Avatar® Schools Poinciana and Bellalago earn Five Star Awards
September 11, 2008
Three elementary schools in Poinciana and a charter school in BellalagoSM were among a number of Osceola County schools earning Five Star School Awards, the Florida Department of Education's most prestigious honor for community involvement in the 2007-2008 school year.Chestnut Elementary, Reedy Creek Elementary and Sunrise Elementary were Poinciana schools earning Five Star awards, while Bellalago Academy, a unique K-8 charter school alongside the gated, lakeside community of BellalagoSM, also earned the coveted distinction.
The Five Star Award is presented annually to schools that have shown evidence of exemplary family, school and community involvement. To qualify, each school must meet 100 percent of the state's established criteria that require the full engagement of business partners, volunteers, students, families, and the School Advisory Council in the educational process. Every Five Star School must prepare a portfolio to document how they model excellence through specific community involvement programs.
"I am extremely proud of these schools for making volunteerism and community involvement a priority," said Michael A. Grego, superintendent of Osceola County schools in a press release. "When children, parents, educators and the community work together as a team, our students succeed and reap great rewards."
The Five Star Awards come on the heels of Bellalago Academy's A grade from the Florida Department of Education for meeting high standards in math, reading and writing during the 2007-2008 school year. Four-year-old Bellalago Academy is Florida's first charter school to be managed by a public school district and the state's first school to become an Educational Facilities Benefit District which is a special taxing district that generates funds for the school's construction costs.
The three Poinciana elementary schools are among 14 neighborhood schools (K-12) in Poinciana, a 47,000-acre master-planned community in northwest Osceola and northeast Polk counties being developed by Avatar Properties Inc. Avatar also is developing BellalagoSM, an award-winning, gated master-planned community with over one mile of shoreline on Lake Tohopekaliga in Kissimmee.
For information on the Five Star School Awards, contact Dana Schafer, community relations, Osceola County Schools, at 407-870-4007.
