The School Board of Orange County held its regularly-scheduled board meeting at 4:45 p.m. at the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center. These are the highlights of the meeting:
School Board recognitions
Bay Meadows Elementary fourth-grade student Paayal Sonde won first place during the Florida 4-H Public Speaking competition.
Discovery Middle seventh-grade student Elvis Avetis who won the district Spelling Bee.
Hamlin Middle sixth grader Arthur Ferreira won the OCPS Spanish Spelling Bee.
Lake Gem Elementary fourth grader Micah Esteril won first place during the Fourth Grade Invitational Math Bee
Sun Blaze Elementary third-grade student Dhruv Patel won first place and a gold medal during the 2023 International Geography Bee’s Florida Winter Regional finals.
Odyssey of the Mind student team winners from Thornebrooke Elementary; Emilia Sanchez, Grace Emerson, Sylvia Fiori, Eli Radmall, Tanner Krissman, Logan Frisch, Dean Brugal and Edgewater High which also includes students from Apopka and Olympia high schools; Matthew Norato, Maddox Hooper, Sofia Pina, Ryan Tran, Ben Drake, Stefan Lotz, Emma Camacho
Chess club tournament winners:
K-2 Individual Winner: Orlando Science Schools: Shyam Garg
K-2 Winning Team: Audubon Park School: Fia Abraham, Maisie Bleakley, Alex Freeland, Sawyer Anderson, Stowe French, George Stall
3-5 Individual Winner: Orlando Gifted Academy: Benson Nguyen
3-5 team: Orlando Gifted Academy: Joshua Bentley, Owen Courtney, Vincent Kong, Benson Nguyen, Hieu Nguyen, Khang Nguyen, Evan Qian, Malcolm Suh, Craig Trace Walls, Leo Zissman,
Middle School Individual Winner: Audubon Park School: Cole Barkett
Middle School team: Glenridge Middle:Lucas Feinsod, Benjamin Heiser, Tristan Squire, Kaiden Tang, Charles Tso, Oliver Byrd, Ethan Hsu, Elijah Hurd, Noah Yap
High School Individual Winner: Lake Nona High: Srijan Ganta
High School Winning Team: Windermere High: Aaron Gomez, Ethan Parekattil, Brandon Nova, John Piza, Gabriel Rugeles, Tyler Syzdio, Tyler Feldman, Aarav Joshi, Jayden Mathura, Shai Neudigate, Brenda Nova, Grant Stace, Victor Valvassori
Spring Sports winners:
Boone High School Boys Varsity Tennis team: FHSAA Class 4A State Academic Champion Team GPA of 3.957
Lake Nona High School Girls Water Polo team: 2023 FHSAA Water Polo State Champion
Winter Park High School Girls Softball team: FHSAA Class 7A State Academic Champion team GPA of 3.68
Windermere Boys Weightlifting Individual Champion: Andres Giron – Junior
Timber Creek Boys Weightlifting Individual Champion: Elvie Valmores – Junior
Ocoee High Girls Track Individual Champion: Ma ‘Kala Davis – Senior
West Orange Boys Track Individual Champion: Valentino Rudolf – Senior
Proclamations adopted for June 2023
LGBTQ+ Pride and Pulse Remembrance Month
Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council introduces anti-school threat campaign
This year the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council created a campaign to bring awareness and to help stop the threats on school campuses. The 88 student members from the 22 high schools developed SMILE, an acronym for Safety, Motivation, Inclusion, Leadership and Educate. By building awareness of safety and being connected to one another and their school, students would be less likely to make a threat. Each high school implemented the campaign in a different manner, from spirit days to videos to bracelet reminders, the school-based teams worked to educate their peers on the need to stop the threats.
Changes regarding administrative personnel
Superintendent Maria Vazquez introduced the following new administrators
William Bohn, executive leader, School Transformation Office
Rolando Bailey, principal leader, Middle/K-8 Schools
Leigh Ann Bradshaw, senior executive director, Professional Learning Dept.
Tashanda Brown-Cannon, chief academic officer, Division of Learning
Martha Chang, principal leader, High Schools
Carletta Davis-Wilson, principal leader, Elementary Schools
Britt Despenza, principal leader, High Schools
Raquel Flores, principal leader, School Transformation Office
Ian Gesundheit, principal leader, Exceptional Student Education
Jenny Gibson, principal leader, Middle/K-8 Schools
Rosa Grant, executive leader, Career and Technical Education
Julie Helton, principal leader, Elementary Schools
Trevor Honohan, principal leader, Elementary Schools
Wendy Ivory, executive leader, Exceptional Student Education
Rahim Jones, executive leader, Elementary Schools
Patricia Fritzler, executive leader, Middle/K-8 Schools
Meredith Leftakis, principal leader, Elementary Schools
James Leslie, principal leader, Middle/K-8 Schools
Charles Lindlau, principal leader, Elementary Schools
Jose Martinez, executive leader, High Schools
Robert McCloe, principal leader, Elementary Schools
Lukeshia Miller, principal leader, Elementary Schools
Greg Moody, executive leader, School Choice Services
Kelly Paduano, principal leader, High Schools
Lino Rodriguez, principal leader, Elementary Schools
James Russo, senior executive director, Curriculum, Instruction and Digital Learning
Jennifer Sasser, senior executive director, Research, Accountability and Grants
Kathy Shuler, Chief Schools Officer, Division of Learning
Mindi Smith, principal leader, Elementary Schools
Karen Verano, principal leader, Elementary Schools
Shelia Windom, principal leader, School Transformation Office
Brian Sanchez Corona, principal, Water Spring Middle