hernando school investigations
06/12/13K12BROOKSVILLE — A Pine Grove Elementary School first-grade teacher was suspended without pay for 10 days after an investigation into allegations that she yelled at a student, made disparaging remarks about him and hit him in the chest with a backpack in April.
During a computer lab session on April 5, Ellen Lewis was asked to speak with another teacher's student, who wasn't working on a computer, according to a summary by Pine Grove assistant principal Gina Michalicka....
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Communities in School reaches at-risk students at two high schools
06/11/13K12BROOKSVILLE — The Central High School student just would not go to school.
On any given day, assistant principal Latressa Jones says, she could call him at home and he'd be there. He didn't want to go to class. And the adults in his life couldn't force him.
So the school paired the freshman up with Greg Sheldon, a mentor through the nonprofit Communities in Schools of Hernando County, the local affiliate of the nation's largest dropout prevention organization....
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A night of firsts for Weeki Wachee High graduates
06/08/13K12BROOKSVILLE — Weeki Wachee High School teacher Kim Jones stood on a small stage, trying to corral the sea of green-clad graduates.
"It's time; it's time," she called over the microphone. "We need to start lining up."
The seniors buzzed with anticipation as they formed ranks, shouting, laughing and mugging for cellphone cameras. They practiced how, after just a few short speeches, they would cross the stage and accept their high school diplomas. Some tested their handshakes....
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Though disappointed, Hernando assistants pledge support for new superintendent
06/07/13K12BROOKSVILLE — They've been passed over.
And over.
And over again.
Hernando County School District assistant superintendents Sonya Jackson and Ken Pritz have each competed for the top job in the district's past three searches for a superintendent of schools. Each time, they've missed the mark.
In the most recent search, the first where they both held the district's second-highest title, they were beat out by a younger external candidate with no prior experience as a superintendent or assistant superintendent....
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Hernando School Board: Valedictorian, salutatorian honors should remain
06/04/13K12BROOKSVILLE — Hernando County School Board members sent a clear message to superintendent Bryan Blavatt on Tuesday about how the district should recognize top high school graduates.
Board members do not want to see valedictorians and salutatorians disappear.
The discussion followed an earlier vote where board members apparently inadvertently eliminated the top two academic honors beginning with the current freshman classes....
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Weeki Wachee High School valedictorian makes history
06/04/13K12WEEKI WACHEE — Janet Ho can claim something nobody else will ever be able to say:
She is Weeki Wachee High School's first valedictorian.
Ho, on Thursday, will be among the 211 students making up the first graduating class at Weeki Wachee — a school that opened in 2010 with freshman and sophomores.
Becoming valedictorian is only the latest in a long list of accomplishments for Ho, who has skipped a grade, earned her associate's degree from Pasco-Hernando Community College and managed to achieve a 4.68 grade-point average by the age of 16....
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Hernando High graduation ceremony turns to soggy mess
06/03/13 BlogBROOKSVILLE — Graduating seniors at Hernando High School marched toward the school’s stadium Saturday night amidst light sprinkles, with heavy black clouds looming nearby.
Then the skies opened.
By the time the students got to the field and in their seats, the ceremony had dissolved into a soggy mess.
Purple graduation caps wilted in the heavy rain. Gowns were drenched. Makeup streaked down faces. Carefully styled hair was ruined....
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Hernando High graduates get soaked in ceremony before postponement
06/03/13K12BROOKSVILLE — Graduating seniors at Hernando High School marched toward the school's stadium Saturday night amid light sprinkles, with heavy black clouds looming nearby.
Then the skies opened.
By the time the students got to the field and in their seats, the ceremony had dissolved into a soggy mess.
Purple graduation caps wilted in the heavy rain. Gowns were drenched. Makeup streaked faces. Carefully styled hair was ruined....
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Young immigrant graduates from Springstead High as a leader
06/01/13K12SPRING HILL — Springstead High School senior Bernard Ndedi came to the United States from Cameroon in 2005 filled with grand expectations.
He imagined that everyone was famous. And that there were no rules.
He found his new home — Hernando County — to be a bit different.
"It wasn't streets paved of gold like everyone was saying," he said.
But he's made the most out of his time here....
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Hernando's only single-gender classrooms eliminated — then quickly restored
05/31/13K12SPRING HILL — In fall 2007, Westside Elementary School launched a program on the cusp of educational reform: single-gender classrooms.
One of the first such programs in Tampa Bay, it was highly touted.
Over the first few years, the all-boys and all-girls classrooms — one of each per grade level, grades 2 to 5 — appeared to be hugely popular with parents, teachers and students. ...
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Deep in an academic hole, Hernando student rallies to graduate
05/29/13K12WEEKI WACHEE — Just days into her fourth year of high school, Monica Diaz walked into her guidance counselor's office and realized — finally — how badly she had messed up.
She plopped into a chair. Her mother, Marilyn, sat next to her. Joan Emerson, a school counselor for more than three decades, didn't sugarcoat things. She told Monica it would be "almost impossible" for her to graduate on time....
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Names of suspected shooters released in two Hernando cases
05/28/13CrimeThe Hernando County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday released the names of two men they suspect of fatally shooting two others in unrelated incidents last week.
Neither man has been charged.
Detectives believe Christopher Asciolla, 28, shot Michael Alexander Challis during an argument early Thursday at 6991 Pinehurst Drive in Spring Hill. Challis, 34, was taken to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point in Hudson, where he died....
