Lisa Barton

Choosing the right school for your child can be overwhelming, especially if you're relocating to the Jacksonville or Ponte Vedra Beach area.  I recently visited several private schools in the Jacksonville Beaches area and am hoping this information will help make your school decision a little less stressful.

• Name of School: Providence School in Jacksonville
• Address: 2701 Hodges Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32224
• Phone: (904) 223-5270
• Grades: Pre-K through 12
• General Admission Criteria: Admission is based on school records, standardized test scores and a family interview.
• Accreditations: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Association of Christian Schools International, Florida Council of Independent Schools, Florida Kindergarten Council
• School Sports or Team Activities: Providence offers a full range of boys and girls varsity team sports. 
• Teacher Qualifications or Certifications: All teachers are State Certified and many have advance educational degrees.
• Fine Art Enrichment Activities: Art, Music, Drama, Choir
• Buses: No
• Lisa’s Comments: I met with Tia Unthank, the Director of Admission for Providence, and toured their very impressive facilities. Providence offers a Christian based, college preparatory curriculum and the vast majority of their graduates attend college after graduating from high school. The classrooms were large and the teachers I met very enthusiastic about their classes. The students are required to wear uniforms. There are weekly chapel services, daily bible study, and bible classes. Providence offers a 10% tuition discount for families with two or more children. The discount increases to 50% with the fourth child.

Choosing the right school for your child can be overwhelming, especially if you're relocating to the Jacksonville or Ponte Vedra Beach area.  I recently visited several private schools in the Jacksonville Beaches area and am hoping this information will help make your school decision a little less stressful.

• Name of School: Beaches Chapel School 
• Address: 610 Florida Boulevard, Neptune Beach, FL 32266
• Phone: (904) 241-4211
• Grades: Pre-K through 12
• General Admission Criteria: Admission is based on the student academic performance (report cards)
• Accreditations: Southern Association of Colleges & Schools; Florida League of Christian Schools
• Affiliation(s): Duval County Christian Schools, Florida Christian Athletic League, Florida High School Athletic Association
• Total Student Population: 240 students
• Class Size: 12-20 students per class
• School Sports or Team Activities: Varsity Flag Football (won the State Championship in 2011), Baseball, Basketball, Track, Volleyball, Soccer, Softball & Cheerleading
• Teacher Qualifications or Certifications: All teachers are degreed, although not all have their Florida teaching certificate
• Fine Art Enrichment Activities: STARS Program which offers students dance, piano, art, chorus, choir, voice, tennis, martial arts, guitar and flag football
• Specialized Classes: Honors Classes & Dual Enrollment Partnership with Florida State College at Jacksonville
• Buses: No
• Lisa’s Comments: The Beaches Chapel School is located in Neptune Beach, just west of Jarboe Park. I met with Vicki McDonald, the Lower School Principal. Ms. McDonald has been the principal of the Beaches Chapel School for over 20 years, and is devoted to the school and its students. The school is named after the lovely white chapel located in the center of the campus. The curriculum is based on Christian values and with a strong academic emphasis, including a daily mornng worship as well as a weekly church service.  The Parent Teacher Association is very active and there are many opportunities for parents to be involved in their children's education. One of the most appealing features of the Beaches Chapel School is the small class size and "family feel" of the campus. The tuition at the Beaches Chapel School is moderate and financial aid is available for children whose parents are in the ministry.

On Monday night, St. Johns County School District Superintendent, Dr. Joseph Joyner, presented his annual "State of the Schools" address. If you remember, St. Johns County has been ranked the best public school district in the state of Florida for the last three years in a row. We're lucky to live in a county that provides a high quality education for our children. For example, the district's high school graduation rate is 92.8 percent. WOW! Dr. Joyner's presentation is online if you'd like to see it in its entirety. 

Believe it or not, it's that time of year again...summer is almost over and our children will head back to school in less than a month. For the last 18 years, BEAM (Beaches Emergency Auxillary Mission) has helped Jacksonville Beaches'  families get ready for the school year. BEAM provides new backpacks, school supplies, new underwear, and gently used clothing to underprivildged Beaches students. BEAM also provides a voucher for each child to receive a new pair of shoes from Target or Kmart. For many of these children, this will be the only new pair of shoes they'll wear all year. 

You can drop items for the Back to School program at various locations around the Beaches including the Ponte Vedra Prudential Office, 1000 Sawgrass Village Drive, Suite 101, or the Ponte Vedra Chamber of Commerce, 50 A1A North, Suite 102.

Back to School with BEAM will be held Saturday, August 13 from 8 a.m. - 1 p.m., at the Beach United Methodist Church in Jacksonville Beach. For more information about BEAM, go to http://www.jaxbeam.org or call (904) 241-7437, ext 1.  

Great news for students and parents living in Ponte Vedra Beach and St. Augustine! The public school districts in the state of Florida were recently graded and the St. Johns Country School District maintained its ranking as the number one district for the third year in a row. St. Johns County Schools had 22 "A" schools and 2 "B" schools. Fifteen elementary schools, all seven middle school and the district's only K-8 school all received "A"s this year. High school are not included in this ranking and those grades will be release in November.

Superintendent Dr. Joseph Joyner said, "I continue to be amazed by the commitment of our students, teachers and school administrators, particularly given the fact that this level of performance was achieved with the new more rigorous FCAT 2.0 in place. St. Johns County School's grades and its top ranking in the state is an indication of everyone's hard work. Even with this outstanding performance, conversations are already focused on how to become even better."

Take a look at the school district's brochure, it provides a good synopsis of the district's plans for the future. Congratulations St. Johns County!

School's out!!! The last day for students who attend school in the St. Johns County Public School District is June 9th and the Marsh Landing Home Owners Association is planning a party! Marsh Landing Golf & Country Club is a beautiful neighborhood in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida and residents of Marsh Landing are ready for summer vacation.

The fun starts with a bike parade at 9:30 a.m., led by OfficerShirley, from the Country Club to Fletcher Park. The party will run from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with relay games (run by "The Coach" from PVPV), pony rides, balloons and face painting from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Enjoy pizza, drinks and snow cones, too.

Each year Newsweek Magazine publishes a list of the top high schools in the nation. This year Duval County Public Schools, Jacksonville's school system, had three high schools that made the list:  Stanton College Preparatory School was ranked third, Paxon High School was ranked eighth and Douglas Anderson High School for the Performing Arts was ranked number 33. Wow!

The Florida Times Union just published a great article about the private school options in the Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beaches and Ponte Vedra Beach areas. Many of my customers who are relocating have questions about education options for their children. In Florida, school districts are organized by county and both Duval County and St. Johns County have excellent public schools. Still, many parents prefer to enroll their children in a private school and there are many options for those parents:

1. Trinitiy Christian Academy: (K3 - grade 12) phone: (904) 596-2400
2. Bishop Kenny High School: (grade 9 -12) phone (904) 398-7545
3. Episcopal High School: (grade 6 -12) phone (904) 396-5751
4. Diocese of St. Augustine Catholic Schools: there are numerous Catholic schools in Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach and St. Augustine with classes from pre-kindergarten through high school.
5. The Bolles School: (preK - grade 12) phone: (904) 256-5030
6. St. Johns Country Day School: (preK - grade 12) phone (904)264-9572
7. San Jose Episcopal Day School: (preK - grade 6) phone (904)733-0352
8. Providence School: (K - grade 12) phone (904)223-5270
9. Hendricks Day School of Jacksonville: (preK - grade 8)

This Monday (October 18), the St. Johns County School District Superintendent, Dr. Joyner, will be speaking to parents and community members about amendments that will be on the November 2 General Election ballot. This town hall type meeting will be held in the Landrum Middle School auditorium. Dr. Joiner will be discussing how the upcoming amendments will effect the St. Johns County public schools. The meeting will begin with a meet & greet from 6:30 pm to 7:00 pm and then Dr. Joyner will begin the meeting promptly at 7:00 pm with a Q&A session following his presentation. Landrum Middle School is located in Ponte Vedra Beach. For more information you can call the school directly at (904)547-8410.

If you have children who are getting ready for the new school year make sure you take advantage of Florida’s back-to-school sales tax holiday, which will begin Friday, August 13, 2010, and end Sunday, August 15, 2010. During this period, no sales tax will be collected on sales of books, clothing, footwear, and certain accessories selling for $50 or less, or on certain school supplies selling for $10 or less. The St. Johns County School District (including the Ponte Vedra Schools & Ponte Vedra Beach schools) was rated the number one public school district in the state of Florida for 2009. That’s great news for our students! For more detailed information about the tax holiday click here