Northview High School

Northview High School of Bratt, FL simple goal is to maintain the status quo. This applies to curriculum offerings, pedagogy (teaching methods), student behavior management, clubs, athletics, and the overall culture of the school. While innovation is not necessarily prohibited, proposed changes are generally frowned upon and scrutinized by the school in order to not break traditional, conservative societal norms promoted by administration and the community as a whole. NHS is looked upon as an afterthought by the Escambia School District and is not positioned geographically or by its status quo rural school reputation to be included into partnerships with the Greater Pensacola professional and post-secondary education communities. This leaves NHS in a position of having limited connections and philanthropic partnering.

NHS faces headwinds to improved test scoring primarily due to low income/ generational poverty across some of its attendance zone. Broad background knowledge is lacking due to limited numbers of college graduates and income among parents. Lessons requiring higher level thinking or assumed common knowledge run straight into these headwinds among the students, lowering school scores in core tested subjects. Reading skills can be years behind.

Many faculty are graduates of NHS, leading to a deficiency of depth of varied experiences. Students are given a more restrictive view of the world by being presented lessons focused through the lenses of local politics, religion, and career potential. Military career pathways are presented by administration as nearly the only hope for students to achieve above and beyond. Because NHS is so distantly removed from other high schools in the Escambia County School District (next nearest high school is Tate HS about 30 miles south) and from the District itself, NHS receives limited District attention for needed instructional resources. The school's small enrollment (relative to other high schools) often leaves it underfunded or underserviced for special needs students (504, IEP/ESE). Honors student programs are limited, and advanced placement courses (AP) are absent or nearly absent in most years. Students with higher aspirations often transfer to West Florida Tech or Tate, or enroll in early college placement programs. In turn, NHS is left with more average performing students, thus its state testing scores are lowered to and remain at status quo year over year. Faculty morale is often low due to underperformance of students and lack of community support relating to academics and broad academic achievement goals. Library resources are limited, not taken seriously by students. Clubs are limited, primarily because the population and attendance zone is so widespread and because the school is located far to the north edge of the attendance zone, opposite of commuter travel towards Pensacola. This make participation after school and on weekends more challenging. Most students in clubs are members of FFA or NJROTC. There are few bonafide after-school club meetings held, limiting student extracurricular engagement. Athletics are overemphasized at the school, especially football, volleyball, and softball/baseball, and cheerleading, with basketball a distant fifth place. Athletic "call outs" occur often among student athletes because away games are at great distance from the school due to its remote location. This creates a challenge for teachers and athletes to keep up with missed class time and assessments. Call outs can occur as early as 12:30 PM.

NHS's location places it in the "Bible Belt", and it is strongly reflected among many administrators, faculty, and students. For the minority not a part of the Christian religion, attending or working at NHS can be challenging. Teachers will frown upon students who are openly non-religious, LGBT, or seek pathways of ethical living that does not go along with the local religious mores. Administration and the District do little, if anything, concerning employees who openly display Christianity by the presence of Bibles on desks or posters displayed in rooms. This is also true of political issues. The school will quietly marginalize students or faculty who are not politically conservative, as well as become verbally abusive, especially towards other faculty.

The school has potential for improvement in student academics by engaging them with the Pensacola business and research community, as well as the U of West Florida. Sports programs need to be more diversified and relevant to the current generation and girls. Clubs need to be given time to function as clubs. Admin and faculty need to be respectful of differences among their own and toward students. The District needs to consistently provide ALL available resources and services that are offered to all other schools in south Escambia, and not allow distance to curtail services.