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This week we were thrilled to welcome our new manager, M.J. Ziemba to the Achieve Escambia partnership. M.J. comes to Achieve Escambia with four decades of experience in education. Most recently, she spent 15 years managing the Florida Inclusion Network, where she is most proud of founding the Peer Support Project.

A group of more than 100 people typed their feelings on the economic and educational future of Escambia County’s children into their smartphones. Eventually, three words emerged prominently out of a word soup of thoughts on a big screen in the front of the room.

One year ago, Achieve Escambia launched its baseline report. There were 24 pages filled with extensive data, which provided an honest reflection of where our community stood in terms of educational achievement and workforce readiness.

Being an educator is tremendously fulfilling and challenging at the same time. I have the pleasure of serving our community as principal of C. A. Weis Elementary Community Partnership School. If you don’t know about us, we’re located in the heart of Pensacola … not too far from the intersection of Pace Boulevard and Fairfield Drive.

As Achieve Escambia gears up for the release of its annual progress report to the community, the organization has named a new leader for its volunteer board. David Deliman, Gulf Coast market vice president for Cox Communications, has assumed the role of chair of the Achieve Escambia Leadership Council.

Achieve Escambia is an organization committed to reducing disparities in education and workforce readiness outcomes. Using a structured form of collaboration, a focus on shared data, and continuous improvement tools, Achieve Escambia partners engage in strategies that yield program and service efficiencies and create innovative ways of working together to achieve more equitable results for learners of all ages and backgrounds.

When people ask me about early childhood in Escambia County, I tell them … I’ve never seen a community more committed to figuring out how to make things better. And there's never been a better time for working better together.

If we want our young people to be ready for kindergarten, to excel in elementary reading and math, graduate high school on time and be prepared to enter the workforce, we’ve got to work together to make sure they’re healthy. And there’s a lot of opportunity for improvement across Escambia County.

PENSACOLA (March 8, 2018) – West Florida Healthcare has agreed to partner with Achieve Escambia. This new alignment signifies West Florida Healthcare’s commitment to helping improve education outcomes across Escambia County for generations to come.

I can vividly remember the first day I stepped onto the campus of The College of New Jersey. Like the start of any new journey, it was a monumental day in my personal history. Surrounded by thousands of students and faculty, I was overwhelmed with a sense that anything was possible.

By 2025, local education organization Achieve Escambia hopes to increase the amount of residents with at least an associate degree by nearly 20 percent.

Florida hit a 14-year high in high school graduation rates in the 2016-2017 school year, and both Escambia and Santa Rosa counties were part of the uptick.

Students report back to most of our local education institutions on Wednesday. Many of their seats will be empty. That’s because holidays are notorious times for attendance to slump. Every year, absences spike in the weeks before and after the winter holiday as families squeeze in a few more vacation days.

There’s a growing understanding across Florida of what it takes to create the talent we need to grow a strong, diversified economy that provides pathways to prosperity for all Floridians. During a recent stop in Panama City, I had the privilege of participating in this movement alongside peers in business, education, government and economic development.

Like so many first-generation college students, my senior year of high school felt like entering a funhouse of mirrors. Everywhere I turned, a new mirror popped up, distorting my view of how to access this strange new world of higher education.

Early connections last a lifetime. The earlier children begin receiving support, the better. The fact is, too often babies, toddlers and children with developmental concerns get missed. The words “don't worry” or "wait and see" discourage families and prevent the kind of early screening and diagnosis that can inspire early intervention and improve educational outcomes.

104,249: that’s how many children and youth ages birth to 24 live in Escambia County. And that’s our number. What will it take to improve their educational outcomes and connections to the workforce? These are the central questions Achieve Escambia is tackling.

Escambia County preschoolers are off to a great 2017-2018 school year! Earlier this summer, one of our kindergarten readiness task forces voted to increase Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) enrollment in our county by focusing on three key school attendance zones.

What do you want to be when you grow up? About once a week, I find myself quizzing my three children on their career aspirations. I know it’s pointless and guaranteed to backfire, but I can’t help myself. My 11-year-old rolls her eyes and delights in declaring, “I don’t know.” My 9-year-old, a homebody, wants to skateboard and live in my backyard. And my 5-year-old finger-painter wants to be an artist, of course.