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Garen, Millennia ES Student: Hi, I'm Garen Wilson from Millennia Elementary School. Coming up: why OCPS is the right choice for you.

Student Announcer: By Addition Financial Credit Union. Here's our OCPS superintendent, Dr. Maria Vazquez.

Dr. Vazquez: Hi, everyone. Today we are talking about school choice, a big topic. Parents have a lot of choices when it comes to educating their child. Joining me at the table is Michelle Thomas, Senior Director of School Choice Services for Orange County Public Schools. Welcome, Michelle. 

Michelle Thomas, Senior Director of School Choice Services for OCPS: Thank you. Thank you for having me. 

Dr. Vazquez: Well, this is an exciting time for school choice, right? We say that for years we support Choice for families, and we believe we are the best choice for your child. And here's why. We have a certified teacher in every single classroom. We educate all students, whether you have unique abilities, you speak another language, or you're looking for a specialized curriculum; we do it all. OCPS is an A-rated school district three years in a row. 101 schools earned an A, and 78% of our schools earned an A or a B in the 202-26 school year. Our traditional high school's graduation rate is 97.2%. Student performance continues to increase every single year. Students have access to more than 70 career and technical education programs. Nearly 60,000 students enrolled in CTE programs, earning nearly 10,000 industry certifications in one year. Over 3,700 students have earned college credit while in high school, and 334 graduated with an associate of arts degree.

Dr. Vazquez: And nearly 70% of students participated in arts programs. Oh my gosh, this list could go on and on. Michelle, this is pretty tough to beat for any district. Let's share what's happening when it comes to school choice with our families.

Michelle Thomas: I could talk about this every day, all day. We have so many opportunities, and it's tough to beat with our surrounding districts. We have so many opportunities for our students between STEM and AI, technology, engineering, and health sciences. We have school-to-work programs where students can actually go work and earn high school credit. We have Orange County Virtual students that have the flexibility for our students, for our own Orange County teachers to be teaching and supporting our students. So, the opportunities are endless. And one of my favorite things is that we are continuing to expand our choice opportunities. We currently have 34 magnet programs in 27 schools, 15 Scholastic Academies with 13 on the rise. So the opportunities are endless. And we are now beginning to offer opportunities for outside, for students outside our districts is when seats are still available.

Michelle Thomas: So, we find the student finds a passion, and they find their pathway throughout our entire district. Yeah.

Dr. Vazquez: And I just want to make sure families know that, when it comes to the application process, we give first choice to those families living in Orange County. And then if seats are available, we open it up to the surrounding districts. So, with all that's going on with Choices, what should a family be asking themselves in order to make the best choice for their child?

Michelle Thomas: I tell the families to start with the child first. Start with what the child is interested in. What makes them excited to come to school? What are they good at? What do they want to do post-high school? And then use that lens when they're looking into the choice options that we have to offer. And it's not about the best school; it's the best fit for that child. What's best for that child to excel and to be excited to come to school?

Dr. Vazquez: And with so many choices that we have, whether it's at the elementary level, the middle school level, or the high school level, there really is something for everyone. Now we have a magnet fair that is coming up, correct?

Michelle Thomas: It's actually a choice fair. So it's with our magnets, all of our choice options. It's going to be coming up on October 17th at Lake Buena Vista.

Dr. Vazquez: And it's face-to-face this year?

Michelle Thomas: It's going to be face-to-face. Right. It's going to be live. So, families can have the opportunity to visit the representative at the school, ask questions, meet the students in the programs, see what is actually going on within those programs. And all of our opportunities are going to be at one location for parents to experience.

Dr. Vazquez: Okay. So, give us the date one more time.

Michelle Thomas: October 17th at Lake Buena Vista High School.

Dr. Vazquez: So we also, this year, kind of dipped our toes in the micro school world. And we've opened up our first micro school with the theme of softball and baseball. And we're also looking to expand those opportunities for our families for the upcoming year. So, we're very excited about that. All right. So lots of information for a family to absorb. Where can our families go to find more information?

Michelle Thomas: So, we have so many great resources available, and we did mention the expo, which we are so excited about. It's our first annual school expo fair. So again, that's October 17th, but we also encourage our families to visit our OCPS School Choice webpage. They can explore all the opportunities there. We also have videos there of all of our programs. And we also ask our families to follow us on social media because we always put all of our updated information on social media as well as our webpage. So all the resources are easily accessible.

Dr. Vazquez: Our family can also look at their neighborhood schools' websites because there they can also see some of the specialized programs, especially at the high school, the advanced courses that are being offered, the CTE programming. So really, there's so much out there for our families and our students to pursue as they are looking for the best fit for their child. Absolutely. This has been just so helpful, and I'm glad our parents can also go to our website to gather more information. Thank you, Michelle, for being here. This has been so helpful; a very important topic. Coming up on the podcast: why Orange County Virtual may be the right choice for your child. Thank you all for watching. Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe. Have a great week. 

Student Announcer: For an extended conversation on today's topic, listen to the Mondays with Maria Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. Mondays with Maria is presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Count us in for every step on your financial journey. Learn more at Additionfi.com. For more OCPS news and information, visit TheSlice.ocps.net. I'm your announcer, Jamir Jones, a student at OCPS. Thanks for watching, and have a great week.