First graders at Tallahassee’s Pineview Elementary School had a special guest reading to them this (Thursday, 8/25) morning.
Florida K-12 Public School Chancellor Hershel Lyons kept the kids fascinated with a story about a sleeping baby and the animals’ efforts to keep quiet so as not to wake the child. Pineview is one of Leon County’s 22 Title One schools, meaning it receives extra federal funds because at least three-quarters of students qualify for free or reduced price lunches. That also means many Pineview families can’t afford much in the way of school supplies. So Chancellor Lyons helpfully brought some supplies with him, all donated by Department of Education employees.
“We had a back-to-school event at the Department because the most exciting part of our work and our lives is the beginning of school and everyone getting a new start,” he said before the event.
This year, Leon County is educating a record 33,000 kindergarten through 12th grade students at 48 schools and program sites.