Okaloosa County School District parents can set up their FOCUS parent accounts at www.okaloosaschools.com and link their students to it if necessary. The OCSD Focus App can be found in the Apple App and Google Play Stores for download. Find it by searching for OCSD Focus Educational Portal. After download, sign in through the orange log-in button, and you will have access to your student’s schedule, grades and attendance. Students can download the same OCSD Focus app to access their grades and attendance without creating an account. They must click on the box marked “Sign in with SSO” and enter their school district email and network password.
Okaloosa County School District Teacher of the Year
The Okaloosa County School District Teacher of the Year is Royal Preston, construction teacher at Okaloosa Technical College teaching carpentry and building trades. “I always love celebrating our teachers who spend day in and day out going above and beyond to educate our students. They stay after and arrive early to tutor, sponsor clubs, coach sports, and mentor kids. Each teacher recognized this year represents the best of the best at each of our 38 schools, and I am proud to have Mr. Preston represent us at the state level,” said Superintendent Marcus Chambers.
STEMM Academy Nominated for National Blue Ribbon Program
The Okaloosa STEMM Academy has been selected to participate in the 2022-2023 National Blue Ribbon Program, which honors public elementary and secondary schools whose students achieve at very high levels. The Florida Department of Education nominated STEMM Academy to the U.S. Department of Education due to exemplary high performance based on the 2021-2022 performance data.
District Launches Student Anti-Vape Campaign
In a partnership with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers, middle and high school students are competing to produce video Public Service Announcements to decrease and end teen vaping. The district is purchasing vape detection devices that will be placed on campuses to help deter students from bringing vapes to school. A letter will be sent home to all parents explaining what the devices do so they can help our cause at home. “Vaping is something that can really impact our students in a negative way and we want to take a proactive step in having an anti-vape campaign to encourage our students to make healthy choices,” said Superintendent Marcus Chambers.
OCSD Highlights Career and Technical Education Month
The Okaloosa County School District (OCSD) is a leader in Career and Technical Education in Florida. Did you know OCSD offers 19 different CTE Programs and 101 different courses? For the school year 2021-2022:
– 1,382 Industry Certifications were earned.
– 1,079 Digital Tool Certificates were earned.
– $820,286 CAPE funds were earned; these funds go directly back to the program that earned them.
Since 2007, over $10.2 million in CAPE funding was earned, 18,576 Industry Certifications were earned, 80% of all CTE courses are honors, or Advanced Placement weighted credit, 45 CTE courses meet the Fine/Practical Art graduation requirement, 12 CTE courses meet the Online Course graduation requirement and four CTE courses satisfy a Science elective credit.
There are currently 7,846 high school and middle school students enrolled in CTE courses.
Students’ opportunities include Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Cyber Security, Carpentry, Nursing and Welding. For more information, visit at www.mycteworks.com.
Education Staff Professional Employee of the Year
The Okaloosa County School District’s Education Staff Professional of the Year is Shawna Crist, Media Assistant at Plew Elementary School. Crist spent 13 years in the classroom before becoming a mom and choosing to become a full-time volunteer at Plew Elementary, where she received the 2012 Senior Adult Volunteer of the year award. Now, in her 11th year as Media Assistant, she shares ideas with others throughout our District and is known to staff and parents as a “cheerleader for readers who strives to keep students from falling through the cracks.” Crist created the school news show, sponsors Violin Club and Shop and is Plew Planters Team lead and Plew Parent Leadership co-president.
CHS Robotics Team Wins Local FIRST Tech Challenge Tournament
The Radical Raiders robotics team at the Collegiate High School (CHS) at Northwest Florida State College (NWFSC) placed first in the FIRST Tech Challenge’s FL AeroCoast League Tournament. They competed against eight teams from the panhandle at Northwood Elementary School for a spot in the statewide competition. After spending hundreds of hours on creating and programming its robot, crafting its engineering notebook, and participating in community outreach events, the team’s efforts culminated in its successful showing Jan. 28.
The team also earned the Inspire Award for best embodying the challenge of the program.
The Radical Raiders will advance to the Florida Championship March 3 and 4 in Winter Haven, competing against 55 other teams for a chance to compete at the FIRST World Championship in Houston in April.
For more information on the CHS Robotics team, contact Mary Beth Mizell, the CHS faculty sponsor, at mizellm@nwfsc.edu or( 850) 729-6429.
Superintendent Marcus Chambers Launches Reelection Campaign
Okaloosa Schools Superintendent Marcus Chambers (R-Niceville) filed for reelection for 2024. During his first term, Chambers led the school district through the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining the district’s top “A” rating.
“Nothing is more important to me than our students’ safety and academic success. For nearly 25 years, I have worked every day to provide Okaloosa students with an outstanding education,” Chambers said. “My priorities will be maintaining Okaloosa Schools’ top “A” rating for academic excellence, providing robust extracurricular opportunities, expanding workforce and technical education offerings, investing in our teachers and staff, completing critical school safety and maintenance improvements, and planning for new school construction. I stand with Governor DeSantis and his efforts to keep inappropriate political agendas out of the classroom.”
