School District of Osceola County Superintendent Mark Shanoff talks of every school day being a “Day One” of sorts.
Well, Monday will literally be Day One for some 79,000 county school students who return to classrooms.
While very positive school-grade data came out from the last school year, Shanoff, who begins his third school year at the helm of Osceola’s district Monday, said he and county administrators are excited rather than intimidated about the First Day of School and for those fresh faces to fill the school halls.
“We derive our energy from the kids. We’re very excited about what we’ve accomplished, doubling the number of A-rated schools,” Shanoff told Fox 35 News last Monday. “We believe this is the perfect momentum going into this new school year.”
He said he put the faith and trust in the administrators of the county’s 84 public schools.
“We’ve provided data to teachers and administrators so they can make in-the-moment decisions that are best for kids,” Shanoff said. “We’re refining those processes so the system can be even better than it was last year so we can continue to see the growth that we’ve had.”
It’s been a busy time on school campuses, not just for teachers and principals, but foremen and equipment operators. Construction is ongoing at places, like the retrofit of Osceola County School for the Arts and the county’s ninth public high school that will open in Fall 2026 on Nova Road. And, even at existing schools, work has been ongoing updating windows and air conditioning (HVAC) units, Shanoff said.
Cross Prairie K-8 in Kindred will swing open on Monday. The district’s other new facilities, PM Wells Center for Academic Excellence, replaces PM Wells Charter School on Partin Settlement Road, and will be a ‘hub’ for children exclusively in special education programs.
“To get all services for our students, sometimes that means providing a separate environment completely,” Shanoff said.
The student cellphone policy that went into place under Shanoff’s leadership — no access from bell to bell, including lunch, remains in place, a move that the superintendent says promotes “being present in learning.”
“We think it’s been an accelerator in the achievement that we’ve realized,” he said. “What I really like about the policy is that, when you go to lunches in our middle and high schools, they’re quite loud, because students are interacting in a very organic way. We’ve found that’s broken down a lot of barriers and it’s been very positive. Nobody’s missing anything.”
