Back 2 School Health Clinic Scheduled
It seems way too soon to be talking about back-to-school events but a free Back 2 School Health Clinic will be happening in Plant City at Swindle Medical Center, located at 1601 W. Timberlane Dr., on Monday, July 17 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Hosted by The Back to School Coalition of Hillsborough County, students will receive free immunizations, school physicals and even COVID-19 vaccines for children 12 to 18 years old.
Parents can register for the event at back2schoolfair.org. For more information contact the clinic hotline at 800-406-4871.
Library Board Members Appointed
At last week’s City Commission meeting, two seats on the Plant City Library Board were filled from three applicants. Its seven-member board members serve three year terms.
“I think it’s great we got three applications in,” said City Commissioner Jason Jones.
Luke Carvalho, a current member of the board whose term was set to expire July 1, was seeking reappointment. His application was accepted and his term now expires July 1, 2026.
“I was impressed with his attendance rating at those meetings, in three years he attended 30 meetings,” said Jones.
The second seat, formerly occupied by Tristin Wright, was filled by Jeremy Griner, who is occupying Wright’s seat until her term expires on July 1, 2024.
Mayor Nate Kilton thanked residents for their willingness to serve. “We appreciate people who are willing to participate in the civic work of our community,” he said.
Students in Hillsborough County Public Schools Show Growth on New Statewide Assessments
Students in Hillsborough County demonstrated impressive achievements in newly-released statewide Algebra and Geometry assessment results, outperforming the state average. In addition, students throughout the district showed improvement over the course of the school year in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math.
This was the baseline year of the FAST- Florida Assessment of Student Thinking- a statewide progress monitoring tool given to students three times a year, in Grades 3 – 10 in ELA and Grades 3 – 8 in Math.Between the first administration of the tests in the fall of 2022 to the third administration in spring 2023, students showed growth and understanding of the B.E.S.T. Standards- Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking.
HCPS students in every subgroup made significant increases from PM1 to PM3 in Math and ELA:
Black students increased performance throughout the year by:
14 percentage points in Grade 3-10 ELA
33 percentage points in Grade 3-8 Math
Hispanic students increased by:
15 percentage points in Grade 3-10 ELA
39 percentage points in Grade 3-8 Math
Students with Disabilities increased by: 12 percentage points in Grade 3-10 ELA and 29 percentage points in Grade 3-8 Math
Students from economically disadvantaged families increased performance throughout the year by:
15 percentage points in Grade 3-10 ELA
36 percentage points in Grade 3-8 Math
“This is our first year with the new progress monitoring assessments and we are extremely proud of the growth our students made throughout the course of the school year. The results indicate the tireless efforts of our teachers, administrators, school-based, and district staff to ensure our students are on track with their learning. We also appreciate our community partners and other stakeholders who stand with us to provide resources and support to ensure student success,” says Interim Superintendent Van Ayres.