by David Chapman
Staff Writer
With Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals as one of his guides, Mayor John Peyton took field trips to several area schools Wednesday to catch a firsthand glimpse of their progress.
Peyton spent much of his day touring four Duval County “turnaround” schools – those that received an “F” designation by FCAT scores or whose performance dramatically dropped from one year to the next – and said he was pleased with what he saw.
“It’s hard not to be encouraged by the hard work of the principals and teachers at these schools,” said Peyton during his visit to George Washington Carver Elementary School. “I salute all of their efforts and what I saw was very encouraging.”
Before visiting the Westside school, both Peyton and Pratt-Dannals spent time at Andrew Jackson and Raines high schools and Ribault Middle School. The two, along with other officials, meet on a monthly basis to discuss education matters and while they have visited schools together in the past, the Wednesday trips were a distinct opportunity for Peyton to see for himself in a hands-on and up-close manner, something Pratt-Dannals encourages people to do.
“We’re always trying to get community members to come and take a look inside our schools,” said Pratt-Dannals, “to see the work of everyone – the teachers, the principals and how we have the right people in place to succeed.”
Peyton said that while he saw progress, others and he realize there is still much work to be done to improve the schools and system as a whole, but he liked the direction he saw and called it improved.
The day-to-day efforts of the schools belong to officials like Tim Warren, principal of George Washington Carver Elementary School, who greeted both visitors and escorted them around both kindergarten and intermediate classrooms.
“We always know when people from the community visit with us that we put on our best face,” explained Warren, “but the thing is, we always have on our best face and put forth our best efforts here.”
Warren said he’s seen progress made throughout the school due to effort from teachers, parents and staff all around and the visit from both Peyton and Pratt-Dannals was beneficial.
“Things are going extremely well (at George Washington Carver),” he said. “Our goal continues to be building sustainable learning systems and we’re doing that.”
It’s bigger than just the schools he visited, Peyton explained, as he wants to see improvement from all schools.
“The truth of the matter is we’re all in this together,” said Peyton. “We’re all working to help the district improve.”
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