From 'total chaos' to C school, C.A. Weis is leading the way for Community Partnership Schools
By Mary Lett
A C.A. Weis Elementary fifth-grader experienced a medical emergency one recent Monday. The student was immediately checked by a Community Health Northwest Florida physician’s assistant at the school.
Last week, a former C.A. Weis student, now in middle school, needed clothing and shoes. Principal Kim Thomas was able to get the child those necessities.
These outcomes may not have been possible a few years ago – because C.A. Weis was a school in trouble. The elementary was an F grade school with student disciplinary issues.
Today, the school has made quite the turnaround. C.A. Weis is a C grade school, and disciplinary incidents have decreased significantly. And 2016 was the last time the school received an F grade. It's likely not a coincidence that teacher retention is high – 90% in 2023.
“It was a strong C – 2 percentage points away from a B,” Thomas said proudly about the 2024 Florida Department of Education Accountability Report grade.
“If we had been graded on our afterschool program alone, we would have been a solid B. We did the numbers for just the afterschool program, using the state’s formula. They did earn a B.”
And that’s not the only good news for the school. C.A. Weis Elementary was recently named the 2024 Community Partnership School of the Year. The designation honors the school for its commitment to advancing student success, family engagement and community health. In 2015, C.A. Weis became the first elementary school in Florida to implement the Community Partnership Schools (CPS) model.
SAIL (Students Achieving Innovation and Leading) Academy, the afterschool program Thomas speaks of, is one of the many components that make up C.A. Weis’s CPS model.
Funded by the Escambia Children’s Trust, the SAIL Academy provides one hour of enrichment (dance, music, physical activity) and one hour of academic support and tutoring to 110 students in need. Held Monday through Friday, seven C.A. Weis teachers staff the academy – up from six in previous years.
“Last year when we looked at the numbers, we had seven kids in the afterschool program who were not making the progress they needed,” explained CPS School Director Lisa Smith-Coleman.
“So we went to our other community partners and got additional funding to hire a seventh teacher to do small groups. This was our expanded learning coordinators’ idea. They were able to look at data, saw the need for an additional teacher and say, ‘Hey, can we do this?’”
C.A. Weis is continuing to make academic strides this school year as well. Forty-five percent of SAIL Academy participants made the All A or A and B honor rolls the first nine weeks. Academically, C.A. Weiss has improved since earning F grades in 2015 and 2016. In 2017, the school earned a C; in 2018, D; 2019, C; and in 2022 and 2023, Cs each year.
The school also offers a Health Ambassadors Program for third-, fourth- and fifth graders. By the time, students complete fifth grade, they have earned their CPR certification. The Elite and Elegant Ambassadors Program focuses on social skills and culminates each year with a dinner at The District restaurant.
Providing basic needs such as school uniforms through a CARE Closet and food with the Backpack Buddies program are other components of the CPS model. The CARE Closet was a Leadership Pensacola Class project and First Baptist Church sponsors the backpack program. Feeding the Gulf Coast and Manna Food Pantries also provide groceries for students in need.
The school also holds All Pro Dads chapter meetings monthly, has the One Team Parent incentive program, and New World Reading workshops where participants receive free books. A student government association − complete with elections for student representatives − is in the works.
“We care for the whole child and family,” stressed Smith-Coleman, who has been at the C.A. Weis since 2020.
And it is working – disciplinary incidents at C.A. Weis have dropped by over 90% and out-of-school suspensions by nearly 94% from 2016 to 2024, according to data from the Children’s Home Society of Florida.
Smith-Coleman attributed the student behavioral improvements to the principal establishing expectations.
“When I first came here, we were having kids screaming and yelling down the hallways – even five years in. It was just total chaos,” Smith-Coleman said. “(Thomas) set the expectations, not only with the children, but with the staff, the parents, us.
“When you have expectations, kids will rise up to them, and Dr. Thomas is true to her word, you have trust behind that. And we’ve built trust with the community, the parents, the students here, so they know we say what we mean and mean what we say.”
Thomas, named C.A. Weis principal in 2021, said the school has undergone a culture shift.
“The main goal when I got here was focus on changing the mindset of the school as a whole. I was truly blessed to learn about the Community Partnership model because I thought, this was an awesome opportunity for a school with so many needs, to have all this right here at our disposal. I knew it was important to tap into these resources,” Thomas said, adding she and Smith-Coleman worked as a team to tackle the school’s greatest needs and within year one, established several programs.
Priteyja Olige-Brannon, a C.A. Weis kindergarten teacher and SAIL Academy expanded learning coordinator, knows firsthand the transformative power of the school’s CPS model. Her two foster daughters – Zylaya, 10, and Zaraya, 8 – have thrived under the program.
“When Zylaya came to us last year, she was reading at kindergarten level, and Zaraya had repeated the first grade. Zylaya now reads at second-grade level and Zaraya is at third grade level,” said Olige-Brannon, who became the girls’ guardian following the death of her cousin, their mother.
“When we got them, they were struggling academically, and I knew that our program focuses on reading and math. We have the UWF partnership where reading tutors, who are actually teachers, come in and do data-driven based instruction. I knew the girls could benefit from this.”
The girls also receive grief counseling through Nonie’s Place at the school.
The school is also committed to meeting the community aspect of the CPS model by offering expanded access to health care with Community Health Northwest Florida.
Only 17% of C.A. Weis students use the health clinic, Thomas said, noting the remaining 83% of users are community residents ages 0 to 3.
C.A. Weis also provides GED classes for parents through George Stone Technical College, computer and enrichment classes, as well as workforce training. Residents also have access to a playground and walking trail at the school.
So far this year, the school has fulfilled nearly 700 referral needs requests – 73 Backpack Buddies, 78 shoes, 105 dental exams and cleanings, 127 hygiene products and 267 uniform requests, said LaTonya Jones-Conner, the school’s wellness coordinator.
The CPS model was initiated in partnership with Children’s Home Society of Florida, the University of Central Florida, and key community organizations to address educational and social challenges in underserved areas.
Each Community Partnership School benefits from a 25-year agreement and collaboration among four core partners: a lead nonprofit agency (the Children’s Home Society of Florida, which leads over 30 of Florida’s 40 CPS programs), the local school district (Escambia County), a secondary education partner (University of West Florida), and a healthcare provider (Community Health Northwest Florida).
“The transformative impact we’ve seen at C.A. Weis Elementary over the years demonstrates the power of partnerships to change lives and uplift communities,” Leah Harrison, CHS regional executive director for the Greater Pensacola and Greater Panama City communities, said in a prepared statement.
“The school’s progress exemplifies how public education and community resources can unite to create safe, enriching spaces for students and families.”
The Children’s Home Society also provides Community Partnership School programming with the same core partners at Bellview Middle School and Pine Forest High School, completing a feeder pattern for the students in the community from kindergarten through high school graduation.