Polk County Public Schools (PCPS) and the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 2227 union reached a tentative agreement on Dec. 14 for the 2023-2024 salary and benefits package totaling an increase of $4…

Polk County Public Schools announced on Dec. 13th, that a tuition-free, full-day preschool will soon be coming to Lakeland. Bezos Academy Lakeland will be housed in a section of Oscar J. Pope Elementary, at 2730 Maine Ave. in Lakeland. The…

Polk County Public Schools has announced our district’s principals of the year! Congratulations to Principal Wanda Aponte from Lake Marion Creek Middle, and Assistant Principal Gian Monacelli from Mulberry High. Aponte and Monacelli were…

Polk County Public Schools and the Polk Education Association have reached a tentative agreement regarding salaries and benefits for the 2023-24 fiscal year. PCPS has more than 13,000 employees. PEA represents approximately 9,000 of these…

Today was the final stop for the PCPS surprise patrol. Congratulations to the District 6 finalists for the 2023-24 Polk County Teacher and School Related Employee of the Year: - Kelsea Matthews, Teacher of the Year finalist, second-grade and ELA…

Guess what day it is! Hump Day. But also, the day we announce the District 3 finalists for the 2023-24 Polk County Teacher and School-Related Employee of the Year. Congratulations to: – Kelly Larrow, Teacher of the Year finalist, gifted…

Congratulations to our District 5 finalists for the 2023-24 Polk County Teacher and School-Related Employee of the Year: - Kara Holt, Teacher of the Year finalist, ESE facilitator, Sleepy Hill Middle - Debra Glisson, School-Related Employee of…

PCPS announced the District 7 finalists for the 2023-24 Polk County Teacher and School-Related Employee of the Year: – Elizabeth Ashmore, Teacher of the Year finalist, third-grade teacher, Padgett Elementary – Laura Kovachy,…

Lake Region High’s football stadium will receive a new name on Friday night (Sept. 15). The stadium is being named in honor of Stephen White, LRHS’ first principal, who will be in attendance. The name will be officially announced…

McLaughlin Academy of Excellence will host a celebration on Tuesday (Sept. 12) to recognize students enrolled within its newest career-readiness program. More than 100 students are currently enrolled within the Duke Energy Academy. Through this…

May 25 Event to Celebrate Crystal Lake Elementary Becoming a UCF-Certified Community Partnership School A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at Crystal Lake Elementary to celebrate the school becoming a Community Partnership School certified…

Good morning, - The Polk County School Board will have a work session at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25, followed by a regular board meeting at 5 p.m. Please see our website for details:…

Rick Runion has joined the media relations team here at Polk County Public Schools. He is a veteran photojournalist and has spent the past several years as a teacher with PCPS. For all media inquiries to PCPS, please contact…

Polk County Public Schools will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, March 9, for Central Florida Aerospace Academy – Winter Haven Senior High. The event will take place at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 9, at the Winter Haven Regional…

Polk County Public Schools is asking the community to help name our newest elementary school. The school, located at 9525 State Highway 653 in Winter Haven, is expected to open in August 2023. Measuring 126,834 square feet, the school will serve…

Polk Education Foundation Receives AT&T Full STEAM Ahead for Florida’s Future Grant to Fund Learning Innovation and provides $5,000 to Berkley Charter School! Students at Berkley Charter School will benefit from a statewide investment…

Polk County Public Schools (PCPS) and Varsity Tutors have launched a new online tutoring partnership that brings live instruction and lessons to 40,000 students across the district. The first-of-its-kind program enables district educators to…

Polk County Public Schools’ graduation rate decreased to 78.3 percent in 2021-2022, according to the latest data released today by the Florida Department of Education. District officials continue to analyze the data, but they anticipated a…

Good afternoon, Thanks to everyone who came out for today’s groundbreaking ceremony for McLaughlin’s new gymnasium. Amar’e Stoudemire, a former NBA player and McLaughlin alumni, attended today’s groundbreaking event.…

Polk County Public Schools will host its annual Kiddie Christmas event this Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 9:30 a.m. at the Bartow Civic Center. Every year, employees from PCPS’ Information Systems and Technology division raise money to provide…

Polk County Public Schools Announces 2023 Teacher and SRE of the Year Polk County Public Schools is proud to announce our Teacher and School-Related Employee of the Year! Natalie McSwain, a Spanish teacher at Lake Gibson High, is the 2023…

Polk County Public Schools will announce the 2023 Teacher and School-Related Employee of the Year during the Inspire Awards on Dec. 7. The invite-only event will be held at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday. Media are…

Rick Nolte and Justin Sharpless were sworn in as new members of the Polk County School Board today, during a meeting at the school district’s headquarters in Bartow. Mr. Nolte represents District 3, and Mr. Sharpless serves District 6. Kay…

Crystal Lake Elementary Reaches Important Milestone, Becomes UCF-Certified Community Partnership School Crystal Lake Elementary is celebrating a major milestone after becoming a UCF-Certified Community Partnership School. “There are only 14…

Auburndale High School to represent Polk County Public Schools as one of 11 school financial health projects funded in Florida Auburndale High School’s project, Mastering Financial Literacy, has been selected to receive a grant as part of an…

For two years, the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted many special recognition events, and Polk County Public Schools could not host an in-person banquet for nominees for the Teacher and School-Related Employee of the Year. Superintendent Fred Heid…

Click Here to view the Polk County Public Schools Storm Recovery Update For September 30

PCPS Announces District 3 Finalists for Teacher and School-Related Employee of the Year Last but certainly not least: PCPS is proud to announce our remaining two finalists for Teacher and School-Related Employee of the Year. From District 3,…

The surprise visits continued today as PCPS announced the District 6 finalists for Teacher and School-Related Employee of the Year. Congratulations to: – Debra Braden, Teacher of the Year finalist, art teacher, Snively Elementary…

Monday was a little brighter for two PCPS employees, as we made surprise visits to announce the District 5 finalists for Teacher and School-Related Employee of the year. Congratulations to: – Michael Dinwiddie, Teacher of the Year finalist,…

Burlington Stores may be known for helping kids dress their best for back-to-school, but the retailer also supports education in another significant way. Burlington Stores has donated $5,000 to assist North Lakeland Elementary teachers with…

PCPS officials made surprise visits to more schools today (Sept. 16) as we announced our District 4 finalists for Teacher and School-Related Employee of the Year. Congratulations to: – Laila Gulley, Teacher of the Year finalist, fourth-grade…

Good afternoon, Thanks to everyone who came out for today’s groundbreaking ceremony. For those who could not attend, please see the following link for photos from the event:…

The PCPS surprise patrol hit the road again yesterday to announce our District 2 finalists for the 2022-23 Polk County Teacher and School-Related Employee of the Year. Congratulations to: Cathy Montero, Teacher of the Year finalist, chorus…

Polk County Public Schools is kicking off another year of recognizing our county’s top teachers and employees. Earlier today, the PCPS surprise patrol visited two schools to announce our District 1 finalists for the 2022-23 Polk County…

Polk County Public Schools has begun an exciting new initiative that will help improve learning for all of our students. Each PCPS student will be provided with an internet-accessible device through our school district’s One-to-One Digital…

Twenty-seven community leaders will soon begin exploring the complexities of managing one of the largest school districts in the nation. Inside PCPS — a new countywide leadership program — was created through the collaboration of Polk…

Mulberry High is kicking off the football season on Friday with a special visit from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers! The Panthers scored big with a $250,000 grant to help offset the cost of the new synthetic turf field at the school’s Phosphate…

Good afternoon, We appreciate news media covering our new random screenings for students. Some reporters have asked whether our district can share other safety measures in place for the new school year. Our Back-to-School Guide for…

AmeriCorps Polk Reads seeks reading tutors for the 2022-2023 school year AmeriCorps Polk Reads, a program of the Polk Education Foundation, is currently seeking individuals interested in being tutors in their kindergarten – third grade…

The Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) has announced school grades for 2021-22. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, FLDOE did not issue school grades in 2019-20, and school grades were optional in 2020-21 — allowing districts to receive and…

The Florida Department of Education released 2022 standardized test scores this week, which show Polk County Public Schools maintained or improved in several academic areas. “Despite the many challenges over the past two years, our…

Suncoast Credit Union invested $30,000 in Polk The Polk Education Foundation received $30,000 in funding from Suncoast Credit Union. Funds supported a variety of programs and initiatives offered through the Foundation. “We believe the best…

The Polk County School Board voted unanimously on Tuesday to expand McLaughlin Middle School & Fine Arts Academy into Polk’s newest middle-high school. Teachers, parents, community members and students flooded the school board meeting to…