Story and photos by Alan Shimel, a friend of West Boca News
The WBHS Bulls varsity baseball team took advantage of the spring break vacation to travel upstate to Jacksonville where they competed in a high school baseball tournament held at the Providence School.
The Bulls led by Coach Nathan Underwood took a full squad of 23 players up to Jacksonville for the tourney. While only playing in three games, Coach Underwood was able to get just about every player into a game for some play and experience. The team went 1-2 but were competitive in every game.
Driving up on Monday the Bulls first game was Tuesday against an overmatched St John Lutheran team. The Bulls big bats came alive early and they won a mercy rule shortened game 16-5. Senior Chris Charlock went the distance for the Bulls in this game as pitcher. Lawrence Ghougasian, Cory Kuchtam Dom Iagrossi and Chris Cavallo were among the almost 20 Bulls players with hits this game.
The next day’s game had the Bulls moving up in competition against the Bozeman Bucks. Ryan Powers started as pitcher for the Bulls. The Bucks scored a run early and held the lead throughout the game. The final was 5-2. Some excellent relief pitching by Landon Shimel kept the Bulls in the game. The West Boca squad had several chances to take the game but left the bases loaded twice in the late innings.
The Bulls played their last game this morning before heading back to the confines of friendly Boca Raton. They played Ravenwood HS from Tennessee. Chris Cavallo was the starting pitcher for West Boca. The game was a nip and tuck affair throughout. The Bull lost when Ravenwood hit a walk off sacrifice fly in their last at bat 9-8.
Win or lose it was a great experience for the players on the team. They travelled, lodged and ate together as a team. Parents were present and encouraged to participate but this is about high school athletes growing up into young men. Road trips like this are important in that process.
Thanks to the coaches and administration for putting together this trip and to parents who volunteered to drive and chaperone the players. The Bulls continue their season with Senior night on March 31 at home against Iliana Christian HS. Senior night ceremonies start at 4:45 and the game starts at 6. Go Bulls!
Tag: west boca high
Spanish River Tops School Grades for Boca
Spanish River had the highest numbers of high schools in Boca in the latest school grades. River edged out Boca High with slightly higher scores in English, Math, Science, and a bit more of a lead in Social Studies. Boca High made the overall score close with a strong performance in the “college and career acceleration” measure.
The top two schools in the county were Suncoast and Dreyfoos, both magnet programs. River topped the rest of the county, followed by Boca High, Jupiter, Wellington and West Boca High. Olympic Heights was not far behind in 9th place out of the 25 high schools in the county with much of the difference coming in the “acceleration” measure.
Both West Boca and Olympic trailed Spanish River and Boca High especially in the English and Math scores, while remaining closer in Science and Social Studies. Graduation rates at WBHS (87%) and OHHS (89%) also trailed the stronger two schools (94% each). The most obvious area for improvement for both West Boca and Olympic is in their math performance. West Boca High was 15 points behind Boca High even though they have similar SAT scores.
As with other data we’ve seen, schools with fewer “economically disadvantaged students” tend to score better. Olympic Heights did well considering it has the highest number in this category for Boca. Inlet Grove High, a charter school in Riviera Beach, had a very strong performance considering its population of economically challenged students.
We previously reported that West Boca and Olympic lag Boca High in AP performance. But this new data show West Boca very close to Boca High in acceleration, suggesting that WBHS is making up for APs with other areas, possibly AICE, dual enrollment, or career oriented classes.
Update: We received a comment and update from Olympic Heights Principal Dave Clark:
I read your article on school grades and thought that I would email you to correct an obvious error. In the article you listed the graduation rate for Olympic Heights as 89% and also said that we trailed both Boca and Spanish River (“stronger schools”?) that each had a 94% graduation rate. As you can see from the table below the graduation rates for the four Boca area High Schools are as follows.
- Olympic Heights – 92.6%
- Boca Raton – 91.6%
- Spanish River – 90.3%
- West Boca – 85.7%
Additionally, Olympic Heights had the highest graduation rate in the entire district for “At Risk” students with 87.5%. These are the students who enter ninth grade as a level 1 or 2 in both reading and math.
I appreciate all of the coverage that you give our kids, but please be accurate with the information that is printed.
Our data came from a spreadsheet on the Florida Department of Education school grades website. It appears that the state used 2014 graduation rates, ignoring the significant improvement demonstrated by Olympic Heights in 2015.
Teacher Sold Grades and Community Service Hours?
We received a tip this morning that a teacher from West Boca High was suspended for selling community service hours to students. That led us to reach out to our readers as well as to the school district and we learned more.
Before we get into the details we remind our readers that West Boca High was already an excellent school and that every school has problems. We’ve reported previously that the school is moving forward with a new principal and a new performing arts academy. From what we can see Principal Sommer is working overtime to fix inherited problems while also giving the school better overall direction.
But with that said, a teacher was removed from West Boca High this past summer. A reader forwarded us this message from Principal Sommer, sent around 12:30 pm today (after we had contacted him and the district):
Last summer, the School District’s Office of Professional Standards began an investigation into a teacher from West Boca Raton High. That investigation is still ongoing, so I am unable to share any details, but I assure you that we are taking the matter seriously. The teacher was reassigned to another location where there is no contact with students, and has not been on West Boca’s campus this school year.
The district has confirmed what our sources told us, that the teacher involved is John Critelli. He taught science, including anatomy in the medical academy. We do not have firm confirmation about the accusations against him.
Multiple sources told us it was about the teacher selling community service hours to students. These hours are important for students for a variety of reasons. From the district’s guide:
Students of the Palm Beach County School District are required to obtain a minimum of 20 community service hours to graduate from high school. Community service is also a requirement for many scholarships (i.e. Bright Futures) and college entrance programs.
In addition to the hours, another source tells us that the teacher is also being investigated for selling grades. While we consider this particular source to be well informed, we have only heard that detail from the one source.
It is unclear why the district is taking so long to investigate what seem like straightforward allegations. Either an innocent man is having his reputation damaged unnecessarily, or taxpayer money is being wasted.
From LinkedIn, Critelli is a 2009 graduate of SUNY Potsdam in northern New York State and he either has or is working on a PhD at FAU. He started teaching at West Boca High in 2009, and worked actively with students in a variety of clubs. He has generally positive ratings as a teacher on the Rate My Teachers website.
This positive student review is oddly timed in August of this year after he had already been removed, and the last bit is just weird:
Critelli is one of the best teachers I have ever had. He helps you out so much, no matter who you are. He’s harder on you if he sees you have potential but don’t take advantage of that. He helped me through my first year of high school and even when I went to homeschooling, he kept in touch and made sure I was doing okay. If you have him, I will consider you lucky, just don’t get on his bad side!
Most of his positive reviews are from a few years ago. On the other hand he received a few negative reviews in the last couple years.
May 2015: I am not gonna lie. He sucks. I can’t stand how rude and disrespectful he is. He finds favorites & ignores everyone else. He won’t acknowledge you no matter how smart you are. He thinks he’s always right but he isn’t. He might be a little funny sometimes but most of the time, the “funny” things he says are incredibly rude. He thinks he’s doing us a favor by making us learn on our own but no, as a freshman teacher, he has to guide us through how high school will work, not throw all the work at us.
March 2015: As a person, he is great. He’s fun and friendly. But he has a way of making sure he’s always right. He is kinda a hypocrite and wants students to feel open in his class but then yells at them for asking a question. Doesn’t review with us at all and then throws a huge test on us and blames it on us when we don’t do well.
May 2014: His favoritism with some of his students is deplorable and annoying. He is bipolar and enjoys tricking his students. His favorite thing to say to students is “cry me a river”(in a condescending/sarcastic way).
West Boca High has taken a few hits in the last year, with the biggest being the former principal’s plagiarism scandal that led to his removal.
We are optimistic that Principal Sommer will steer the school through these issues and make WBHS an even better school than it already is.
West Boca JV Coach Sought Nude Photos From 14-Year-Old
Recent news shows another bad moment for Boca area schools. From the Palm Beach Post:
A coach for a Boynton Beach travel soccer team was arrested Tuesday after soliciting a nude photograph from a 14-year-old girl (8th grade) on the team, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office reports.
We heard about the arrest from several sources here in West Boca, but we had a little more detail. As we understand it, Mr. Djamesley Leveille (a Delray Beach resident) was also a coach for the girls JV soccer team at West Boca High and was arrested at the school in front of students. The PB Post article indicates the girl lived in Boca Raton but was not more specific.
The school district offered a terse response to our inquiry:
He was a JV coach at the school, but had been there less than a month. He was immediately terminated.
We asked some follow-up questions (such as how he was vetted) and are waiting for a response. One parent gave us a little more detail:
My daughter was on the team and he was creepy. … Not all of them saw him getting arrested.
Another parent told us:
He was terrible. But was hired by district not school and was NOT a teacher which was terrible for the girls.
If we get more information we will update this article.
West Boca High Adding Performing Arts Academy
West Boca High School has been known for some time for its outstanding band and drama group. They’re taking it up a notch by adding a fifth academy choice program for the coming year and beyond.
Principal Sommer was kind enough to meet with us in his office last week. He’s new to the school, and widely appreciated by parents, teachers and students. To oversimplify, there seem to be two kinds of principals. The old school model is to just keep the ship running well. The new approach, exemplified by Geoff McKee at Boca High is more active. Sommer seems to fit in with this, an energetic guy who wants to move the school ahead. He even mentioned the Marzano leadership model. As Sommer put it: “I don’t care about the numbers. I want every kid to have the opportunity they deserve.”
When we discussed the new academy Sommer was very excited. West Boca High’s enrollment is down by a couple hundred students and he hopes to bring in more kids which will allow the school to offer more options and opportunities.
Although details from the school district about the new academy are still sketchy, band director Larry Shane has expressed his enthusiasm. He is hopeful that the school will eventually add a second music teacher for Music Theory. Shane is currently caught up in the band’s upcoming trip to perform in the London New Year’s Day Parade, a big honor for the school.
Drama Director Lance Blank has also been enthusiastic (as he seems to be about everything). We were unable to get a comment from him as he’s busy with the Noises Off show that starts next week.
The new academy will eventually include four tracks: Band/Music, Theatre, Chorus and Dance. Initially admission will be determined by lottery. Some involved are hopeful that it will eventually be done by audition but that will not happen right away if at all.
Like the other high schools in Boca, WBHS is already a strong school. Between its new principal and the incoming academy, its prospects are looking even brighter.
The school’s full choice brochure is below:
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/WB-Academy-Brochure-2015_16Web.pdf”]