Principal's Message

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6/19/22

Destin Elementary Students, Staff, Parents and Community,

As some of you may have heard though social media and press releases, there will be changes to the leadership at Destin Elementary this coming school year. It has been my honor and privilege to serve as the principal of our great school for the last four years. I have been blessed with the opportunity to take on a new role as the principal of Ruckel Middle School. While this decision was not easy because of the strong relationships, amazing support, and most of all the absolutely best students and staff in the world, I look forward to the next challenge in my career as an educational leader. This summer will serve as the transition period to new leadership and when I will officially conclude my role at Destin. A new Principal is tentatively scheduled to be board approved at the end of June. I am confident Superintendent Chambers and the School Board will ensure that our next principal will be a strong leader for our students, staff, and community!

I want to thank the parents and community for their continued support of the school that represents the heartbeat of this great city. Our youth are lucky to have such a supportive group of parents, volunteers, businesses, city leadership, and community members. Without this continued support Destin Elementary would not and could not be the home away from home that it has represented for the many generations of students who have walked its ramps.

I want to thank the hardworking and dedicated staff for their unwavering love for students. Their focus on growing knowledgeable, thoughtful, and responsible students has been nothing short of awe inspiring. I am very appreciative of their support in helping to develop and carry out our school’s vision and mission. They are, without question, the BEST staff a Principal could ask for!

Lastly and most importantly, I would like to thank the amazing Dolphin Students! Their high fives, smiles, snotty noses, and good mornings will be greatly missed. The focus and joy that came to school every day and the students’ hard work in the classroom were daily encouragements that our career as educators is making a difference. I am excited to be able to watch their continued growth under new school leadership.

So, as I shift from Dolphin Principal to Dolphin Dad, I wish everyone the best and as always…

GO DOLPHINS,

Joe Jannazo

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Registration Update:

Kindergarten and new student registration for the 2022-2023 School Year opens Tuesday, February 22nd. The Okaloosa County School District is in the process of transitioning to a new Student Information System called FOCUS. Registration for Kindergarten students, as well as other new students to Okaloosa County public schools, will be conducted through FOCUS. Parents will be asked to create a FOCUS Parent Portal account and complete the registration process for their child. Parents can complete this process on their own device with internet access, or they can go to the front office of the school they are registering for and use the kiosk provided specifically for kindergarten registration. Once the online registration process is complete, parents will need to bring their Driver’s License and their child’s birth certificate to the school to complete the process. The registration link will be live on our website on February 22nd. Please visit https://okaloosa.focusschoolsoftware.com/focus/auth/ to begin the process!

Feedback:

We want your feedback! Please check out our Parent and Community Climate Survey HERE!

Transportation Update:

The District is using Bus Bulletin to send notifications to parents if there are unexpected delays or schedule changes involving a student's bus.If you would like to receive these notifications, please register at the Bus Bulletin website. For more information, view the Bus Bulletin flyer.

Community Reminders:

Thank you to all of our community members for being gracious neighbors and supporters. We want to send a big THANK YOU to the City of Destin for their role in helping maintain our facilities that truly enables us to be a community school. Please help us to continue to improve our facilities through proper usage and following all signage that is posted. Also, please remember to not park in our neighboring houses or on the side streets. We and they appreciate all of our families being good neighbors.

We hope that you and your family are doing well, staying safe, and healthy. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to support your family!

Joe Jannazo

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