Page 4 - Demo

4 SUPERINTENDENT ANNUAL REPORTMESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENTDear Chair Brill, Board Members, Colleagues, and Community Stakeholders:Throughout the 2025-2026 school year (FY26), Team Palm Beach remained focused on our mission to educate, affirm, and inspire each student in an equity-embedded school system. In doing so, FY26 was marked by strong academic performance, operational vitality, and our community%u2019s shared ambition. As we review the notable academic achievements, record-breaking graduation rates, and expanded opportunities that define this year, it is clear that the School District of Palm Beach County remains %u201cYour Best Choice%u201d for high-quality education. Education, Democracy, and Navigating Our LandscapeThis year, as our nation celebrates America%u2019s 250th anniversary, we are reminded of the essential role public education plays in our democracy. For citizens to effectively self-govern and preserve the freedoms we cherish, they must be educated. Our schools are the foundational training grounds for the future stewards of our republic, cultivating the civic responsibility, knowledge, and critical thinking necessary to sustain a thriving society. Fulfilling this promise requires institutional readiness and the foresight to adapt to changing demographics. As the educational landscape continues to shift, the School District of Palm Beach County has demonstrated remarkable fiscal and operational resilience. We are proactively navigating the challenges and budget adjustments necessitated by unprecedented declines in enrollment across our region. In response, Team Palm Beach has implemented strategic measures to optimize our resources, enhance the family experience, and expand our high-quality choice program options, ensuring we remain our community%u2019s premier educational destination.Gaining Momentum in Academic ExcellenceOur commitment to academic excellence is the foundation of our strategic plan. This commitment was demonstrated this year by significant growth in K-2 literacy achievement, attributed to our Palm Beach Early Literacy Initiative. By fostering a unified, datadriven instructional model across all grade levels, including extensive professional development in the Science of Reading, we have strengthened our instructional capacity. Through our focus on early literacy initiatives, deepening our instructional practices, and reinforcing targeted, data-informed interventions, our most recent performance results confirm that our systems are working, as we gained momentum through measurable academic improvement across multiple key indicators:%u2022 The percentage of elementary students reading on grade level increased from FY25 to FY26 across all grades, and the improvement exceeded statewide growth in kindergarten and in grades 1, 2, 4, and 5. A similar pattern was observed in elementary math, with gains of 4 or more points across all regions.%u2022 Grade 3 Reading: Proficiency increased significantly from 54% in FY22 to 59% in FY26.%u2022 Grade 10 Reading: Proficiency rose 12 percentage points, from 52% in FY22 to 64% in FY26. %u2022 Mathematics: In FY26, over 64% of students in grades 3, 5, 6, and 8 scored Level 3+ in math.%u2022 Algebra 1: First-time proficiency improved from 54% in FY22 to 65% in FY26.%u2022 Science and Biology: Proficiency metrics in grades 5, 8, and Biology increased by 16, 8, and 12 percentage points, respectively, from FY22 to FY26. In addition to outpacing the State%u2019s growth in K-2 ELA achievement, our sustained progress in academic excellence was recognized by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE), which designated 44 of our schools as FDOE Schools of Excellence this year.Pathways to Possibilities: Expanding Choice and Career OpportunitiesTo ensure K-12 learning connects directly to post-secondary success and regional workforce demands, we have successfully implemented our Pathways to Possibilities initiative. This targeted framework optimizes our choice and career options by strengthening career pathway opportunities and meticulously coordinating choice program offerings across our schools. By increasing corporate partnerships, expanding collaborative relationships with local career organizations, and increasing the number of choice applications, we are aligning student interests with local industry needs. Through Pathways to Possibilities: My Choice, My Future, we ensure all students are prepared for high-wage, high-demand careers. This year, we expanded career advising to grades 6 and 7 to help students map out future educational and career options early in their academic journey. We have also expanded our Career Dual Enrollment (CDE) opportunities, highlighted this year by West Technical Education Center%u2019s graduation of its first cohort of welding CDE students, who entered the regional economic pipeline directly.