specialist, and a success coach who acts as a liaison between parents and school. “What we’ve done is use that as a model school,” he says. “Teachers are mastering skills at a faster rate because of all of the additional expertise that’s in that building. We have strategically designed ourselves to bring in other elementary schools to accelerate their growth.” This holistic approach has significantly strengthened teacher development and retention.Teacher turnover has decreased dramatically, from 150 hires three years ago to just 25 to 30 projected hires this summer. “We’ve been able to drastically improve the layer of support that we’re providing teachers by investing in these strategies that ultimately improve retention, which eliminates the need for all of the additional dollars around recruitment.” A FOCUS ON SUCCESS Student achievement has improved markedly at SDIRC, with the proportion of students graduating with advanced certifications, AP credits, or industry credentials going from 63% to 82% over the last year. This rising number is due in part to the career pathways the district is building through partnerships with two of Indian River County’s largest employers: Piper Aviation and the local hospital. “Piper has over 100 openings, high-level engineers that are needed to build the next generation of planes,” Dr. Moore depicts.“The hospital doesn’t have the high-level nursing, doctors, and accountants that they need here in Vero Beach. So we’re working on creating a partnership with both of those entities to eliminate that problem by creating our own local talent.” ENGINEERING OUR AREAS OF EXPERTISE For more information, check out www.LJA.com LAND DEVELOPMENT TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS SURVEYING ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ENERGY TELECOM 7 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 07 SCHOOL DISTRICT OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY
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