Dr. Seuss’s Advice on Sarasota’s Real Estate Market and Schools

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
— Dr. Seuss

Sarasota’s Pine View School is HOT! HOT! HOT!First for the GREAT news!

The newest US News and World Report rankings were released for Best High Schools in the U.S. and Sarasota County’s gifted program, Pine View School was ranked the #1 public school in the state of Florida and #7 public school in the United States.

This is a win for the entire Sarasota community.

High School Graduation Rates in Sarasota vs. the Rest of Florida

Sarasota’s graduation rate sits at just under 80%. This is slightly higher than the rest of Florida, but I feel improving this percentage is fundamentally important. With 1 in 5 students not reaching graduation, the community can do better.

Numerous studies show that in pure social and economic terms the greater the percentage of graduates, the more a community benefits from both increased revenue generated by and from the graduates, and lower expenses needed to serve those that do not make it through high school.

Higher Education Initiatives to Ignite the Sarasota Spark!

1. Recently there has been a big push to keep Florida college graduates in the state because employers need high-quality workers. The four local colleges of Sarasota – New College, Ringling College of Art and Design, State College of Florida, and the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee – are collaborating in an effort to allow students at any one of the schools to round out their curriculum and education by taking classes at any of the other three.
2. Innovation Station is an initiative started by the University of Florida and is being piloted in Sarasota. The intent is to showcase to both local high school and college students the potential engineering-related employment opportunities in Sarasota. For those with interest, the program can assist high school students with getting on the engineering trajectory and into the engineering program at UF. It can also help current college students return to Sarasota with their newly acquired skills and engineering degrees.

Sarasota School Superintendent Search in Progress

Sarasota County is currently conducting a search for a new superintendent. While the current administration stands on a good foundation and has received high marks, there is room for improvement. The road ahead is filled with diverging opinions about how to improve and how to measure that improvement. Right now there are 3 community forums open to the public to discuss what we as citizens want in our next superintendent. Lisa and I have been engaged with the school board this year and as such have an even greater understanding of how paramount this decision is for Sarasota.

According to James Heckman, winner of the Nobel prize for economics, every dollar spent on quality early childhood programs results in long-term benefits worth $8.60 to the economy. That is over 8 times the return on every dollar invested in education!

Investments in Sarasota’s education system benefit all students, which in turn improves our community and its economy, and as a result, we will see stronger and more stable real estate values.

Call with any real estate question: 941.587.0740.