Tag: Julia Hazel

BRADENTON, Fla. — A charter school in Manatee County just moved its students into a brand-new building last week.

Visible Men Academy in Bradenton is a tuition-free, public charter school for kindergarten through fifth-grade boys. They plan to increase enrollment by 50 percent this year.

Every day at Visible Men Academy starts with a warm welcome from principal Tami VanOverbeke.

“Good morning everyone, how are you?” she said.

But these past few mornings for the students at the charter school have been a little different.

“How do you feel about our new school? Good? What do you like about it? Everything good?” she said.

A new school year, a new building, and a new principal.

“The students, they make my day every single day,” VanOverbeke said.

VanOverbeke says one of their goals is to help underprivileged boys. All 40 of their students are low income, and some are homeless.

“Education really is the way out of poverty,” she said.

Leaders of the school have big plans, including increasing enrollment from 40 to 60. The new building will help that become a reality.

Visible Men Academy’s former location was an older building, and some classes were held in portables. But last school year, a capital campaign raised $2.2 million to purchase a new building, which has bigger classrooms and more space to accommodate new students.

“There’s been a lot of research on same-sex schools, and that they don’t have to worry about the opposite sex. They don’t have to put on a show for anybody. They don’t have to show out, or they can just focus on being who they are,” she said.

Now VanOverbeke is making sure these boys are enjoying their new building.

“This is our home now. This is somewhere that they call home, that we can have forever, that they’re proud of,” she said.

It’s a place where both the students and the school will continue to grow.

There will be a fundraiser called the “Love Lunch” on Thursday, Oct. 24 at 11:30 a.m. at Michael’s On East.

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — The Manatee County School Board has selected Dr. Laurie Breslin as the county’s new superintendent.

Breslin has been employed with the school district for over 15 years — including her most recent role as the Executive Director of Student Support and Family Engagement.

Wednesday marked the start of a new era for the school district, with Breslin walking into her new office for the first time, one day after being selected for the superintendent role.

“It truly is, to me, a calling. I felt that once the position opened, there was a great opportunity to step in and fulfill my vision, which is to support every student in this district,” she said.

Breslin started her career in education 23 years ago as a P.E. teacher. She later taught English and reading in grades 6 through 12, and she has spent 17 years in Manatee County schools working in various positions.

“I think it’s most important to lean on our previous experiences as we move through the leadership spectrum,” she explained.

Breslin said her contract is expected to be finalized Sept. 9.

“The very first priority is rezoning to make sure that we have a solid plan in place and that we are completely transparent and factual with all of our community members,” she said.

She also noted that security is another priority. As for academics, literacy will be at the top of her list.

“Boosting literacy at all levels with a laser focus on ELA reading for grade three. We really believe that by supporting our littlest learners first, we will continue to see gains and achievement,” she said.

As Breslin prepares for this next step in her career, she said she’ll continue to put the families and students of the district first.

One addition the community can look forward to is a new SOAR Lab coming in September, which Breslin says will help strengthen literacy education for students.