Pine View School

: "Pine View" redirects here. For the neighborhood in Ottawa, see Pineview.": "For the high school in St. George, Utah, see Pine View High School (Utah)."

Infobox Public School
name=Pine View School


established=1969
type=Full-time gifted public school, grades 2 through 12
religion=None
head_name=Principal
head=Steve Largo, Gail Abrams
city=Osprey, FL
country=USA
enrollment=IQ of 130
colors=Blue and gold
mascot=Python
homepage= [http://www.sarasota.k12.fl.us/pvs/ www.sarasota.k12.fl.us/pvs]

Pine View School for the Gifted is a gifted public school located in Osprey, Florida. Pine View serves students in second through twelfth grades.

Origin

The school was founded in 1969 with the help of the Florida Department of Education. The school started out at a small location on a city block full of pine trees in the city of Sarasota. For over 20 years, the campus consisted almost exclusively of portables before the school expanded in the early 1990s, and moved to its current location in Osprey, Florida. The school now has a number of buildings on its campus, along with a growing number portables. The school is a center for gifted students (those who excel above average), and has been noted for its "Tradition of Excellence", which serves as its motto.

ports

Pine View has many middle school sports team including basketball coached by Mr.Wolfinger, a history teacher, track, volleyball coached by Coach Digiacomo, golf coached by Coach Thorpe, and tennis. Pine View's mascot is the python. In 2007-2008 school year the volleyball and tennis teams went undefeated and won the Sarasota County Championship. Sports are not available on campus to high school students; however, many students commute to their district's high schools such as Riverview High School to participate in football, basketball, and other sports

Campus

Until 1994, the school was situated in Sarasota, Florida. It grew from a collection of about twenty portable classrooms to over one hundred portables before it was relocated to Osprey. Pine View's current campus sports more than a dozen buildings situated around a central lawn and connected by blue open-air porticos. Sarasota architect Carl Abbott patterned his design after Thomas Jefferson's "academical village" at the University of Virginia. Each building is color-coded, with yellow indicating mathematics, purple indicating science, blue indicating foreign language, orange indicating social studies, red indicating elementary, and green indicating English. Each main color-coded building contains eight classrooms.

Awards and recognition

During the 2003-04 school year, Pine View School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, [ [http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/list-2003.pdf U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 2003 through 2006 (PDF)] , United States Department of Education. Accessed May 11, 2006.] the highest award an American school can receive. [ [http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17475750&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161556&rfi=6 CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department] , "Journal Inquirer", November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve."] [Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test; "The Washington Post". September 29, 2005 "For their accomplishments, all three schools this month earned the status of Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the U.S. Education Department can bestow upon a school."] They were also rated 6th in the nation in 2008.

Entrance requirements

Pine View educates students from second grade to twelfth grade. In order to attend Pine View, students must have a minimum score of 130 on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. The IQ requirement on the Stanford-Binet V is a full scale score of 130. Students must also achieve a certain number of points on the Gifted Profile exam. In addition to these test scores, teacher recommendations must also be provided by the student upon application. Finally, students must provide proof of residence in Sarasota County.

Curriculum

Pine View's academic year is 180 days long and is divided into two semesters. Students must enroll in at least six classes, not counting study halls, during each semester. Because most of Pine View's students enter high school with credit from high school classes taken during middle school, Pine View requires students to complete 26 credits in order to graduate from high school; the state of Florida requires only 24 credits.

Pine View's credit distribution requirements are as follows:
* English - 4 credits
* Math - 3 credits
* Science - 3 credits
* Social Studies - 3 credits, with one credit in American History, half a credit in Economics, and half a credit in Government
* Practical Arts/Performing Fine Arts - 1 credit
* Life Management Skills/Physical Education - 1.5 credits
* Foreign Language - 3 credits

Many students graduate with significantly more than the required 26 credits; graduating with 33 credits is not unheard of. Students acquire these extra credits by taking more than the required six classes per semester, carrying over credit from high school-level language and math classes taken during middle school, taking classes online at the Florida Virtual School, and taking classes (most often Personal Fitness and Fitness Lifestyle Design) during the summer.

Pine View's curriculum emphasizes rigor, and students who have attended other public schools in the Sarasota area generally report that Pine View's classes require significantly more work than their counterparts at other schools. Although weighted GPAs give the standard half-point bonus to honors classes, the same class is never offered as both non-honors and honors at Pine View. Most classes are designated as honors to reflect their challenging workload except where Florida statute prohibits the designation, such as in foreign language classes. Pine View alumni report not having known about this distinction until well after graduation.

Since students are never given a choice between honors and non-honors classes, they instead choose between Advanced Placement (AP) and non-AP classes. As of the 2006-2007 school year, Pine View officially offers approximately 28 different AP courses, although a course may not be taught in a given year due to lack of student demand.

Academic recognition

Government recognition

Pine View is among Florida's 35 public schools (1.2%) to earn a top grade of "A" on every administration of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) since the program began in 1999. [ [http://firn.edu/doe/schoolgrades/xls/sg0506alldistricts.xls Microsoft Excel file containing FCAT grades for all Florida's schools] ]

Newsweek's Public Elite High Schools

Due to its average SAT score of 1335 for 2005, Pine View was listed among Newsweek magazine's 21 Public Elite American high schools. [cite web | title= Best High Schools: The Public Elites| url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12551652/site/newsweek/ | accessmonthday=July 2 | accessyear=2006 ] Pine View is the only Public Elite school in Florida. [cite web | title= Pine View tests out of Newsweek's ranking| url=http://shedit.us.publicus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/NEWS/605040493 | accessmonthday=July 2 | accessyear=2006 ]

US News and World Report

In 2007, Pine View was ranked 6th in the nation among the "Gold Medal Schools" by US News and World Report. This ranking is based on high AP test scores and overall college preparation.

References

External links

* [http://www.sarasota.k12.fl.us/pvs/ Pine View School webpage]
* [http://www.sarasota.k12.fl.us/pvs/PDF/profile_05_06.pdf 2005-2006 school profile]
* [http://www.pineviewfoundation.org Pine View Foundation]
* [http://schoolgrades.fldoe.org/default.asp?action=detail1&cosch=580021&type=4&thisSchoolYear=2005-2006&schoolNumbers=580021&allSchools=&districts=58&schoolYear=2005%2D2006&school_grade=&report=SG&level=School Pine View's 2005-2006 FCAT grades]