South West Florida Makes the Grade with Abundant School Choices

It's no secret that Florida is better known for its orange groves than for its groves of academe. But plenty of educational choices exist in the Sunshine State's southwestern corner, which boasts a healthy selection of public and private schools catering to kids from kindergarten through college. In fact, the region's tremendous growth in population has stimulated a similar increase in the number of schools and educational opportunities available-choices enough to satisfy the pickiest parents.

Public schools in Collier and Lee counties are grappling with growth. Enrollment in the Collier County School District jumped 76 percent from 1990 to 2001, ; and the district has been struggling to keep up, building schools, adding portable classrooms and hiring teachers at an almost frantic pace. This school year, the district has hired nearly 500 new teachers; over the next 20 years, it will build 21 new schools. Currently it serves 37,295 students enrolled in 38 schools, including two charter schools.

Collier traditionally has ranked in the top five school districts in the state in teachers' salaries (it paid teachers an average annual salary of $42,511 in 2000-2001), according to Joe Landon, district communications and information officer. Innovative programs in the district include career academies within each of its five high schools to help students plan their futures, and administration of the multichoice tests known as PSATs to help select students for advanced placement and honors courses.

The School District of Lee County plans to build 25 new schools in the next decade, according to John Dattola, director of public information. Lee offers an unusual school choice program in which parents can select schools for their children within one of three regions. Although parents' prime picks aren't guaranteed, "95 percent got the school they chose last year," Dattola says, although he adds that "the earlier parents apply, the better." Lee public schools count among their major accomplishments the creation of an academically rigorous International Baccalaureate Program at Fort Myers High School and a cluster of schools focusing on the arts in south Lee, including Cypress Lake High School.

Charlotte County public schools count 17,400 students in the district in nine elementary, four middle and four high schools, and district officials boast that its schools have been receiving steadily higher grades from state evaluators.

Compared to other school districts in the state and nation, Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties rank about average in academic quality, according to Bill King, chief editor of Expansion Management magazine (based in Prairie Village, Kan.), which surveys some 2,500 public school districts across the United States every year. The two most important factors to look at, according to King, are test scores from national standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, and graduation rates-what Expansion Management terms the graduate outcome index. This public information may be obtained directly from local school districts (Collier and Lee supply it on their Web sites), and may be used to compare not only school districts but schools within districts. Parents should also ask school officials what percentage of students take standardized tests, King suggests, because some districts attempt to improve their public image by having only their best students take the tests.

In the magazine's most recent survey, Collier finished ahead of Lee, which in turn finished ahead of Charlotte, according to King. None of the 41 school districts Expansion Management surveyed in Florida won the magazine's gold-medal award (given to those finishing in the top 18 percent), although the Sarasota public schools have done so in the past, King says.

In general, most of the nation's best public schools are in wealthy suburbs or in smaller towns and cities in the Upper Midwest's Farm Belt, according to King. "There is absolutely no correlation between how much a school district spends on education and results," he adds. Many good schools in the Farm Belt serve families with comparatively low levels of education and finances, he points out. The key to school success is to instill a work ethic in students at an early age, and that is largely up to parents, he avers. They must spend time working with their children, helping them with homework, and volunteering in schools if they want them to succeed.

For those looking for an alternative to the public school system, Southwest Florida offers numerous private and parochial schools, with dozens in Collier County and Lee and several in Charlotte. The Community School of Naples, a nondenominational private school, claimed five of Collier County's 11 National Merit Scholarship finalists last year, according to Lisa Kelly-Boet, director of communications. The K-12 school offers French, Spanish and Latin, and requires community service from its high-school students. Typically, 99 percent of graduates go to four-year colleges. Canterbury School, an excellent private school in Fort Myers, boasts a 100-percent rate.

Many other school choices exist, including parochial schools like St. Ann Catholic Parish School and St. John Neumann Catholic High School in Naples, Bishop Verot Catholic High School in Fort Myers, and the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church Parish School in Port Charlotte; private nondenominational schools like Seacrest Country Day School in Naples, and Montessori schools in Naples and Fort Myers; and schools with Protestant affiliations such as First Baptist Academy in Naples, Saint Michael Lutheran in Fort Myers and the Port Charlotte Adventist School in Port Charlotte. Tuition costs usually run from about $5,000 and up for parochial schools to $10,000 to $15,000 a year at private schools like Community. Financial aid is available in some cases.

Beyond high school, a number of college options exist locally, including Edison Community College, a two-year public college with campuses in all three counties (it also offers a four-year degree at its Fort Myers campus); Florida Gulf Coast University, a four-year state college that offers bachelor's and master's degrees in a variety of disciplines; and International College, a private college in Naples.

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Web Sites for Public Schools

Collier County Public Schools: www.collier.k12.fl.us

Lee County Schools: www.lee.k12.fl.us or www.leeschools.net

Charlotte County Schools: www.ccps.k12.fl.us

Florida Department of Education: http://www.firn.edu/doe/