BRITTANY SHAMMAS

Starting this week, administrators will toss out a ban on cellphone use at school and instead encourage it. It's part of the district's new "Bring Your Own Device" initiative, or BYOD, which officially launches Monday with information sessions and letters

The teachers' presence at Immokalee Middle and Pinecrest Elementary is part of a partnership between the university and the Collier County School District. For the district, the benefits include exposing students to new teachers and teaching methods.

Editor’s note: This is the third of a series of reports on the six Golden Apple winners in Collier County leading up to the May 10 Golden Apple banquet. The reports are publishing twice weekly in the Daily News leading ...

The class, Preparation for Entrepreneurship/Self Employment, is the first of its kind for the Collier County School District. In it, 11th grade students will learn personal finance and business ethics from local professionals.

After learning she violated fire codes by regularly squeezing 40 people into a conference room at the district's administration building, Patton turned storage space down the hall into a new $82,000 meeting room.

In a statement released today, a district official said the superintendent's decision depends on the results of critical medical tests set to occur this month.

"We have the responsibility to have oversight of our employees," Dozier said. "If we give that up, then basically, what's the use in having a school board?"

The union’s proposal includes a new salary schedule that sets all step increases at $1,500 for every year of effective teaching. On the current schedule, the step increases vary in amount. One is worth more than $3,700.

"I'm not afraid to say I'm jumping on the bandwagon," said Sean McGee, 33. "They never gave us anything to root for before. It's amazing what they're doing now."

FGCU may have been a secret to most of the country until recently, but thousands found the school years before it hit the national spotlight.

“After 40 years of public service, it is time for me to give much needed attention and effort to the health of my family,” Burke wrote in the memo.

Among the behavior they reported: Hile knocked out a child's tooth, scratched a child, held children's noses closed and rubbed a child's spit in his face, according to the lawsuit filed by the Brimms.

The program was developed in response to December's Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and similar attacks in school settings.

“No one can really replace what the band does at the games,” he said. “We’ve heard many compliments and comments from the fans about how the game is just not the same without the band being there.”

Southwest Floridians — both here and in Vatican City — rejoiced Wednesday as white smoke poured through the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel announcing a new pope had been chosen.

"It is as natural for today's learner to use technology to learn as it is for my generation to use paper and pencil," Kelly Mill Elementary Principal Ron McAllister said.

The short videos have a shot at being viewed and critiqued by the associate producer of Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" – a fact the students say was initially hard to process. "I didn't really believe it at first," said Kelsea ...

The White House released lists for each state on Sunday of potential effects of automatic spending cuts set for Friday. The White House compiled the numbers from federal agencies and its own budget office. The numbers are based only on ...

Gov. Rick Scott wants to boost Florida school spending by $1.2 billion in the coming year.

Gov. Rick Scott says his budget will call for a $2,500 pay raise for every full-time classroom teacher in Florida public schools.

Sheriff’s deputies will be assigned to Lee County Elementary schools in response to last month’s massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary, district officials announced today.

Thirty Lee County teachers were surprised this morning with the news that they are finalists for the Golden Apple award, which honors the district's top educators.

Both districts have officers on duty at all schools, but they are not full-time at the elementary level — a fact that has raised concerns among some local teachers since the Dec. 14 massacre.

District officials had hoped to use the grant to offset the costs of its College and Career Pathways Plan, which seeks to help students find a path for after high school graduation and expands opportunities over a three-year period.

Collier schools Superintendent Kamela Patton said administrators take all factors into consideration before deciding to transfer an educator. Very rarely do they decide to move a teacher, she said.

He pointed to the Virginia Tech mass shooting and other violent attacks, noting that often the person responsible was revealed after the fact to have shown signs of mental instability.

The district needs to “connect the dots” between the area’s 400 gated communities, which often operate as their own worlds, said Mike Reagen, president and CEO of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce.

Students and teachers across the county took part in similar scenes that played out Thursday as Champions For Learning members fanned out to surprise 31 award recipients.

Planned for the corner of Airport-Pulling Road and Estey Avenue in East Naples, the 21,000-square-foot center will be owned and operated by the Salvation Army.

Florida school districts are required to move from textbooks to electronic instructional materials by 2015. Exactly what that means is not yet known, but it is likely to cost millions of dollars to implement.

Assigning disadvantaged students to the least experienced teachers and setting lower expectations for them has led to wider achievement gaps in U.S. high schools and in higher education, said Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust.

David Watson, who becomes the school’s fifth permanent leader in February, was selected from an initial field of 90 candidates identified by a search through Educator’s Collaborative, LLC.

The staff at Miller's Ale House came in early Thanksgiving morning, turned on Christmas music and set the TVs to Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

For three years, Florida Gulf Coast University's Innovation Hub has been little more than a plot of land and a vision.

The race between incumbent Dozier and former board member Chilmonik was heated, with the two candidates often bantering back and forth along the campaign trail. Neither candidate won the majority of votes in the primary election, so they had to ...

Collier County early voters overwhelmingly voted to approve a referendum allowing the local school district to move $14.5 million from its a fund that pays for taxes and new schools to one that pays for salaries and classroom materials.

The move raises questions beyond the legal realm, questions about a parent’s role in their child’s education and a teacher’s right to privacy in a classroom full of children.

“Our goal in Florida is to become the state known for sunshine and jobs,” Scott said. “A great education is the precursor for a great job.”

Gov. Rick Scott today announced an education agenda that emphasizes accountability in transition, support for teachers and increased flexibility in education.

Monthly Florida Prepaid College plan prices for newborns entering the program are set to increase between 5 and 11 percent this year — a hike officials said stems from the state's rising tuition costs.

Collier County School Board members on Tuesday signed off on two charter schools that propose vastly different educational approaches — one that would blend online and face-to-face instruction and another that would employ classical teaching methods.

Deputies believe the suspects painted the exterior gym wall of Corkscrew Middle School between 11 p.m. Monday and 7 a.m. Tuesday, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Michelle Batten said.

More collaboration between schools and businesses. Better linking of classroom lessons to real-world applications. Strengthened pathways between K-12 and higher education.

Collier County falls slightly behind the nation and state in its share of college-educated, working-aged adults, with just over a third holding a two-year degree or higher, according to data being released today by a local education organization.

Students in Collier and Lee counties bucked a trend of sinking reading scores on SAT college-entrance exams, but both districts still lag behind the national average.

Lee County School Board members decided Tuesday to close the doors of a Bonita Springs charter school — but not without expressing considerable frustration with the corporation they say already abandoned other local students.

Florida Gulf Coast University’s book store now offers most textbooks in digital form, but Jacob Barrett hasn’t converted yet — he still buys all his books in print. “I kind of prefer that, actually."

The number of Ave Maria School of Law students who passed the state bar exam increased by more than 25 percent this year to 75.3 percent, moving the school up from its former last place ranking among Florida schools.

Florida Gulf Coast University administrators cut 107 positions this year to absorb a $3.6 million budget cut, prompting concerns from some about starting a slide toward mediocrity. Only one of the eliminated positions was currently filled. The majority were student ...

Florida Gulf Coast University students kept a few extra dollars in their pockets this year, but the savings came at a price.