Pinellas County kicked off the new school year with a big pep rally on Thursday at Gibbs High School.
The school celebrated its 90th year in St. Petersburg. It was the first high school to welcome African American students when it opened in 1927. Before Gibbs opened 90 years ago, Pinellas County had no schools for black children past the 6th grade. Families wishing to send their kids to high school had to enroll in private, mostly church run schools.
Gibbs High School rolled out the welcome mat for its hundreds of students starting Thursday with banners, balloons, cheerleaders, the band and cheers from the football team.
Gibbs is one of many schools also hoping for a better academic performance for the 2017-2018 school year. The school went from a D grade to a high C grade last year, and this year their goal is a B grad or higher.
It all starts with making the kids excited to come back to class!
Across the district, there are big plans to boost student performance starting with Pre-K. Pinellas County hopes by partnering with several local organizations, kids will be ready to learn at a kindergarten level when they join the district.
