{"id":9229,"date":"2022-09-01T17:26:25","date_gmt":"2022-09-01T21:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?p=9229"},"modified":"2022-09-01T17:26:26","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T21:26:26","slug":"st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Johns County goes back to school"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Martie Thompson
editor@floridanewsline.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time in three years, St. Johns County students returned to school on Aug. 10, the earliest date allowed by state law and the preferred date by school district officials since it allows students to complete the first semester prior to winter break. Due to some minor construction delays, the county\u2019s newest school, Beachside High School, opened a few days later on Aug. 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom everything I\u2019ve heard, the first day of school around the county went smoothly,\u201d School Board member Patrick Canan said. \u201cKudos especially to everyone at Beachside High School for working all weekend and getting the doors opened to students on Aug. 15.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the school district, the student count for the St. Johns County School District on the first day of school, Aug. 10, was 43,409, an increase of 1,665 students or 4 percent over last year\u2019s first day number of 41,744. This count only includes approximately 34 percent of all kindergarten students, since schools stagger the kindergarten start date over a three-day period. St. Johns County continues to be one of the fastest growing school districts in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Julington Creek Elementary, home to 1,045 students this year, school secretary Heidi Karl said that students and families were happy and eager to return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have more fabulous students and families due to the rezoning of Hickory Creek Elementary and also our new ESE programming,\u201d Karl said. \u201cWe are excited to celebrate the school\u2019s 50th birthday this year.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Freedom Crossing Elementary, one of the district\u2019s most populous schools with an expected 1,950 students, fourth grade teacher Lauren O\u2019Shell said the first day was a success, with hallways filled with music and dancing during arrival to excite the students and welcome them back into the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freedom Crossing Academy Vice Principal Melissa Lime noted some changes for the coming school year, including a partnership with Creekside Teaching Academy and the Bartram Trail IT Academy to provide opportunities for student internships and STEM projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlso, Freedom Crossing Academy is a National Showcase Capturing Kids Hearts Model School, the only school in Florida, and we have been recognized as a Florida PBIS Model School since 2019 for our effective school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports,\u201d Lime said. \u201cThe framework is aligned with Capturing Kids’ Hearts best practices and the SJCSD Character Counts pillars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Nease High School, Principal Lisa Kunze said the first day went well. She said that the school\u2019s car line was empty at 9:16 a.m. and everyone was in class at 9:20 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudents seemed excited about being back on campus and starting a new school year,\u201d Kunze said. \u201cStudents met all their teachers, we fed them, and they all returned home safely. A great first day!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kunze said Nease has adopted a new cell phone procedure this year at the request of the leadership team, who had asked for a school wide policy to ensure consistency from classroom to classroom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe purchased pocket holders for each classroom and require students to place their phone in the pocket holder upon entering,\u201d Kunze said. \u201cThis new procedure will help students maintain their academic focus without the distraction of their cell phone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The St. Johns County School District\u2019s first day counts included a high school student count of 13,601 with 2,260 students at Bartram Trail High School, 2,383 at Creekside High School, 1,371 at Pedro Menendez High School, 2,119 at Allen D. Nease High School, 1,863 at Ponte Vedra High School, 1,615 at St. Augustine High School and 1809 at Tocoi Creek High School. There were also 181 students in attendance at St. Johns Technical High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middle school attendance totaled 7,136, with student headcounts ranging from 634 at Sebastian Middle School to 1,382 at Pacetti Bay Middle School. The other first day totals were Alice B. Landrum Middle School with 1,090, Fruit Cove Middle School with 1,182, R. J. Murray Middle School with 641, Gamble Rogers Middle School with 835, and Switzerland Point Middle School with 1,372.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The district\u2019s K-8 schools totaled 10,262. Liberty Pines Academy had a first day headcount of 1,581, Patriot Oaks Academy with 1,298, Valley Ridge Academy with 1,188; Freedom Crossing Academy with 1,775, Palm Valley Academy with 1,363, Mill Creek Academy with 1,691 and Pine Island Academy with 1,366.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The elementary school population totaled 12,042 and another 368 students attended the district\u2019s alternative, charter and Department of Juvenile Justice schools on the first day of school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe preparation from administration, teachers and support staff to welcome students on the first day was amazing,\u201d said Superintendent Tim Forson. \u201cAs I visited schools it was wonderful to see the excitement of students as they greeted school staff, engaged with friends and started getting acquainted with their teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

School district staff will continue to monitor attendance numbers, balance classrooms and refine bus routes in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo courtesy Lauren O\u2019Shell\u00a0
New fourth graders at Freedom Crossing Academy.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Martie Thompsoneditor@floridanewsline.com For the first time in three years, St. Johns County students returned to school on Aug. 10, the earliest date allowed by state law and the preferred date by school district officials since it allows students to complete the first semester prior to winter break. Due to some minor construction delays, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9177,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9229","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-creekline-st-johns"},"yoast_head":"\nSt. Johns County goes back to school - Florida NewsLine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CreekLineBy Martie Thompsoneditor@floridanewsline.com For the first time in three years, St. Johns County students returned to school on Aug. 10, the earliest date\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"St. Johns County goes back to school - Florida NewsLine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CreekLineBy Martie Thompsoneditor@floridanewsline.com For the first time in three years, St. Johns County students returned to school on Aug. 10, the earliest date\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Florida NewsLine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheFloridaNewsLine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-01T21:26:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-01T21:26:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/TCL-St-Johns-County-goes-Back-to-School-FCA-2209D-e1662042441985.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"586\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@floridanewsline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@floridanewsline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/\",\"name\":\"St. Johns County goes back to school - Florida NewsLine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/TCL-St-Johns-County-goes-Back-to-School-FCA-2209D-e1662042441985.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-01T21:26:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-01T21:26:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc\"},\"description\":\"CreekLineBy Martie Thompsoneditor@floridanewsline.com For the first time in three years, St. Johns County students returned to school on Aug. 10, the earliest date\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/TCL-St-Johns-County-goes-Back-to-School-FCA-2209D-e1662042441985.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/TCL-St-Johns-County-goes-Back-to-School-FCA-2209D-e1662042441985.jpg\",\"width\":586,\"height\":707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"St. Johns County goes back to school\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/\",\"name\":\"Florida NewsLine\",\"description\":\"The Newspapers Everybody Gets\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc\",\"name\":\"editor\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"St. Johns County goes back to school - Florida NewsLine","description":"CreekLineBy Martie Thompsoneditor@floridanewsline.com For the first time in three years, St. Johns County students returned to school on Aug. 10, the earliest date","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"St. Johns County goes back to school - Florida NewsLine","og_description":"CreekLineBy Martie Thompsoneditor@floridanewsline.com For the first time in three years, St. Johns County students returned to school on Aug. 10, the earliest date","og_url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/","og_site_name":"Florida NewsLine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheFloridaNewsLine\/","article_published_time":"2022-09-01T21:26:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-09-01T21:26:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":586,"height":707,"url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/TCL-St-Johns-County-goes-Back-to-School-FCA-2209D-e1662042441985.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@floridanewsline","twitter_site":"@floridanewsline","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"editor","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/","name":"St. Johns County goes back to school - Florida NewsLine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/TCL-St-Johns-County-goes-Back-to-School-FCA-2209D-e1662042441985.jpg","datePublished":"2022-09-01T21:26:25+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-01T21:26:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc"},"description":"CreekLineBy Martie Thompsoneditor@floridanewsline.com For the first time in three years, St. Johns County students returned to school on Aug. 10, the earliest date","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/TCL-St-Johns-County-goes-Back-to-School-FCA-2209D-e1662042441985.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/TCL-St-Johns-County-goes-Back-to-School-FCA-2209D-e1662042441985.jpg","width":586,"height":707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/st-johns-county-goes-back-to-school\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"St. Johns County goes back to school"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/","name":"Florida NewsLine","description":"The Newspapers Everybody Gets","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc","name":"editor","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9229"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9230,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9229\/revisions\/9230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}