About Us

Floresta Dolphins S.W.I.M.

10 Things We Want Parents to Say About Floresta

1. Floresta is a safe, clean, and attractive learning environment.
2. Floresta provides every child, every day with opportunities to learn in a variety of engaging, meaningful, and challenging ways.
3. Floresta possesses an inviting academic atmosphere where students, parents and all members of the community are welcomed.
4. Floresta teachers and administrators are highly qualified, dedicated, and approachable.
5. Floresta students love to come to school, are excited about learning, and cannot wait to share their school experiences with their parents.
6. Floresta parents are valued partners in education; their opinions and suggestions are respected.
7. Floresta Elementary School is well-organized, positive, and has a nurturing school environment.
8. Floresta staff care about the emotional as well as the academic needs of each child.
9. Floresta teachers have high expectations for all students.
10. Floresta is the best school for my child in St. Lucie County.

Vision

All students will leave Floresta with mastery of all subject area skills, so they are equipped to succeed in their future endeavors. We welcome stakeholders to actively participate in our school, both formally and informally.

Mission

At Floresta Elementary, caring and dedicated professionals facilitate learning by engaging all students in challenging work. As a collaborative unit, educators connect learning to real life experiences that maximize each child’s potential. Families and community members join Floresta in a partnership that fosters success in a nurturing and safe environment.

Beliefs

Every child can learn, and each child is encouraged to reach his/her full potential.

We strive to provide challenging, stimulating and satisfying work for every student, every day.

The quality of our school is directly related to the involvement and investment of teachers, staff, and the entire community.

Teachers and staff are committed to the ongoing task of continuous school improvement.

Well educated students are the key to maintaining a healthy democracy.

Therefore, we promise to elevate student proficiency and provide every possible opportunity for each student to succeed.

About Floresta

Floresta is an exciting, complex, successful organization where teachers, staff and administrators work interdependently to achieve the goals that are established for the students. Every adult is committed to doing whatever it takes for all students to succeed. The adults know the students and their families well. Families are considered partners in their child’s education, and staff share ideas to enhance and support learning at home. Families feel welcomed, and they are at school often volunteering in classrooms, learning and serving on committees. Students are happy about coming to school and rarely miss. For many of the students the learning day starts before most staff arrives and ends long after the 3:00 bell. The school is the hub of the community where learning never ceases. Business and community members are always looking for ways to support the school.

Teachers are leaders and designers of work that students are excited about doing. Throughout the school day, teachers are delivering content in small digestible bites and then providing students with time to process information, practice skills, deepen their knowledge of new content as they observe, coach, assess students’ progress towards the goals and provide feedback. Teachers collaborate, plan and learn with colleagues on a daily basis. They design high quality lessons and engaging work and determine which strategies to use so all students can achieve the standards. Teachers focus their instruction on the state and national standards and use high order cognitive questioning throughout their lessons. They provide students with scales to measure their progress toward the learning goals. Students know what they are learning and why they are learning it. They are expected to set personal goals for their learning and track their progress. Teachers celebrate students’ success on a regular basis. All students are making learning gains each year.

All of the adults realize that learning is important, and they make their own learning a top priority. They read professionally, attend conferences and professional development sessions, and work to earn endorsements and advanced degrees. They learn and network with colleagues locally as well as outside of the school to find the latest strategies/technologies to engage students. They take part in Learning Communities where they work collectively to design lessons, create common assessments and assess student work. They delve deep into data to determine what works and what should be abandoned. As a collegial group they reflect, revise, and revamp lessons to improve instruction. They are not satisfied until all students are successful. Teachers enjoy the collegiality that learning communities provide and find that working together provides students with more benefits than working in isolation.

Teachers maintain effective classroom management. They treat students with respect and in return, students show respect to the teachers. They know how to consistently apply consequences and provide rewards. When students display improper behavior, they teach what they expect. They don’t assume that every student knows how to behave in every situation. Time is precious so routines are established and followed to keep the day moving smoothly. The classroom is a neat and organized place and students, staff and teachers work to keep it orderly and clean.

The administrative team is visible and works collaboratively with teachers to make decisions to improve teaching and learning. They are adept at finding resources, so teachers have the materials they need to provide students with engaging lessons. Most of their day is spent observing instruction for coaching purposes. Reviewing student data and student work is a regular responsibility. The administrators also work with families to provide opportunities for them to learn how to support learning at home. Leaders model what they expect from teachers and are trusted by the staff. Communication is open and leaders work diligently to develop teachers into leaders who feel empowered.

All of the adults take on extra responsibilities so there are more educational opportunities for the students. They serve on committees and volunteer to lead them. They understand that all problems have solutions, and they work to be solution seekers. They know that a positive place to work begins with the adults who are respectful of their colleagues, families and students. Everyone gets along and supports one another. Morale is high because students are achieving, and the adults feel good about the success of the students. The school constantly celebrates the students’ high performance and is recognized at the state, national and local levels for their superior performance. The staff has little turn over and students are on waiting lists to attend. Everyone is compensated with salary increases aligned to the success of the students. Although Floresta is a fine educational institution, it has the feel of one big happy family.