Military Families
School Point of Contact: Mrs. Connelly, Guidance
The Okaloosa STEMM Academy is committed to provide critical transition supports for military-connected children as they relocate to new schools due to a parent's change in duty station. We recognize the educational and socio-emotional challenges military-connected children face with during their transition to a new school. Our focus is to eliminate barriers to the academic success of military-connected children and to assist military families with education matters that are unique to the military lifestyle such as school transitions, frequent moves, deployment, and education inconsistencies that exist from state-to-state.
Mrs. Connelly, our school counselor, is our POC for military families. She is available to help incoming families navigate the enrollment and registration process, and connect them to resources and information on an ongoing basis. She will also ensure that students and parents feel supported throughout their time in our STEMM community. As a military Gold Star wife, she understands the unique challenges that students and parents face.
Our Student 2 Student (S2S) Ambassadors program is a student-led program with the mission to take care of new students. STEMM's S2S Ambassadors are sponsored by Mrs. Russ and Mr. Pink. The S2S Ambassadors welcome our incoming students, show them their new campus, and introduce them to their new community. S2S Ambassadors provide fun ways for new students to get to know other students and to build new peer groups. The S2S is a student program that brings military and civilian students together to create a positive environment, support academic excellence, and ease transitions. The S2S Ambassadors provide a welcoming face to ease the stress of joining a new community. They can answer questions about extracurricular activities, clubs, coursework.
School Liaison Program
The OCSD School Liaison Program aims to connect schools, families, and communities in order to meet the educational needs of the military-connected child. The School Liaison is the point of contact between the military installation, school administration, parents and the community as a whole. The goals of the program are to:
- Promote communication between local K-12 schools, military families, installation and surrounding communities.
- Promote parental involvement in their children’s education.
- Identify barriers to academic success.
- Develop solutions in partnership with local schools and military-connected families to overcome obstacles to successful education and school transition.
Seven C's of Child and Youth Education Services
- Connecting schools, families and communities to meet the unique needs of PreK-12 military-connected students
- Cultivate communication pathways between families, schools, community stakeholders and the military
- Customize real-time solutions for military-connected students facing transitional barriers and educational gaps
- Collaborate with community stakeholders to build a platform for enhanced educational opportunities and partnerships
- Comprehensive professional development for educators to understand the military lifestyle
- Construct a network of extensive resources for building resilient communities
- Create a system of support for military-connected students experiencing parental deployment or separation
School Liaison Contacts
The STEMM Academy partners and collaborates with our local Installation SLO:
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Team Eglin School Liaison Officer, Manager
Ms. Elaine LaJeunesse
2579 Gaffney Road
Eglin AFB, FL 32542
Phone: 850.882.4319
(DSN) 312.872.4319
Email: Elaine.LaJeunesse@us.af.mil
Website: www.EglinLIFE.com/slo/index
-
Hurlburt Field School Liaison
Lacey Allen
1 SOFSS/FSY, Hurlburt Field, FL
117 McMillian St.,
Hurlburt Field, FL 32544
Phone: 850.884.6938
Cell Phone: 850.280.5766
Email: lacey.allen.1@us.af.mil
Website: https://www.myhurlburt.com/pages/School-Liaison.html
Military Family Resources
- OCSD Military Families Homepage
- Planning for a Successful School Transition
- Eglin and Hurlburt School Liaison Program Brochure
- Florida Department of Education – Military Families
- Military Child Education Coalition
- Military Interstate Children's Compact Commission website
- Military Interstate Children's Compact Commission Brochure
- Military Kids Connect!
- National Education Resources