Superintendent's Message
Together, we can ensure Pasco County Schools are World Class.
The 2023-24 school year is well underway, and we are having a great start! As with any school year, there are issues that we continually work through to better serve our students. Thank you for your patience.
As Superintendent, I and the District want the very best for your student. We value the partnership we have with our parents. Our teachers, administrators, and staff are eager to make sure this is the very best year for your student. Because of our commitment to you and your family, I am asking that you help support our mission of providing a World Class Education. Our mission requires that every student be in attendance every day and ready to learn. Our research shows, and not surprisingly, that the more school a student misses, the further behind they become, and they do not perform as well on assessments. This can be avoided by ensuring that students come to school every day. Please support your student by insisting they attend school every day.
We look forward to great things this school year! Thank you for the opportunity to be your first choice to educate your student!
Early Release Days
This year, Pasco County Schools will have eight early release days for students. This is a great time to schedule doctor appointments, haircuts, and special family time. Mark your calendar now for these Wednesdays! Schools will release two hours earlier than usual. Check your school's website for more details.
- September 6, 2023
- October 4, 2023
- November 1, 2023
- December 6, 2023
- January 10, 2024
- February 14, 2024
- March 13, 2024
- April 10, 2024
School Health Update
Go to this link for your student's immunization and physical requirements and resources to assist you in obtaining these.
Early Childhood Opportunities
Early Childhood Programs is currently accepting waitlist applications for Head Start and the Voluntary Prekindergarten Program for the 2023-24 school year. Parents can submit a waitlist application request for select schools on the Early Childhood Programs website, www.pascoschools.org/ecp.
*Applications are being accepted for immediate enrollment at the new Mittye P. Locke Early Learning Academy for the upcoming school year!
Learn more about Beanstack here.
FDLRS (Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources System) is offering various informational sessions for Parents/Guardians/Caregivers. Here are brief summaries of each:
- Helping Manage Children’s Behaviors- Introduction of behavior basics and reasons why children exhibit challenging behaviors. Proactive and positive strategies will be discussed which you will be able to implement immediately!
- Homework Help- Tips and tricks to assist learners at home with study strategies and assisting with homework completion.
- Sensory Island for Parents- Training designed to be a tool to help families understand the sensory systems and discuss briefly how to manage hyperactivity or hyposensitivity.
- Technology Tools for Families- Introduction to the various Microsoft accessibility tools which can allow the computer to electronically read documents and website content as well as dictate information onto a Word document.
Please Click Here to go to FDLRS Gulfcoast’s Parent Page for more information.
Student Device Safety Tips
Are you wondering about safe ways to protect your child and monitor their device use?
It is important that you establish a regular routine of checking your child's devices to review contacts, messages and app usage. Many applications can add extra stress to their daily lives. As a reminder, Pasco County Schools has also restricted student use of personal devices while attending school to reduce distractions and increase instructional focus. You can do this at home as well.
It’s no secret that kids love electronic devices, whether they’re playing games, texting friends, or checking out the latest viral video, they’re constantly connected. This leaves parents with the unenviable task of setting limits on device use to protect their children from inappropriate content and excessive screen time. Parental controls for smartphones can help with that. There are simple ways to limit screen time and purchases, control access to the content your child views, monitor your child’s activities, and preserve family privacy. You just locate and activate those features right on their device.
Google has a free app that parents can download to help manage Android devices, and Apple has built-in parental controls for any iPhone or iPad running iOS 12 and above. To help you find and master the parental controls on your child’s smartphone, we’ve assembled a basic guide. Here are some options.
Control Access to Apps and Content
For Android phone users: The Android operating system makes life a little easier for parents by permitting them to set up multiple user accounts on a smartphone. This lets you share the phone with a child, while keeping your apps separate from the child’s. To put true parental controls on a child’s phone, download the free Google Family Link app onto your own phone from the Google Play store.
For iPhone users: Sharing an iPhone with your 8-year-old just isn’t as convenient as it is with an Android device. You can’t toggle back and forth between accounts without logging in and out of iCloud, so things are much simpler if you each have your own device. To get started, add your child to your family group under Settings > Screen Time. If the child doesn’t have an iCloud account, the phone will walk you through the setup process.Once you’ve done that, you can use your own phone or your childs to set various limits.
Limit Screen Time
For Android phone users: The Family Link app also lets you create a time limit for your child’s daily usage as well as a “bedtime” period when your child is prevented from using the device. If your children want more time, they can send a request to your phone.
For iPhone users: In the Screen Time settings, you can set daily time limits for gaming, entertainment, social media, and other apps. The child can send requests for more time to your phone. You can also set up a “downtime” period, like Google’s “bedtime,” when your child is restricted to the apps and functions you select.These parental controls are under Settings > Screen Time > Downtime and Setting > Screen Time > App Limits.
Protect Your Child's Privacy
In a world where adults and kids love to post details of their lives on social media, keeping your child’s personal information private can be tough. But Apple and Google both offer parental controls to help you with that.
For Android phone users: With the Family Link app, you can prevent your child from sharing Google Photos and limit Google’s ability to save information about your child’s web searches, voice commands, and other activities. You can also block access to most social media apps by selecting the appropriate App and Games setting.
For iPhone users: The Content & Privacy Restrictions tab in the Screen Time settings menu offers a slew of privacy controls that you can use to, say, turn off a phone’s location services—as well as the access individual apps have to your child’s location. You also can use those settings to cut off app access to the photos stored on the phone, restrict the use of the device’s microphone, and prevent apps for fitness trackers and other services from sharing your child’s data via a Bluetooth connection.
Tips for Protecting Your Child Online
- You can set up age limits on your child's device. The 2013 Pew Research Center survey found that 40 percent of teens say that they have used a different birthday to gain access to a site or create an account, so restricting kids' access to apps by age rating is a wise move. You cannot join every site or app and monitor your child's every move online, and teens will always find a new platform that their parents do not know about yet. Rather than hovering or completely barring your child from downloading every social media app, sit down and go over some general rules to keep him smart and safe online.
- Make a rule that your child must ask for permission before downloading any apps — even free ones — just so you're aware of them. When your child wants to join a new social media platform, go through the security settings together to choose the ones you're most comfortable with. Advise your child not to share passwords with anyone, including best friends, boyfriends, or girlfriends. Not all apps are dangerous, however, there's plenty that are free, educational, and much loved by kids!
App Alert!
Recently an App called "Saturn" has been gaining popularity amongst students. It is a scheduling social application that allows students to upload their class schedules into the system along with other personal information. It also requests to capture their student email address in the application. This is then cross referenced with other students so they can connect. The larger issue is the ability for anyone to create a fictitious account to gain access to your students' information. Pasco County Schools became aware of the application and blocked it from their network as there is too much risk for students. We caution that you monitor your student's phone and caution them if they use this application while off campus.
Below are additional Apps that have been identified by the Pasco Sheriff’s Office that should be on your watch list.
Pasco County Schools: We exist to provide a World Class Education.
Email: engagement@pasco.k12.fl.us
Website: www.pasco.k12.fl.us