From accounting to zoo keeping. Pensacola's educational institutions cover a
variety of professional and academic interests. The University of West Florida,
Pensacola Junior College and the George Stone Area Vocational-Technical Center
also offer courses requested by area employers.
Escambia County School District
With more than
45,000 students, the Escambia County School District is one of the 100 largest
in the nation.
The county's school system provides programs ranging from
dropout prevention for troubled youth to accelerated learning for gifted
students. Progressive initiatives include magnet schools for elementary and
middle school students, an International Baccalaureate Program emphasizing
language and math, and the Academy for Health Professions offering training in
medical fields. The student-teacher ration is approximately 24 to 1. About 74
percent of students continue their education after high school. Local students
consistently score above state and national averages on the Scholastic Aptitude
Test -- an average of 932 for Escambia versus 882 for the state and 902 for the
nation.
Santa Rosa County School District
Santa Rosa County
offers a wealth of educational opportunities at every academic level from
pre-kindergarten to graduate level programs. The county has 29 public schools
serving nearly 21,000 students.
The Santa Rosa School District has repeatedly received accolades for the many
achievements of its students, including above-average test scores, a low dropout
rate, and a high percentage of students who go on to further their education
after graduation. The district is noted for its small classes and the low
student to teacher ratio allows teachers to work closely with each student to
ensure that individual needs are met.
Students graduating from Santa Rosa
Schools have ranked among the top three of 67 districts in Preparedness for
College for the three years from 1994 to 1997. Initiatives within the school
system have resulted in development of programs such as the Santa Rosa
Connection and worker certification - programs designed to prepare the students
for life after high school, pursuit of a higher education or joining the
workplace.
University of West Florida
At the University of West Florida, new
buildings and a growing enrollment are signs of surging momentum. UWF offer
graduate and undergraduate programs for its 8,000 students. UWF's partnership
with area businesses provides training and education for students and benefits
for the community as well. In addition to its Small Business Development Center,
UWF houses the Raymond Has Center for Business Research and economic
Development, which provides economic activity forecasts, collects and analyzes
information on the area economy, and sponsors projects in regional economic
development. Pensacola area students can take courses at UWF while earning a
degree from the University of Florida in electrical engineering or computer
engineering. The Institute of the Interdisciplinary Study of the Human and
Machine Cognition conducts research on medical artificial intelligence, machine
learning, neural networks and other topics.
Pensacola Junior College
Pensacola Junior College's
five campuses provide college credit courses to 30,000 people each year. Along
with traditional liberal arts courses, PJC offers nursing, dental and allied
health training, environmental sciences, agriculture, and horticulture courses
and an array of vocational training and workshops.
George Stone Area Vocational-Technical
Center
George Stone Area Vocational-Technical Center
is fully accredited. Its curriculum is designed to handle requests for
instruction from existing and future industry.
Troy State University
Troy State University-Florida
Region has 3,000 graduate and undergraduate students studying a wide variety o
subjects at convenient locations at Pensacola Naval Air Station and other
military bases.
Pensacola Christian College
Pensacola Christian
College enrolls more than 3,000 students per year, emphasizing religious and
academic subjects. The college owns Abeka Books, a national leader in publishing
religious educational books.
Libraries
The West Florida Regional Library serves
the Pensacola MSA (Escambia and Santa Rosa counties) with six libraries, a
bookmobile and a computerized system.
In addition, libraries at the
Pensacola Junior College and the University of West Florida are open to the
public. PJC's libraries hold more than 150,000 volumes and 7,000 audio/visual
listings; UWF's library contains 530,000 volumes and is a regional depository
for 580,000 state and federal publications.
