• Mission Statement

     

    “Lawton Chiles High School is building a tradition of excellence by providing the best learning environment where students are challenged to be active learners, leaders, achievers and contributors within a global community.”

     

    Principal Statement

     

    Chiles High School is one of the best high schools in the state of Florida and in the United States.  Routinely, with the accepted focus of a commitment to technology, our school performs at the highest levels for AP, Dual Enrollment, ACT, SAT, Florida Standard Assessment and EOC’s.  These achievements and levels of performance do not come lightly and emphasize the tremendous feeder program established in this community.  The faculty and staffs at our feeder schools deserve great praise for the preparation and nurturing of these students as we take them to greater heights in post-secondary opportunities.  These faculty and staffs come from the following schools: DeSoto Trail, Gilchrist, Hawks Rise, Killearn Lakes, Roberts Elementary Schools along with Deerlake and Montford Middle Schools.

     

    At Chiles, we recruit highly qualified, certified, effective teachers by reviewing and vetting records submitted to our county’s personnel office.  Once hired, our staff is continuously evaluated and monitored to ensure that the highest educational standards are being maintained and exceeded.  This continuous process is assisted yearly by our School Advisory Council (SAC).  They are an advisory group that helps me to oversee the operations of the school while ensuring that a representative group from the surrounding community has input and reflective accountability on that process.  Secondary groups that help provide advisory support to the process of our school include Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO), SITE (School-based decision-making team), Student Government Association (SGA), Inter-Club Council (ICC), and Chiles Ambassadors.  SITE and PTO make sure that the faculty and staff stays involved in doing what is best for the school, while PTO provides supportive resources that help us maintain our world-class faculty and staff.  Our SGA works with the administration and faculty on school calendar of activities and the discussion of issues raised by the student body to assist them in taking full advantage of this prestigious learning environment.  The ICC is a representative body from the leadership of every activity and club on campus.  This body helps our school set school-wide goals and make decisions about the best strategies in achieving those goals.  Their charge includes determining which public charities will be adopted by Chiles, supporting public service throughout our community, and making sure our clubs support one another. Our Chiles Ambassadors are our best student representatives from the 11th and 12th grade.  Each year they are competitively selected to serve as student leaders within the Chiles community.  They are mentors to our younger students by being an accessible and dedicated source of information of how to navigate the life of a high school student.

     

    In keeping with our standard of tradition within excellence, Chiles High School encourages students to take appropriately challenging courses in Advanced Placement, Dual Enrollment, Honors and Workforce Development.  We constantly encourage teacher discussion on these courses and we have every student speak with a guidance counselor regarding their current schedule as it helps them shape their post-secondary opportunities. This includes sharing information and requirements to become eligible for Bright Futures, Gold Seal, and other scholarships that are maintained locally, statewide, and nationally.  Students also attend grade level assemblies each year in which the guidance department covers graduation requirements and course selection. Freshmen and seniors also view small group presentations by our guidance counselors through their English classes during the school year.

     

    Guidance counselors constantly review charts tracking graduation requirements while assisting parents and teachers with student interventions if students get off track.  These interventions are both academic and behavioral.  Counselors and administrators will do their best to accommodate and use outside community resources that are accredited for our students’ needs when necessary.  In assisting our students who struggle with the rigorous course load or need remediation to pursue post-secondary opportunities, we also offer classes though the Adult & Community Education (ACE) program.  This is done only for students who may need remediation. Our school district also offers virtual classes through Leon County Virtual School (LCVS) for students wish to accelerate in credits while attending traditional public school.

     

    The Chiles Leadership Team and Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s) focus their meetings around one question: “How do we develop and maintain a problem-solving system to bring out the best in our school, our teachers, and our students?”  Through our Professional Learning Communities (PLC's) strategies are discussed and learning goals are written. Targeted teachers or departments are sent to district or national training and return to our school to share information with teachers and departments during PLC meetings. Benchmarks are documented in lesson plans that are reviewed by department heads, assistant principals, and principal.  The team meets as needed to engage in the following activities: Review universal screening data and link to instructional decisions; review progress monitoring data at the grade level and classroom level to identify students who are meeting or exceeding benchmarks, at moderate risk or at high risk for not meeting benchmarks.  Based on the above information, the team will identify professional development and resources. The team will also collaborate regularly to problem solve, share effective practices, monitor implementation of strategies, make decisions, and practice new processes and skills. The team also facilitates the process of building consensus, increasing infrastructure, and making decisions about evaluation of implementation strategies along with the entire problem-solving system.

     

    Working together with our stakeholders and community members, Chiles High School has maintained its “A” ranking and high levels of achievement on all standards of assessment over the last five years.  Our faculty and staff continue to work with students and their families to create an educationally challenging, technology savvy and safe environment.  This commitment to excellence by Chiles is a hallmark for our community and district and this our pledge to uphold this standard.

     

    Three Year Goals for Lawton Chiles High School:

     

    Over the next three years, we will strive to maintain an A status in the state accountability system. Chiles High School consists of teachers, faculty, staff, students and the community who have a shared vision for student achievement. We recognize the faculty and staff members that contribute to our success from the following feeder schools: DeSoto Trail, Gilchrist, Hawks Rise, Killearn Lakes, and Roberts Elementary Schools as well as Deerlake and Montford Middle Schools. We collaborate frequently through the Northeast Articulation Team to foster transitions and build relationships among our school communities. We have developed alternative academic programs to support our lowest achieving students and increase the graduation rate of our students at-risk. We promote and encourage Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment participation from our general student and underrepresented populations of students. Chiles is a part of the Tallahassee Chamber and offers Business and Technology Certifications to students who wish to pursue a vocational education. Technology is readily available to students and is incorporated into curriculum and instruction regularly. We aim to prepare all students for postsecondary education by providing college and career opportunities through expos and partnerships with FAMU, FSU, TCC, and Lively Technical College. Parental and community involvement is possible through organizations such as PTO, SAC, SGA, and DAC. The Chiles faculty, staff and students benefit from the relationships and connections built each year.