Area schools performed even better than they did last year, as measured by the FCAT.
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published June 27, 2003
When families considering a home in southern Hillsborough go to real estate agent Richard Herman, they inevitably ask about the schools: How good are they? Are they successful by state standards?
Now Herman, who works at Realty Executives, has an answer sure to lure more young families to neighborhoods in Brandon, Apollo Beach, Valrico and Riverview - areas already known for their quality schools.
The Florida Department of Education last week released school grades for the upcoming school year, and schools in this area of Hillsborough fared even better than they did last year.
Of the 46 elementary, middle and high schools from Mango to Ruskin, just nine received less than a B, based on students' performance on this year's Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
Students in 18 schools did well enough on the FCAT to earn their schools the enviable A rating.
"That's just great," Herman said. "Families come here looking for well-priced homes, community activities, organized sports like soccer. And they are always pleasantly surprised when they find out how good the schools are out here."
Last year, 11 schools received less than a B, including three schools rated D. Those schools - Clair-Mel and Gibsonton elementaries, and East Bay Senior High - pulled themselves up to a C with this year's FCAT scores.
Students in five of last year's C-rated schools in southeastern Hillsborough showed enough improvement to move from a C to a B: Mango, Palm River and McDonald elementaries, Eisenhower Middle and Brandon High.
At Cypress Creek Elementary in Ruskin, four years of determination and hard work brought the school from a D in 1999 (when the state began grading schools) to an A.
"We're real proud of our kids," said principal Jeffrey Eakins. "It feels good. A lot of hard work in the past few years has gotten us here."
Sixty-seven percent of Cypress Creek students made gains in reading on this year's FCAT; 72 percent showed improvement in math.
"It's all about the people," Eakins said. "You get the right people working in your classroom, with your kids, and success happens. And that's a good draw for families."
The quality of schools here is nothing new to military families assigned to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Base officials estimate that two-thirds of families assigned to MacDill live in the Brandon area, where the schools are as much of a magnet as the competitive home prices.
When Michelle Masinsin found out last year that her husband was being transferred to MacDill Air Force Base, schools took precedence in the decision on where in Hillsborough to call home.
Masinsin talked to a friend she met 12 years earlier in Okinawa, who works in the front office at Bevis Elementary, an A-rated school for the past two years.
"She told me all about it, and I was just so excited because schools are the priority," Masinsin said.
Masinsin's daughter Torii, 6, just finished first grade at Bevis; her son Taylor, 8, just finished second grade.
"They made an easier adjustment coming into the school here than in California," Masinsin said. "It's just fabulous. The teachers are wonderful." Wayne Trezek isn't in the military, but before deciding to buy a home in FishHawk Ranch last year, Trezek and his wife, Julie, researched the schools.
The Trezeks' daughter Dana, who just finished fourth grade at Bevis, was coming from a top-rated elementary school in Illinois, and they wanted the same quality for her and her 2-year-old sister, Alison.
They saw that Bevis Elementary was an A-rated school, a major clincher in their decision to live in FishHawk.
"That was a big selling point," Wayne Trezek said. "And we haven't been disappointed."
