Pensacola Today – Shannon Nickinson
“The students in Emily Ellis’ VPK class at Lincoln Park Primary School are as warm and bubbly as any crop of 4- and 5-year-olds you are likely to meet, quick with a hug and big on teamwork as they work to “keep the Earth clean” raking dead leaves and checking on the new Earth Day planter boxes. Making sure they are excited about learning and prepared for kindergarten next year is more than Ellis’ job. It is critical to the success of the entire Pensacola community. In a county where 66.2 percent of last year’s kindergarteners were considered ready for kindergarten based on state evaluation standards, their success in the future is ours. That is why Lincoln Park’s Principal Cassandra Smith has worked hard to make professional development an important part of her VPK teachers’ work. Smith has five pre-K classes at her school of just under 200 students.”(more)