Starting a new school year with an A rating has been very exciting for Olympia. This rating showcases the academic achievements of all the hard work our students, teachers, and staff have put in over the past year. This is a significant achievement for the school and exhibits the hard work, time, and dedication that each Titan puts into their academics. 

The Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) grades a school for parents and the general public to understand how effectively it is serving students. The scale takes into account multiple components for a point based calculation scale. According to the FLDOE, “There are five achievement components and four learning gains components for middle school acceleration, graduation rate and college and career acceleration. Each component is worth up to 100 points in the calculation.”

AICE Cambridge classes were introduced to Olympia High School last year, including classes like AICE general paper. AICE is a college level course that prepares students for their college career. Building skills that are important for future success in a college level classroom. Additional benefits of taking AICE courses is the opportunity to qualify for a Bright Futures scholarship.

“Last school year I taught AICE general paper, which was the first year we added AICE in our school. AICE does contribute to  accelerated success  credit. AICE classes allow freshmen to start working on advanced studies and earn college credit at an early age. This starts students on the path to earning their AICE diplomas. Acquiring an AICE diploma not only gives them college credit but it also allows them to earn Bright futures. A Bright Futures scholarship applies to any public school within Florida. [At Olympia] we had a very good pass rate. The success with students within AICE classes largely contributed to the ‘A’ rating, ” expressed Mrs. Cabrera.

Olympia continues to offer Advanced Placement courses, but now additionally with AICE courses. This has resulted in an overall greater success because more students are taking accelerated coursework and achieving a high level pass rate.

“With AP classes being counted for next year I definitely think with the amount of students that passed, that’s going to help us maintain the ‘A’,” said AP Pre-Calculus teacher Thomas Olley.

This accomplishment took hard work from both our students, teachers and staff. They put an immense amount of time and effort into studying and working hard to reach this goal. Our principal, Christy Gorberg sends her congratulations to our school as a whole for this huge accomplishment.

“I am extremely proud of our school, our students, teachers, staff, everybody for accomplishing such a big achievement. Everyone came together and worked very hard; and we did it. So, I am very proud to be an ‘A’ school,” expressed Ms. Gorberg.

Our Titans will continue to strive for excellence in academics to maintain this accomplishment. We’re excited for this new year ahead and can’t wait to see future academic success. Keep up the great work Titans!