TAMPA, Fla — More than 220,000 students will return to their seats within Hillsborough County Public Schools.
For Lauren Sequeira-Gaddipati and Laura Byrne, there's a whole lot of excitement bubbling up over Adum Pre-K- 8th Magnet.
"We have 3 kids in our family and the K-8 is a big factor. We're looking forward to having 3 kids in one school at least for the next 3 years," said Sequeira-Gaddipati.
"It's kind of a full circle moment for me. My principal at Gaither High School back in the day was Mr. Adum," Bryne added.
As HCPS readies for school year 24-25, they're focusing on keeping up the momentum from the year prior. Not a single school in the county earned an F Grade on the last report.
"Last year, as we sat here, we sat as a school district and 84% of our schools, our graded schools, were graded A, B or C," said Superintendent Van Ayers. "I sit here today, we sit here, from all the work we've done together, stronger together, we currently sit in Hillsborough County at 96.5%"
Literacy will become a big focus going into the new year. The county has Page Turner, a school bus converted into a learning lounge. The bus gives young kids the opportunity to foster a love for reading and learning.
HCPS will also go into the second year of the UFIL- University of Florida Literacy Initiative.
"Our third-grade proficiency rates increased by 5% last school year, and we are so proud of the dedication and hard work of our teachers and students for making this happen. We're eager to see those rates continue to climb this year as we begin our second year of implementation," said
Sarah Garcia, the HCPS Executive Director of Elementary Education, said, "Our teachers are fully embracing this approach, and we're getting great results."
HCPS is stressing the importance of attendance this year.
HCPS research says missing 10% of the school year, which comes out to about two days a month, has negative impacts on a child's growth. Students with good attendance are anywhere from 1.7 to 2 times more likely to perform at grade-level.
There's also some new changes to embrace this coming school year. When they return, elementary and middle school students will only have access to their cell phones before and after school.
"For me it means I have an extra excuse now to say this is why you're not getting a cell phone. We weren't planning on getting him one until after middle school but now he won't be able to use them anyway," said Byrne.
High school students will also have access to their phones during lunch.
"They're just a huge distraction. And it's a movement across the state, across the state, across the nation, to limit cell phones in classroom, unless directed by teachers, or a distraction or distraction for for all of us," the Superintendent explained.
There's also a new focus on safety for bus riders. This school year, every bus will be equipped with cameras capable of issuing tickets if you drive past the engaged stop arm.
All of these changes are ready to go once kids return August 12th.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
