Five Star and Golden Schools Celebrated for Community Involvement

From Sarasota County Schools:

SARASOTA COUNTY – Forty-two Sarasota County public schools have been awarded the Golden School Award for their community involvement in 2015-16; 19 of those were named Five Star Schools. The schools were recognized at the Oct. 4 meeting of the School Board of Sarasota County.

“We are delighted that so many of our schools have received and continue to receive this recognition,” said Danielle Schwied, coordinator of the district’s Volunteer & Partnership Office. “We are all so lucky to be part of a community that is so supportive of its public schools. We’re grateful to the staff members, parents, community members, local businesses and organizations that work hard together to make our schools the special places that they are.”

The Golden School Award has been presented annually for over three decades to public schools with exemplary volunteer programs. Schools must document volunteer hours equaling twice the student enrollment, train at least 80 percent of their faculty to work with volunteers, designate a volunteer coordinator and formally recognize their volunteers.

The Five Star School Award honors schools with exemplary programs that fully integrate comprehensive community involvement toward student achievement through community and business partnerships, family involvement, volunteerism, student community service efforts and initiatives of the school’s advisory council, which is made up of parents and other community members as well as school staff. To qualify for the Five Star award, a school must first have a “C” grade or above and meet Golden School Award eligibility requirements, as well as providing extensive documentation that they meet the 31 criteria set by the Florida Department of Education.

Two Sarasota County public schools have been Five Star Schools since the award began in 1994: Bay Haven School of Basics Plus in Sarasota and Venice Elementary School.

In addition to recognizing outstanding schools, the Five Star Award also serves as an assessment tool for schools to measure the success of their programs and identifies schools with programs that serve as models for other schools.

Chart via Sarasota County Schools

Top image via Shutterstock