Class Notes: Volusia County’s graduation rate for 2022-23 is 91.6 percent

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Class Notes: Volusia County’s graduation rate for 2022-23 is 91.6 percent
Tony Tussing

The Florida Department of Education has released the Federal Uniform Graduation Rate for 2022-23, and Volusia County’s graduation rate is 91.6 percent. This rate is 3.6-percentage points above the state average of 88 percent, and is a 2.7-percentage-point increase from the district’s 2021-22 rate of 88.9 percent.

Volusia County had the highest graduation-rate increase within the Central Florida Coalition of School Districts. The Volusia County rate also places the district in the top 10 of the 67 counties in Florida.

All 10 traditional high schools in Volusia County saw an increase in graduation rates. The graduation rates for the high schools on the west side of the county are as follows: DeLand 95 percent, Deltona 99.7 percent, Pine Ridge 93.4 percent, Taylor 89.7 percent and University 92.6 percent.

Deltona High had the highest graduation rate in Volusia County, while Pine Ridge High in Deltona had the largest one-year increase in graduation rate (10 percentage points).

The Florida High School Athletic Association has announced the new football classifications for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years. DeLand and Orange City University are in 7A Division, which places them in District 2 with Spruce Creek and Flagler Palm Coast.

Deltona High and Pine Ridge are in 4A, while being in District 6, along with New Smyrna Beach, Rockledge and Seabreeze. Pierson Taylor will be in 1A, placing them in District 5, along with Crescent City, Father Lopez and Halifax Academy.

The FHSAA will also be hosting the 5A-7A state soccer championships for both boys and girls in Spec Martin Memorial Stadium in DeLand. The championships will take place Tuesday, Feb. 27, through Saturday, March 2.

Tickets will cost $11 per game in advance, and $14 the day of the game through GoFan. There will be no outside ticket sales.

Next school year (2024-25), schools in the Volusia County School District will begin Monday, Aug. 12, for students and end on Wednesday, May 28, 2025.

Labor Day Holiday will be Monday, Sept. 2, while Thanksgiving Holiday begins Monday, Nov. 25, with students returning to class Monday, Dec. 2.

The Winter Holiday begins Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, and ends on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.

Spring Holiday begins Monday, March 17, 2025, and ends March 24, 2025.

There are also professional days as well as other holidays that will be reviewed later this year.

An exciting and different parade will take place Saturday, Feb. 10. The Mardi Gras Dog Parade and Festival, presented by the Krewe of Amalee, begins at 11 a.m. and travels south on Woodland Boulevard, starting up around the area of Stetson University.

Enterprise Elementary School

The Volusia County School Board has appointed Nicole O’Quinn assistant principal at Enterprise Elementary School.

Manatee Cove Elementary School

Riley Evins, a student at Manatee Cove Elementary School in Orange City, took second place in the poster contest for “Safely Rolling to My Destination.”

DeLand High School

The School Advisory Council at DeLand High School will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, in the media center.

University High School

Elizabeth Maldonado Martinez, who teaches Spanish at University High School in Orange City, was selected by the Florida Foreign Language Association Conference as the winner of the “Best of Florida Foreign Language Conference” for having the highest-rated and best-attended session at the conference.

University High student Julianna Davila has received the New Worlds Reading Scholar Award. She dedicated 75 hours to assisting second-graders in improving their reading, phonics and writing skills.

DeLand High School Athletics

The DeLand High School Lady Bulldog weightlifters had two FHSAA district champs in Addison Ruocco and Katyah Ross. Both were winners in the Olympic-style lifting. The team was third in Olympic style and fourth in traditional style.

Those taking second were Ruocco and Ross in traditional, while thirds were earned by Elena Cruz (2), with fourth going to Mattie Washington (2), Payton Mathis, Alexis Berriozabal and Hollee Brady.

Those with fifth-place finishes were Katherin Rodriguez (2), Bayleigh Couch, Sierra West and Berriozabal, while sixth-place finishes were gained by Ashleigh Mina, Abby Schrier, Mathis and Brady.

The DeLand girls soccer team was stopped by Sanford Seminole, 5-1, and the Bulldog boys squad lost to Flagler Palm Coast after a 5-4 shootout, with the scoring being knotted at 1 at the end of regulation time.

DeLand High grad Kevar Williams, who now runs for the University of Florida National Championship team, ran the 60 and 200 at the Razorback Invitational in Arkansas. His times were 7.0 and 21.95, respectively.

The winter-sports calendar thins out drastically as the season draws toward a close. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 9 and 10, have the junior-varsity wrestlers state championships in Osceola. The competitive-cheer team competes in the UCA Nationals, which runs Friday, Feb. 9, through Thursday, Feb. 15.

On Thursday, Feb. 15, the Bulldog wrestlers compete in the FHSAA district match being held at Gainesville Buchholz.

Stetson University Athletics

The Stetson University Hatter men’s tennis team defeated The Citadel, 5-2, with single matches being won by Lucas Olivier, Eder Blanco, Marc Saura and Riccardo Baldi.

The Lady Hatter tennis team defeated Bethune- Cookman, 7-0, with single matches being won by Nadejda Maslova, Zali Morris, Clelia Lombardi, Cleanne Pickel, Maxence Lippens and Magdalena Hedrzak.

The team then lost to FAU, 5-2, with Cheri Darley and Alanna DiFrancesco picking up wins in singles.

The Hatter men’s basketball team topped Austin Peay, 83-82, with a great turnout of students for the game. Stephan Swenson scored 19 points with 10 assists and two steals. Alec Oglesby added 18 points, with seven rebounds and one blocked shot. Aubin Gateretse scored 14 points with a block shot. Tristan Gross dropped in 13 points, and Jalen Blackmon scored 10 points.

The Hats then downed Lipscomb, 80-59, with Blackmon scoring 17 points with seven rebounds. Swenson added 15 points with seven rebounds, nine assists and one block. Oglesby scored 14 points, and Gateretse scored 11 points.

The Lady Hatter basketball team also picked up two wins. They stopped Austin Peay, 51-42, with Jamiya Turner scoring 12 points, five rebounds and one steal. The team defeated Lipscomb, 67-55, with Khamya McNeal scoring 21 points and Promise Keshi adding 13 points.

The Hatter basketball calendar has the women hosting Central Arkansas at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, and the men hosting Eastern Kentucky at 4:45 p.m. that same day.

On Thursday, Feb. 15, the Lady Hats play at Queens in South Carolina, and on Saturday, Feb. 17, they compete at Kennesaw State. The men host FGCU at 2 p.m.

The Hatter baseball team opens its 2024 season Friday, Feb. 16, facing West Virginia at 6:30 p.m. in Conrad Park, and facing them again at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18, and at 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19.

The Lady Hatter softball players open their 2024 season against Binghamton University out of New York at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, followed by a game with Southern Illinois at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, Feb. 10, the team greets Binghamton at 3 p.m. and Boston University at 5:30 p.m., followed by another meeting with Boston U. at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11.

The home game calendar for other Stetson spring sports places the men’s tennis players at home against Florida National at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11. Thursday, Feb. 15, has the women at home versus South Alabama at 10 a.m.

College honors

Savannah Rodgers, of Lake Helen, has been named to the dean’s list for the fall 2023 semester at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.

Sienna Peele, of DeLand, has been named to the Chancellor’s Honor Roll for the fall 2023 semester at the University of Mississippi. Peele is majoring in allied health studies.

— Send school news to Tony Tussing via email: at flacoach43@hotmail.com.

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