The 2024-2025 school year is here! So, here’s what’s happening in Alachua County public schools.
Changes to Early Release Wednesday
On July 16, Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) announced that starting with the 2024-2025 school year, early release Wednesdays will be just once a month, instead of every week as in previous years. This change will affect all district elementary schools, High Springs Community School, A.Quinn Jones School, Sidney Lanier School and Duval Early Learning Academy per the ACPS press release. “We appreciate ACEA’s willingness to work with us on this change,” said Superintendent Shane Andrew, according to the press release. “It will give our students much more direct instructional time, which is critical to raising their academic achievement.
A New Name for the District Office
The ACPS Board’s headquarters, the District Office, was previously the Gainesville Graded and High School when it first opened in the early 1900s and became Kirby Smith Elementary School a few decades later. It closed as a school in 1977, reopening as an administrative building in 1981. The School Board is seeking a new name for the “District Office,” and invited the public to suggest names for the building. The names should be “descriptive of the geographical area in which the building is located” or “the name of a deceased person who has made a significant contribution to education locally or in general or to the well-being of the local, national or international community,” according to Board policy. As of print time, the window for selections has closed, and there is no official time limit on the selection process, according to the School Board.
Year-Round School to Start This Year
This is a big change for Alachua County public schools. For the 2024-2025 school year, Rawlings Elementary School will be changing to a year-round schedule. The school year began July 16 and will continue until May 23. This year-round calendar is designed to combat the “‘summer slide,’ the learning loss that comes with an extended period with no school,” says Jackie Johnson. In the 10-month schedule, most off-days are consolidated into the Thanksgiving, winter, spring, and summer breaks, with a few more days peppered in for national holidays and teacher workdays.
However, in the year-round schedule, there will be a higher quantity of shorter breaks. The summer holiday will still be the longest amount of time off, but it will be around one month in the year-round calendar rather than the traditional two months. While Metcalf Elementary School was also meant to change to a year-round schedule, it will remain on the 10-month schedule at the request of the district. P.K. Younge may consider implementing the year-round schedule for the 2025-2026 school year.
Conversations Ongoing about Newberry Charter Initiative
The Newberry Charter Initiative has been a point of division for Newberry Elementary School Parents and Teachers. According to The Gainesville Sun, “final voting numbers for Newberry Elementary showed 149 student households voted in favor of the conversion with 125 against, and 22 out of a possible 44 teachers voted to approve the initiative.” The Florida Department of Education states that 50% of teachers’ votes must be in favor for a charter conversion to pass. As of May 6, the School Board stated that “the district had not received any official notification from the Florida Department of Education about changing the results of the Newberry Elementary School conversion vote,” making the possibility of a Newberry Charter unknown.
New Principals This Year
These Alachua County public schools are getting new principals this year!
Santa Fe High School
Kelly Armstrong was previously the principal for six years at Oak View Middle School. He began teaching in 2002 at a Taylor County Middle School.
Newberry Elementary School
Emery Bishop has served as assistant principal for curriculum at High Springs Community School since 2009. He started his career as a behavioral resource teacher in 1995 at Williams Elementary School.
High Springs Community School
Heather Harbour was the principal at Terwilliger Elementary for the past twoyears and began teaching at Norton Elementary in 2004.
Idylwild Elementary School
Casey Karas started as Oak View Middle School’s assistant principal in 2021. She began teaching in 2008 at Talbot Elementary.
Terwilliger Elementary School
Vicki McAlhany previously served as the principal, for the past five years, at Newberry Elementary. She began in 2004 as an Alachua Elementary School teacher.
Fort Clarke Middle School
Melissa Pratto has been at Buchholz High since 2021 as the assistant principal for curriculum. She began teaching in 2008 in Marion County.
Chiles Elementary School
Christiana Robbins has been the principal at Metcalf Elementary for three years, where she began teaching in 2008.
Oak View Middle School
Jared Taber previously served as the principal of Fort Clarke Middle School since 2019 and began as an EDEP activity leader at Littlewood Elementary 25 years ago.
Metcalfe Elementary School
Cory Tomlinson was the principal at Chiles Elementary School for the past seven years and began teaching in Tennessee in 2001.
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