Maniscalco K-8 makes Florida's Schools of Excellence list

LUTZ, Fla. — One Principal in Hillsborough County is celebrating her staff on making this year’s Schools of Excellence list.

The list was started by the State of Florida in 2017 and honors the highest performing schools statewide.

Maniscalco K-8 in Lutz made the list this year after it’s Principal, Tammy Reale, says it started focusing on data driven academic monitoring.

“The last year that we were a B was in 2021, and that kind of hit our teachers hard, like what are we doing wrong?” Reale said. “They weren’t doing anything wrong. We just needed to look at the data a little bit differently.”

It is hard to escape that data driven approach at Maniscalco.

Teachers have data points posted all over their classrooms, and the halls of the school are lined with student goals and achievements.

Principal Reale says as teachers monitor new forms of data, they have the ability to more quickly identify students that need a push, and others that are falling behind.

“It gives the teachers an opportunity to intervene earlier as they are tracking data,” Reale said.

Hillsborough County is celebrating 31 schools that made the Schools of Excellence list this year.

Currently, just over 10% of all Hillsborough County schools are recognized as Schools of Excellence.