Message from Dr. Marchman
June 26, 2024Dear PK Community,
I trust this message finds you and your family enjoying a rejuvenating summer and looking forward to a successful start to the 2024-25 school year.
The purpose of this message is to provide the PK community with a recap of last week’s UF Board of Trustees’ meeting as it relates to P.K. Yonge School’s admissions and rankings. The Board took no action regarding admissions; there will be no change to the process by which students are admitted to P.K. Yonge and no changes are imminent without further notice. The Board reiterated that P.K. Yonge is expected to continue to march toward excellence and become a top 10 school in Florida. To accomplish this goal, a planning committee for elementary, middle, and high school will be formed to create a project plan for this purpose.
The school’s administration and faculty look forward to continuing this vital work. As you know, PK is already a school on the rise, having successfully implemented “PK Pathways” and “AP for All” to provide greater focus and rigor in the student experience. Further, the school initiated SAT and ACT preparation for high school students. This move has resulted in 48 and 53 (and counting!) Florida Bright Futures Scholarship program recipients in the last two (2023 and 2024 graduating classes respectively). From K-12, PK has instituted a more rigorous curriculum. The results reflected in 2023-24 student performance assessments tell the story of our school’s climb. Highlights of commendable achievement include:
- Grade 2: 83% proficiency in FAST Star Reading and 81% proficiency in FAST Star Math
- Grade 3: 80% proficiency in FAST Reading
- Grade 4: 81% proficiency in FAST Math
- Grade 6: 91% proficiency in FAST Math
- Grade 7: 80% proficiency in FAST English Language Arts, 92% proficiency in FAST Math and 90% proficiency in Civics End-of-Course Exam
- Grade 8: 80% proficiency in Algebra I End-of-Course Exam
- Grade 9: 85% proficiency in Biology End-of-Course Exam
- Grade 11: 92% proficiency in U.S. History End-of-Course Exam
- Grade 12: 86% proficiency on Florida Civics Literacy Exam
(Important to note: Proficiency is defined as achieving at or above grade level on state or national standardized exams. We also eagerly await Advanced Placement (AP) exam results from the College Board in July and expect these scores to be up year-over-year, as well. In the 2024-25 school year, there will be an equal emphasis on individual student annual growth, along with proficiency.)
As a result of our faculty and staff and their commitment to student achievement, our partnership with parents, combined with strong school leadership, PK is on the path to excellence.
As always, PK appreciates your care and concern for our students, their futures, and the mission of our school. We deeply value the opportunity to serve each student, raise the trajectory of their lives, and meet our mission in sharing our effective, research-based practices with fellow educators throughout Florida and beyond.
Thank you for your continued support of PK, its people and mission. We look forward to welcoming students back on Monday, August 12!
Go Blue Wave and Go Gators!
Brian K. Marchman, Ph.D.
Director and Superintendent
P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School
University of Florida
marchman@ufl.edu