Moving to Sarasota? There are many reasons to move here: the beaches, culture of arts, amazing weather and many great restaurants and we will discuss those in other blogs. Today I want to discuss a rather unique reason. Something that in other towns and cities I have never heard happening. People will (have) uproot their entire lives just to come to Sarasota County for this deciding factor.
A public school, well not just any public school. Pine View School. Pine View (PV) is a public school for the Gifted. Most people have never heard of Pine View. I visited Siesta Key a dozen times over the years and never heard anything about it. My child tested gifted in Florida and still we never heard anything about it. And then one day someone mentions this school in Osprey, Florida in Sarasota County. Well with a 1st grader in a gifted class 200 miles away from here we began to Google.
Wow. Grades 2-12 For the past 15-20 years PV has been ranked in the top 25 best schools in the country according to US News and World Reports Magazine. #1 high school in Florida for 9 of the past 10 years. Also the number 1 elementary school in the whole USA! according to Niche There is a lot of information online about rankings and achievements.
I want to tell you about the school, the teachers, the culture, and the families. Oh sure people move to a different part of town for a better school district, but PV families come from all over. Naples, FL, Tampa, FL. New York, San Diego, Hawaii, Germany, Japan, China etc. So as you can imagine in addition to the academics PV brings together many different cultures, which makes for an amazing learning experience. Many parents are first generation Americans, sometimes the children are the first generation Americans.
The teachers are wonderful, caring and allow the student to grow at their own pace. Some students who excel in math are encouraged to go up a grade level or 2 or 3 to meet their needs. There is a very independent learning environment even in the elementary school.
The culture is one where academics are celebrated as sports would be in other schools. In truth sports are not a big part of Pine View. The students that are athletes will pursue soccer at FC Sarasota , swimming with the state champion Sarasota Sharks ,Sarasota baseball or Venice Baseball,or rowing at the current and 9 time consecutive Florida State Champion Sarasota Crew Team.
As you can imagine parents that will move from far away to give their children the best education are very supportive of the school. The parent teachers association is incredible and supports the children’s learning to a great extent.
The last thing of note is the community at Pine View. There are tee shirts and bumper stickers that students and parents wear with pride. In a similar way you might support your favorite college sports team. We have seen families at Disney or on vacation in NYC with PV shirts on. If we wear our PV shirts families come over and say hello, sometimes their children have graduated from PV, but they are still part of the PV family. There is a real sense of family at this school. If you are thinking of moving to Sarasota County (Sarasota, Osprey, Venice, Nokomis, Englewood or North Port) and have any questions about Pine View School contact me. I’d be happy to help.
Mark Segreto 941-444-2270
