JUPITER, Fla. — It’s a new school year and a new reason to celebrate at Jupiter Elementary School.
Parents, teachers, and students are excited about the campus raising its letter grade from a ‘C’ to an ‘A’ in just one school year.
“They’ve been working very hard, trying to get the kids to learn more and use all the resources they have,” said parent Maria Sanchez, who took her little ones to their first day of school on Monday.
Principal Nicole Daly made it happen in her first year as principal last school year. She’s also a former student of Jupiter Elementary School herself.
“We’ve worked so hard to get where we are,” she said. “Our students worked extremely hard. And to see all of our work pay off and jump two letter grades, is just something that we’re very proud of here.”
She says this school is unique because of its diverse student population. Many of the students come from immigrant families who have moved from around the world.
“We’re a global education school. We’re starting to learn how to take action and make a difference in our cultures and in our world,” said Daly. “We are a dual language school, which we have Spanish speakers and English speakers learning both languages.”
With students coming in from different cultures, languages, and levels of schooling, that could have possibly contributed to the ‘C’ grade, which Daly was able to raise through individualized teaching.
Their dual-lingual teachers focused more closely on each individual student’s needs to bring everyone on the same page and increase the overall school grade.
“We have to work well together, we have to have a great team,” she said. “We were very strategic in everything we did. There was a lot of individualized instruction taking place which makes a big difference.”
Many students move on from the school bilingual and bi-literate in both English and Spanish, which can help them in their futures.
“When they have that ability to take to college or any institution they wish to choose, it’s going to help them succeed in life,” said Daly.
Superintendent Dr. Donald Fennoy even greeted the kids Monday to congratulate them on their hard work and highlight the school’s achievements.
“It’s a testament to the students, the families, the community, and the principal. We’re really excited about that,” he said. “This school has great adults that care about kids and you can see it.”
But Daly said their mission is not over.
“I think our biggest challenge is to maintain our ‘A’. We know we have a lot of work ahead of us,” she said.