County Public Schools,” Prince says.“It’s the childrenfirst mentality. It’s the efficacy that all children are capable of success. And I don’t believe everybody in public education truly believes that. If you change beliefs about kids, you can move mountains.” Deputy Superintendent Dr. Helen Wild extends that belief into the district’s mission: ensuring all students graduate with the skills, talents, and abilities needed to be successful.Together, these principles define St. Lucie’s approach as both deeply human and highly strategic—student-first in philosophy, outcomes-first in execution. EARLY LEARNING THAT BUILDS THE FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE PATHWAYS St. Lucie’s belief in student success begins before kindergarten. The district offers its own VPK programs, along with exceptional student education early learning programs for three- and four-yearolds. But the approach extends beyond district walls. St. Lucie also supports private early childhood providers—an effort Wild notes is not required or fully funded, but deeply important for families and for long-term student readiness. The district hosts an annual conference for early learning educators, bringing in keynote speakers, state-level experts, and practical guidance on kindergarten readiness, standards, curriculum expectations, and early assessments. The message is consistent: the earlier the alignment, the stronger the readiness. In kindergarten, St. Lucie has intentionally reshaped the daily experience through an initiative called Play with Purpose, which reintroduces structured play into a modern accountability environment. Rather than treating play as free time, the district ties play to themes—often career-related themes—such as veterinary care or restaurant service. Students dress up, take roles, collaborate, build vocabulary, and develop social skills, while also learning that careers are not abstract ideas, but part of everyday life. That kindergarten initiative has become the kickoff point for a broader district framework: classrooms to careers, a model that begins career awareness in early childhood and continues through graduation. CAREER READINESS ALIGNED TO REAL ECONOMIC DEMAND What differentiates St. Lucie Public Schools is the scale of career readiness options available inside comprehensive high schools—without requiring students to leave their campuses for technical schools to access meaningful credential pathways. Dr. Prince emphasizes that career programming is not built in isolation.The district works closely with the Economic Development Council and conducts skills-gap analysis to determine which industries are growing locally and what employers need in their next workforce. “We align our technical education programs with 327 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 07, ISSUE 01 ST. LUCIE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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