Do you need Community Service Hours?

readingbuddyConsider becoming a READING BUDDY. The Glades Road Library needs volunteers in grades 6-12 on Wednesdays from 5 to 6 p.m. Volunteers assist children in grades K-5 with reading skills.
To be a volunteer, pick up an application at the children’s desk. A complete application packet and a one hour training session must be completed to become a reading buddy.
Call 561-482-4554 for more information.

School District Strategic Plan Meetings: Spanish River

Credit: Christine Alfano
The planning is unlikely to fix parking lot flooding, but we just love this photo. Credit: Christine Alfano

Parents, students, district employees and community members are invited to a series of community meetings in October to give their input into the strategic plan that will guide the School District of Palm Beach County for the next five years.
The public meetings will begin Monday, Oct. 5 and continue through Monday, Oct. 19. Meetings will be at various schools throughout Palm Beach County, and each meeting will have two sessions – one for teachers and employees, followed by a second for parents and community members.

The one meeting in West Boca will be Tuesday, Oct. 13 at Spanish River High. Next closest is at Atlantic High in Delray on Monday, Oct. 19.

All meetings will take place in the school’s media center and will last approximately 90 minutes. Meetings for teachers and employees are scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m., while community meetings are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.
Meetings are planned for the following dates and locations. Please note that two meetings are scheduled for Oct. 15:

  • Monday, Oct. 5: Pahokee High School, 900 Larrimore Road, Pahokee
  • Tuesday, Oct. 6: Park Vista High School, 7900 Jog Road, Lake Worth
  • Thursday, Oct. 8: William T. Dwyer High School, 13601 N. Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens
  • Monday, Oct. 12: Seminole Ridge High School, 4601 Seminole Pratt Whitney Road, Loxahatchee
  • Tuesday, Oct. 13: Spanish River High School, 5100 Jog Road, Boca Raton
  • Wednesday, Oct. 14: Santaluces High School, 6880 Lawrence Road, Lantana
  • Thursday, Oct. 15: Suncoast High School, 1717 Avenue S, Riviera Beach
  • Thursday, Oct. 15: Conniston Middle School, 3630 Parker Ave., West Palm Beach
  • Monday, Oct. 19: Atlantic High School, 2455 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach

Contact the Office of Engagement at (561) 357-7572 with questions about the Strategic Plan Input Tour.
For more information, please contact the Office of Communications at (561) 357-1114.

Is Facebook Underestimating Engagement?

facebook-clicks
A couple days ago we wrote an article that did well on Facebook. Reach and engagement were much stronger than our typical post. As you can see above Facebook’s “insights” on the post show it reached over 40,000 people and had a lot of likes, comments and shares. It was almost viral with far more comments and likes on the shares than on the post itself.
We noticed, however, that the number of link clicks were fairly low. Less than 3000 people appeared to click on the link, and 8600 clicked on something on the post.
We noticed heavy traffic on our site in the last three days, nearly all for this one post about a restaurant inspection for a popular restaurant near our community.
So we checked. Jetpack Site Stats showed 30,000 page views coming from Facebook in the last week, a lot more than what our FB numbers suggest:
jetpack-fb-referrals
And our Google Analytics numbers also show a similar amount of Facebook traffic specifically to this page, roughly 30,000 again:
analytics-facebook-engagement
In other words, it appears that our site got 10 times as much traffic from this post than the “link clicks” number indicates, or more than triple the number of “post clicks”.
So, is Facebook underestimating engagement? Yes and no. Our best guess is that the link clicks shown in FB Insights is limited to clicks on the original post and does not include link clicks on the shares.
Still we find this suspicious. If our post was shared over 1800 times with all those likes and comments on the shares, and we got nearly 3000 link clicks just on our post, you’d think our total traffic would have been much larger.

Aida: Great Start for Marquee Theater Company

aida-3
West Boca has a new theater group, as we mentioned back in August. The Marquee Theater performed its first show – Aida – here at West Boca High. It was a wonderful performance.
If you’re interested there are only three more performances, Friday and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. You can buy tickets online.
The stage was rich with color, even in the curtain.
aida-stage
We were surprised by how big the audience was. It was comparable to Slow Burn Theatre’s shows, but this was just Marquee’s first weekend. Slow Burn did take on more challenging and less popular material, so it may just be a reflection of that.
The story is a love triangle involving Nubian princess Aida (Alexandria Lugo, an Egyptian princess (Darcy Hernandez), and an Egyptian soldier (Bruno Faria – a West Boca High grad).
Our notes from the performance speak well of it:

Great voices and dancing. Extravagant set design and costumes. Quite a production.
Bruno solid in the lead male role. Can hear Elton John in his voice.
Lugo is spectacular – voice, presence. It’s a great role and she fits.
Elijah Word delivers in supporting role as Mereb.
Darcy Hernandez also pops as the vain material girl princess. Another outstanding and powerful voice.

Hernandez has a delightful performance in the first act as a spoiled rich girl obsessed with clothes and looks. But she grows, particularly in the second act.
aida
Faria and Lugo have great chemistry that grows throughout the show. While we liked all the lead performances, our favorite was Elijah Word as Mereb. He brought depth to the character through his facial expression, body movement, and tone of voice.

Elijah Word
Elijah Word

There was also a fairly large ensemble with well choreographed dance numbers.
Please keep in mind that we are not professional theater reviewers. You can read a more professional review in the Miami Herald.
They were somewhat critical of costume choices but we thought it was intentional and worked well.
AidaRadames

Homes Sold in Mission Bay, Avalon and Boca Falls

Zip code 33428 is located west of Lyons Road, south of Glades Road, and north of Loxahatchee Road and the county line. Many neighborhoods can be found here including Mission Bay, Boca Falls, Boca Winds, Loggers’ Run, Avalon, Vineyards, Boca Woods, Boca Lago, and Boca Dunes. The area is close to shopping and the South County Regional Park.
The Mission Bay development consists of over twelve hundred homes within 10 “villages.” Certain villages have their own sub-associations. The community is west of 441 and covers 500 acres on both sides of Glades Road. The land includes the Evert Tennis Academy and Boca Prep International School and is near commercial plazas including Sports Authority and Mission Bay Plaza. There are swimming pools, tennis leagues, social events and more. HOA fees vary.

20562 Sausalito; image and map data by Google
20562 Sausalito; image and map data by Google

The two story home at 20562 Sausalito Drive sold for $446,000. It has 5 bedrooms and 3.1 bathrooms in 3037 sq. feet of living space. The downstairs has all marble floors and a black granite kitchen with a cook island. The upstairs master bedroom has dual sinks and a separate shower and tub. The backyard and large lap pool overlook the lake. This short sale was last purchased in 2005 for $565,000. It was built in 1988.
View of rear of 10671 Bexley from Diego Drive; image by Google.
View of rear of 10671 Bexley from Diego Drive; image by Google.

10671 Bexley Boulevard sold for $420,000. It has 4 bedrooms and 3.1 bathrooms in 2157 sq. feet of living space.
10900 La Salinas Circle sold for $375,000. It has 4 bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms in 2260 sq. feet of living space.
Avalon Estates is a gated community just east of 441 on Palmetto Park Road. Amenities include a clubhouse, basketball courts, playground and sidewalks. Students attend Sandpiper Shores Elementary, Eagles Landing Middle School and Olympic Heights Community High School.
The Mediterranean style home at 9617 Parkview Avenue sold for $600,000. It has 5 bedrooms and 4 full bathrooms in 3400 sq. feet of living space. This 2 story home has a granite kitchen with maple wood cabinets with built in appliances. There is custom procelain tile and crown moldings throughout the home and a dramatic foyer. The backyard features a large private in ground pool and fenced in yard. Built in 1998, it was purchased for $800,000 in 2005.
9786 Parkview Avenue sold for $535,000. It has 5 bedrooms and 3.1 bathrooms in 2925 sq. feet of living space.
bocafallsBoca Falls is a gated community with manned entrances west of 441 between Glades Road and Palmetto Park Road. The community has a clubhouse with a new exercise room, a full-size basketball courts and several tennis courts. There is also a large resort-style pool and kiddie pool as well as a covered playground. There are amazing sidewalks and biking paths and a private entry for the elementary school. Students attend Waters Edge Elementary School, Loggers’ Run Middle School and West Boca Raton High School.
12328 Riverfalls Court; photo copyright Warren Redlich, West Boca News
12328 Riverfalls Court; photo copyright Warren Redlich, West Boca News

The beautiful home at 12328 Riverfalls Ct sold for $585,000. It has 4 bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms in 2773 sq. feet of living space. The custom contemporary kitchen has quartz counter tops, beautiful wood cabinets and high end stainless steel appliances. There is an open floor plan and wood floors throughout the bedrooms. Special features include a screened in pool and eating area. Built in 1997, it was purchased in 2013 for $412,500.
The landscaping is very nice and includes a fountain along the walk from the driveway to the front door.
Fountain and landscaping; photo copyright Warren Redlich, West Boca News
Fountain and landscaping; photo copyright Warren Redlich, West Boca News

This is the second recent example of a home in Boca Falls selling for a higher than usual price, and suggests values in the neighborhood are increasing. We saw this in our July report on Boca Falls with a house on the other street in the same subdivision.
Other Neighborhoods:
10228 Lexington Estates Blvd. in gated Lexington Estates sold for $480,000. It has 5 bedrooms and 3 bedrooms in 3233 sq. feet of living space.
21927 Palm Beach Grass Drive in Boca Winds sold for $450,000. It has 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms in 2890 sq. feet of living space.
12322 Saint Simon Drive in Bay Winds (Boca Winds) sold for $378,000. It has 5 bedrooms and 4.1 full bathrooms in 3253 sq. feet of living space.
11817 Woodsong Court in Country Landing (Loggers’ Run) sold for $359,000. It has 4 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms in 2045 sq. feet of living space.
11480 Chipmunk Drive in Loggers Run sold for $357,000. It has 4 bedrooms and 4 full bathrooms in 2616 sq. feet of living space.