Dr. Collins Featured on the Front Page of SCPS's Website

Earlier this week, Dr. Collins was featured on the front page of Seminole County Public School's website. As you may know, earlier this year Dr. Collins was named the Principal of the Year for the State of Florida. Dr. Collins will now be representing Florida in National Principal of the Year Competition. Click on this story for more info.

Dr. Connie Collins, Principal of Crooms Academy of Information Technology (AoIT) in Sanford, Florida, has been named the Florida Association of Secondary School Principals (FASSP) "Principal of the Year."

Representing the state of Florida, Dr. Collins will now compete at the national level for the Met Life/NASSP National Principal of the Year 2010 for High School. This award is sponsored jointly by Met Life and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, recognizing a middle school and a high school principal at the national level. This award program annually recognizes outstanding school leaders who have succeeded in providing high-quality learning opportunities for students. These principals are acknowledged by their peers for the exemplary contributions they have made to the profession. The principals honored are active, front-line principals, currently "on the job" working with students.

Dr. Collins began her career as a professional educator in the classroom of a school in neighboring Orange County. She taught at both the middle and high school levels for ten years, and then moved into administration in Seminole County, when she became an assistant principal at Teague Middle School. She later moved to Seminole High School where she worked as an assistant principal until she was named, in June 2000, as the Principal of Crooms AoIT.

Under her leadership Crooms AoIT has earned and maintained an "A" grade in Florida's accountability system. In addition, this magnet high school has been recognized in US News & World Report’s list of Best High Schools, and has been recognized as ranking in the top 5% nationally in Newsweek's Best High School rankings for the past four years. The school has consistently been recognized for earning the highest scores in the district on FCAT: Reading (2003, 2005, 2006), MATH (2005, 2006, 2007), and Science (2005, 2007, 2009); earned the highest percentage of students proficient in Science (2006); and earned most improved scores in Reading, Math, and Writing (2005, 2006) and Writing again in 2007. Over half the student population at Crooms AoIT is enrolled in honors, gifted or Advanced Placement (AP) classes, and more than 40% of the students earn college credit as ninth and tenth graders. This school has become a 21st century learning center.

Dr. Collins is a member of numerous professional organizations at both the state and national level. She has previously been named a district level Assistant Principal of the Year, Principal of the Year, and received the State of Florida Principals' Leadership Award in September 2005. The following year Crooms AoIT was named one of the 50 Highest Performing Schools in the State and she earned the title of State of Florida "High Performing Principal" that September. This latest award as State High School Principal of the Year from FASSP puts her in contention on the national stage; the national recipient will be named in October, 2009 during the National Principals' Institute to be held in Washington, D.C.

Crooms, located at 2200 West 13th Street in Sanford, Florida, is a school with a rich history. Founded in 1926 by Professor Crooms, it is one of the oldest high schools in Seminole County and served as the county's first high school for black students. In 1970 Seminole County was placed under a desegregation order by the U.S. Justice Department, and Crooms was no longer identified as a community school. Over the following years the use of the Crooms facility varied; it was an administrative center, a school for student with behavior problems, a school assisting pregnant teenagers, and a center for academically struggling students. Then the doors to the new Crooms Academy of Information Technology opened in 2000, offering a wide range of educational choices, including Information Technology Certifications.

A fellow principal shared the following observations with respect to Dr. Collins, regarding how she stepped into, and up to, the role of principal at Crooms: "While the name of the school might indicate a highly competitive magnet school, Dr. Collins was actually appointed to this position as Crooms was being transitioned from a Dropout Prevention Center to a Magnet School. Added to this transition was the fact that Crooms' recent history was one of a segregated school that served only African-American students and is located in one of Seminole County's poorest neighborhoods. Thus, Dr. Collins had the arduous task of attracting students to an area of Seminole County that was riddled with urban blight while at the same time transforming the expectations and culture of the school. To this end, Dr. Collins has done a masterful job. Not only has the school set a standard for excellence in our own high performing District, she has changed the culture of Crooms Academy and made the school an integral part of the community. Through her leadership, interpersonal skills, and commitment to excellence and equity for all students, Dr. Collins has, in a very short time, made Crooms AoIT a model school that has received national attention."

An Educational Technology Facilitator referred to Dr. Collins as “an advocate who is selfless with her time, energy and commitment to student achievement.” One of Dr. Collins' assistant principals summed up this recognition in these words: "This is an honor that Dr. Collins would never expect for herself, but one she deserves for her unwavering commitment toward the success of every single student who walks into her school each day." Dr. Collins' profound impact on the development and success of Crooms Academy of Information Technology is a true source of Seminole Pride.

This story is copied from the SCPS news release that was put out on http://www.scps.k12.fl.us