Character Education enhances the wellness of the whole child by promoting good decision making skills and positive behaviors in students. Single School Culture© Initiatives coordinated all Character Education efforts for the District to support the unfunded state mandate that requires all schools to teach Character Education in grades K-12. By providing curricula, materials, and other resources, Student Intervention Services assisted the schools’ efforts in building character in each individual and the entire school.

In 2002, the State of Florida passed a non-funded mandate that Character Education must be taught in all grades K-12. The School District adopted six pillars of character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Caring, Fairness and Citizenship.

“Character isn’t inherited. One builds it daily by the way one thinks and acts – thought by thought, action by action.”
-- Helen G. Douglas

Character Education addresses District Goal 8: To provide experiences that prepare students for productive employment by focusing on ethics and responsible citizenship. The work of Single School Culture© Initiatives culminated in the Character Counts! Year End Celebration. Twenty-one percent (21%) of the District schools were publicly recognized for displaying outstanding character.

In the 2013-2014 school year, the Your Character Counts! Year End Celebration, was held on May 5, 2014 at Santaluces Community High School in Lantana. This event recognized 39 students from across the District: 16 from Area 1, 7 from Area 2, 5 from Area 3, 5 from Area 4 and 6 from Area 5.

Participation in the Student Recognition Program was seen across all grade levels with a few schools participating that had not in the past. Participation decreased overall as schools adjusted to the new academic requirements. The focus this school year was to:

Several schools implemented their own recognition program for students and staff and will continue their efforts to do so. Overall, 34% of all schools participated in this recognition program.

An integral part of character education is communication between ingle School Culture© Initiatives staff and the School Character Coaches. This communication ensures knowledge of and participation in additional school initiatives such as: Auto-B Good; the NED Show; Newspapers in Education (NIE) partnerships with the Palm Beach Post and SunSentinel for grades 3 and 6-12; KidSafe Foundation; and Character Education through Literacy. Through extensive school and community collaboration, many schools utilized the Character Education initiatives offered.