Marking Excellence with Superintendent Dr. Mark Shanoff

Dr. Shanoff attempts to learn ballet and jazz with Mrs. Burns at St. Cloud High School. Will he be successful in his attempt to master the grand jete? Listen to his latest episode of Shanoff Shadows to find out!

From FAST testing to end-of-course exams to AP Exams, our students will be taking multiple tests throughout the month of May. Dr. Shanoff knows that all these tests can be overwhelming for students, which is why he invited Dr. Leah Torres onto the podcast to talk about ways to overcome testing anxiety and provide some words of encouragement to all students.

Dr. Shanoff is thrilled to introduce you to our 2025 Teacher of the Year, Ms. Vanessa Gomez. Ms. Gomez is a Medical Assistant Instructor for Osceola Technical College and her students have achieved a 100% certification pass rate and graduation rate at the conclusion of her program. She discusses this and more on the latest episode of Marking Excellence!

Dr. Shanoff sits down with Mrs. Dawn Parker to talk about being named the 2024 School-Related Employee of the Year.

Ride alone with Dr. Shanoff as he delivers mail to various schools and departments.

You can read about his experience on the RoundUp blog at osceolaschools.net.

Today, Dr. Shanoff is joined by Jake and Sara, two high school seniors who are part of his advisory council. During the first semester, Dr. Shanoff tasked them with creating a collaborative plan that would foster a greater sense of student connection across the School District of Osceola County.

The seniors will be presenting this plan at the board meeting on February 27, 2024. You can tune in at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n12USZmr_Wo.

It's time to prepare for kindergarten! Dr. Reyes, Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Curriculum and Instruction, sits down with Dr. Shanoff to discuss some of the activities and routines you can start establishing now so they are ready for a successful first day.

To register your child, visit https://bit.ly/SDOCStudentRegistration.

School Board Vice Chair Terry Castillo recently held a town hall with parents and employees regarding safety and security. Since safety and security are a top priority for our school district, Ms. Castillo brought those questions to Dr. Shanoff. In this episode you will learn some of the policies and procedures in place to promote safety on all of our campuses.

Safety and Security is a top priority of our school district. In honor of School Resource Officer Day, Dr. Shanoff visited Partin Settlement Elementary to shadow Deputy Russ.

You can read a brief reflection of his experience at www.osceolaschools.net.

Dr. Shanoff trades his shirt and tie for a t-shirt and sneakers as he heads back to the classroom to experience a day in the lives of our students.

Listen to his experience with Jahmoy, a senior at Poinciana High School, as he engages in Entrepreneurship, English 4, and Marketing.

You can also read Dr. Shanoff's reflection on the Osceola Roundup blog at https://bit.ly/ShanoffShadowsBlog.

Dr. Shanoff heads back to the classroom in this episode of Shanoff Shadows! Working alongside Ms. Torres at St. Cloud Elementary School, he helps her conduct various small group interventions centered around phonics, central idea, and reading comprehension.

Seniors, the FAFSA is your first step for securing money for college as it can open you up to college-based funding and various scholarships. The federal form opens in December and Mrs. Danielle Malfara is here to talk about everything you need to know when completing it.

She also discusses other trusted sources for locating scholarships.

In this episode, Dr. Shanoff discusses some of the things he's accomplished and learned as the superintendent of schools. He has spent a large part of this time visiting schools and meeting with parents, students, community members, and staff to understand the strengths of our district as well as areas for improvement.

Our school nurses are always busy attending to students and their needs whether that be receiving medication, helping a headache subside, treating an injury, or putting on a bandaid. On today's episode of Shanoff Shadows, you will here about Kaitlyn Griffin's role at Zenith Accelerated Learning Academy where she is responsible for children as young as six months old to high school students and staff.

You can read Dr. Shanoff's reflection of his experience at https://bit.ly/RoundUpBlog.

The district's Transportation team is so vital to the work that we do! Every day our bus drivers and attendants are responsible for transporting more than 26,000 students to and from school safely. On today's episode, Dr. Shanoff joins Nardelly on route 243 to experience a day in her shoes.

You can read Dr. Shanoff's reflection of his experience at https://bit.ly/RoundUpBlog.

The Osceola County School Board strongly believes that parents should decide which academic environment best meets their students' needs. In order to inform parents and students of their expanded school choice options for the 2024-2025 school year, the Osceola School District will host a Choice Fair on November 16, 2023, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Events Center at Osceola Heritage Park to showcase the high-quality options available to students and their families in kindergarten through Grade 12.

This free event will help families make sense of the district’s school choice process, and give them the tools they need to make the right choice for their children. All Osceola district schools are scheduled to attend the Choice Fair, and can answer questions about their academic programs, extracurricular activities, student and parent services, and program admission requirements. The district's online Choice application window for the 2024-2025 school year will run from November 16, 2023 through January 26, 2024. Students and parents with questions about school choice are encouraged to call the district’s Charter and Educational Choices Department at 407-870-4847 or email yourchoice@osceolaschools.net.

Dr. Shanoff joins Chris Butler from our Maintenance team to fix an HVAC system located in the crawl space of Neptune Middle School. Listen to today's episode to learn more about the work that takes place behind the scenes to ensure a cool and comfortable learning environment awaits every student each day in Osceola County.

Join Dr. Shanoff in Harmony High School's cafeteria as he learns what it takes to prepare more than 1,000 meals between breakfast and lunch.

To read Dr. Shanoff's reflection, please visit: https://www.osceolaschools.net/Page/10249.

September is Attendance Awareness Month, and here in Osceola County, we ask all students and parents to strive for five absences or less in a school year. Students who are in school each day are better readers and are more likely to pursue higher educational opportunities.

Principal Michael Ballone from Denn John Middle School joins Dr. Shanoff to discuss how students and parents can bring their Osceola B.E.S.T to school every day. This includes being at school, putting effort toward learning, and showing respect to all.