Its 2024 graduating class was 16.5 percent higher than the prior year.
When Simmons Career Acceleration Academy principal Sundy Chazares’ phone rang last Sunday night with congratulatory remarks from fellow high school administrators, he learned that his school had the highest year-over-year graduation increase in the county, climbing 16.5 percent.
“For the state and the county to put it in writing and appreciate what we’re doing was exciting,” he said. “It’s the cherry on top of a great school year and a testament to all that our teachers are doing right for students.”
Eighty-eight of the 106 seniors graduated from Simmons last year. Remarkably, its students are typically recruited from its feeder schools (Plant City, Durant and Strawberry Crest) in their junior or senior year, even fifth-year seniors, who are at-risk of dropping out or not-graduating. “Our meat and potatoes is accepting students that we know won’t graduate in a traditional setting and help them make educational gains and earn a diploma,” said Chazares, who has been Simmons’ principal since 2010.
Simmons has earned an A-rating from the district for six years.
Sierra McCoy was in last year’s graduating class. She first attended Simmons the second semester of her freshman year after a school psychologist at her younger brother’s elementary school advocated for her. She had suffered learning losses during COVID while in middle school and struggled with family challenges.
“I enrolled with the attitude that I was going to drop out as soon as I turned 16,” she said.
One day, a teacher noticed she was sitting in the classroom but not doing her online classwork. She pulled her aside and took her for a walk around campus. “I told her I didn’t want to do the work and my plans to drop out,” she said.
The teacher’s response will echo in her mind forever. “She told me she knew I could succeed and that there was more to life for me than dropping out,” she said. “I think back on those words a lot because it was a turning point for me.”
She also joined the Future Farmers of American (FFA) and developed a close bond with the FFA advisor, Joanna Patino. Her senior year, she was chapter President. “In my sophomore year I lost both my grandparents to COVID and she became a maternal figure to me,” said McCoy.
She would also frequent school counselor Jeanne Knots’ office. She offered support when she was struggling,.
“Really I thank the entire staff, all the teachers, all the women that work in the office, even the janitors and lunch ladies that showed me a lot of kindness that I really wasn’t used to receiving,” she said.
McCoy won several scholarships, including the Bailey Foundation Scholarship and attended Hillsborough County Community College last fall before transferring to Brewster Tech where she is completing a six-month Early Childhood Education program so she can become a pre-school teacher. “My fiancee is joining the Air Force and I can be finished with the program before he’s stationed to a base,” she said.
Her long-term goals include earning a bachelor’s degree so she can one day be an FFA teacher. “The teachers at Simmons really boosted my confidence and made me believe in myself and didn’t let me waste it,” she said. “They really inspired me.”
On January 9, Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) released the district’s high school graduation rate for the 2023-2024 academic year. Districtwide, the graduation rate increased 1.8 percentage points, to 88 percent. Twelve high schools, including Plant City and Strawberry Crest High Schools, were recognized for having graduation rates above 95 percent.
For more information about Simmons Career Acceleration Academy visit https://www.hillsboroughschools.org/Page/375 For more information about Florida’s 2023-24 graduation rate, visit https://www.fldoe.org/accountability/data-sys/edu-info-accountability-services/pk-12-public-school-data-pubs-reports/students.stml.
