Tag: atlantic high

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.

Olympic Heights Offers Marine JROTC Program

MCJROTC_cadets
From the Palm Beach County School District
Olympic Heights High School will be home to Palm Beach County’s first Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) in the 2015-2016 school year, after a two-year effort by the Department of Choice and Career Options to bring the program to the School District.
The Marine Corps JROTC joins 10 JROTC programs in the district – eight Army, two Air Force and two Navy – at district high schools. The Choice and Career Options department began working in 2013 to secure a sponsorship for a National Defense Cadets Corps from the U.S Marine Corps.

Editor’s note: We see only two other Marine JROTC programs in South Florida, one at Deerfield Beach High, and the other at Stranahan High in Fort Lauderdale. There is an Army JROTC at Atlantic High, an Air Force JROTC at Lake Worth High, and a Navy JROTC at Boca High.

The Marine Corps JROTC program will be led by two instructors who are retired military personnel. Students who become cadets are issued uniforms, participate in leadership programs and learn military history along with citizenship, leadership, personal growth and responsibility, public service and career exploration.
“We are excited and proud that this two-year effort had been awarded to us. It is another opportunity for our students to gain valuable leadership experience and career opportunities,” said Dr. Peter Licata, Director of Choice and Career Options. “The goal of JROTC programs is to build better citizens and to make students leaders in their community. Leadership skills are instilled so the students can be a success in whatever lies ahead for them.”
Olympic Heights Principal Dave Clark said it is an honor for his school to offer the district’s newest JROTC program. “Being a part of JROTC is like being a part of a big family,” Clark said. “There are all different sorts of people, but they get along well because they are all part of the same team.”
JROTC programs are offered by branches of the Armed Forces to prepare high school students to become leaders as they pursue their post-graduate careers, whether in college, the workforce of future military service. Schools with JROTC programs receive approximately $250,000 worth of uniforms, supplies and equipment, including classroom materials and curriculum, from the federal government.
Students are not required to join the military after high school, but the Armed Forces often offer incentives, such as accelerated promotion, to those with high school JROTC experience. There are approximately 155 graduating seniors throughout Palm Beach County who have chosen to enter the military after high school.
To learn more about the Marine Corps JROTC program, contact Tara Kobel, Choice Specialist-JROTC, at [email protected].