Pine View School

Pine View School for the Gifted, or simply known as Pine View School, is a public, college-preparatory, coeducational school located in Osprey, Florida. Pine View serves students from 2nd through 12th grades.
History.
In 1969, the school was founded as the state's first school for the intellectually gifted. The first director was John D. Woolever, an educator who had written numerous scholarly articles on education throughout his career. During the school's early history, many feared it would be closed, particularly when the school moved to its current campus, designed by Carl Abbott, FAIA, in 1994. Periodically, this possibility has reemerged, the most notable occasion being in 2007 and 2008 when the Florida State Legislature considered abolishing the Exceptional Student Educational (ESE) label "gifted." On this occasion, Pine View was included in a statewide comprehensive policy assessment completed by the Florida Legislature's Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability (OPPAGA), which determined that gifted programs were thriving and that the ESE label "gifted" had more advantages than disadvantages.
There were 28 members in the first graduating class. Until the 1990s, Pine View's class sizes hovered around 130 per graduating group. From 1990 until 2010, class sizes gradually rose but were generally kept under 200. However, the Class of 2012 (with 158 graduates) is generally considered the school's last small class, as class sizes are steeply increasing above 200 with the Class of 2013 and younger grades.
At the end of the 2012–2013 school year, Steve Largo, Pine View's principal of 25 years, retired. Stephen Covert took Largo's place as Pine View principal on July 1, 2013.
Academic recognition.
Nation rankings.
During the 2003–2004 school year, Pine View School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive.
In 2014 Pine View was ranked the number one school in Florida and the sixth-best school in the Country. In 2013, Pine View was ranked by "U.S. News & World Report" as the sixth-best public high school in the nation. The previous year, "Newsweek" ranked Pine View the 15th best public high school in the nation. Out of public and private schools, Pine View was rated the 6th best high school in the nation in 2007, 11th in 2008, 14th in 2009, 30th in 2012, and 6th in 2013 by U.S. News.
Due to its average SAT score of 1335 for 2005, the school was listed among "Newsweek" magazine's 21 Public Elite American high schools. It was the only Public Elite school in Florida. Pine View's "U.S. News & World Report" 2012 national ranking was called into question when it seemed the ranking was significantly deflated when "U.S. News" calculated Pine View's 8th grade students as high school students who did not participate in Advanced Placement courses (a significant factor in its methodology) and incorrectly factored Pine View's AP pass rate.
In 2019 Pine View School was ranked No. 15 in National Rankings, No. 8 in Magnet High Schools and No. 23 in STEM High Schools.
State rankings.
In 2012, the Florida Department of Education ranked Pine View as the best Florida school that combined high school students with other grade levels. The ranking was produced by crunching state and national test data. In the same year, Pine View was ranked by Newsweek as the 4th best high school in Florida. "U.S. News and World Report" ranked Pine View the best high school in Florida, based on its 2013 national ranking. In 2009, Pine View was rated America's Best High School for Florida by Business Week.
Admission requirements.
As a full-time gifted program, Pine View maintains selective entrance requirements. Students may be referred for admission by administrators, teachers, staff members, or parents. Prospective students are admitted based on the gifted identification standards that are required by the Florida Department of Education. Since other Sarasota County district schools house gifted programs, an important part of admission is considering if Pine View's program best meets the student's educational needs. At Pine View, students must enroll at the beginning of each school year. Other district gifted programs enroll students during the school year.
Curriculum.
Pine View's curriculum emphasizes rigor, differentiated instruction, and, in high school, students' academic self-determination. A periodically updated description of the curriculum is available at the Course Code Directory Link Page. In elementary and middle school, students take classes that are accelerated and go more in-depth than topically similar courses at other schools. Students begin to rotate teachers and classrooms beginning in 4th grade. Starting in 6th grade, students are placed in different levels in math based on a standardized test administered at the end of 5th grade. Students can begin to choose some of their course load beginning in 7th grade and continuing throughout high school.
At the beginning of high school, students create their own individual four-year academic plans, which they refine and revise as the years progress. This differentiated instruction results in a variety of math, English, science, social science, and foreign language levels being offered to students in the same grade. The substantial elective selection allows students access to breadth and depth of their interests. By the 11th grade, students exercise significant autonomy over their schedules. Students largely build their own curriculum, subject to the approval of their teachers and administrators.
Most high school courses are offered as honors (except where Florida statute prohibits the designations, such as in foreign language classes) and/or Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Students can start taking AP classes, the centerpiece of the Pine View curriculum, beginning in ninth grade. Dual Enrollment (DE) classes are also offered on campus to high school students. 