MAYOR PRESENTS 3RD ANNUAL TOP APPLE AWARDS

St. Petersburg, Fla. (September 5, 2007) - At a presentation yesterday, Mayor Rick Baker honored St. Petersburg schools that earned an “A” grade from the state of Florida or improved their rating from the previous year. Also recognized in the ceremony were principals and assistant principals who received the Mayor’s “Top Apple Awards” and corporate partners who have worked with schools as part of the Mayor’s Mentors & More initiative.

A Top Apple Award is given to schools that either received an A grade or improves at least one letter grade during the past year. This year’s Top Apple Awards recognized 17 of the city’s 42 graded schools - 16 of which achieved A grades. Honorees include one high school, two middle schools and 14 elementary schools. State ratings are based on schools FCAT scores.

The following schools were honored:

Bay Point Elementary
Bay Vista Fundamental Elementary
Lakeview Fundamental Elementary
Mount Vernon Elementary
Pasadena Fundamental Elementary
Rio Vista Elementary
Shore Acres Elementary
Bay Point Middle
Southside Fundamental Elementary
St. Petersburg Collegiate High
Blanton Elementary
Tyrone Elementary
Fairmount Park Elementary
Sexton Elementary
Azalea Elementary
Lakewood Elementary
Perkins Elementary

The Top Apple Awards consists of a custom apple award for each administrator; a Top Apple banner to be displayed on school property; and gifts donated from local businesses, including dinner at the Columbia Restaurant, tickets to American Stage and gift certificates to Paciugo Gelato. Principals also receive a weekend at the Tradewinds Islands Resort.

“Great leadership at the principal level drives school success. We need to reward that achievement so we can attract and retain the best administrators in St. Petersburg,” Mayor Rick Baker said.

Principals and assistant principals at Top Apple schools will receive cash bonuses ($2,500 for principals and $1,000 for assistant principals) to recognize their accomplishments with funds privately raised by Mayor Rick Baker.

The city also provides St. Petersburg public school teachers with the opportunity to receive up to $20,000 in interest free loans/grants to assist them in purchasing homes in the city through the A+ Housing program. In the past six years, more than $14 million has been raised by the Mayor and his staff to support public schools through Doorways Scholarships, Partnership to Advance School Success (PASS) Program, mentoring, the corporate partner program and more.