FAQs for New Families

The school day is from 8 am-3 pm for all grades K-12.

The car line drop-off begins at 7:30. We recommend arriving early to avoid last-minute congestion and allow students appropriate time to find their classroom, settle in, and be ready for class to start at 8 am.

BNS (K-5): Morning drop-off begins at 7:30 by utilizing the car line designated road. When you pull up to the school, our staff will be ready to help your student out of the car and welcome them to school.

Afternoon pick-up starts when school is released at 3 pm. However, we recommend getting into the line at least 10-15 minutes before. Our staff will walk through the line and scan your PikMyKid app allowing us to dismiss children in the order of the car line. If you are not in the car line by 3 pm, your child will not be released to you and instead will need to be picked up from aftercare.

BNS/BHS (6-12): Morning drop-off begins at 7:30 by utilizing the car line starting from Jack Peeples Park, wrapping around the back of the field house, and ending near the High School entrance. Please utilize car line for both drop off and pick up to help keep our students safe as they enter and exit the school. Gates open by 7:45.

Afternoon pickup utilizes the same car line. Students are released at 3pm and wait near the High School entrance to be picked up in line. There is no app or release form utilized.

In order to enter the buildings, you will need to present your driver’s license or other personal identification at the door. A visitor pass will be issued if you are expected outside of the office area.

Walkers and bike riders are dismissed at 3 pm. In order to be considered a walker or bike rider, your student must be in grade 4 or above OR be walking/riding with a sibling or parent. A walker/biker release form also must be signed each year per student.

Please report an absence here. You can also call the front office at 1-239-567-3043 or email [email protected] and cc your teacher’s email to facilitate any additional communication needed.

Attendance is emphasized at BNS and BHS. It truly is imperative that students are in class when school is in session. PBL experiences are difficult to recreate and absences result in missed learning opportunities. It is critical families understand the importance of being at school and ensure every effort is made to be in school on a daily basis.

Babcock Schools do not offer transportation.

Yes. You can view our dress code here.

Uniforms can be ordered from our current vendor Signature Threads in North Fort Myers.

A weekly breakfast and lunch menu can be downloaded here.

The current meal pricing can be found here.

Yes. You can apply for free or reduced lunches here.

Both BNS and BHS utilize Empower Learning as the learning management system. Beyond a digital gradebook, Empower was developed to house the curriculum designed by the teacher, provide transparency to the learner and their parents for continuous improvement, support a standards-based approach to measuring growth against state standards, and allow in-depth data for a deeper analysis of instruction over time for the school and individual students. Learn more about Empower here.

BNS and BHS are Standards-Based Grading environments to ensure there is a focus on learning and retaining versus a “checklist” mentality. Students are expected to demonstrate mastery learning of standards over rote memorization. Students are permitted in coordination with the educator to determine various strategies to demonstrate learning. Performance is measured, but it looks different than a traditional A-F grading. Instead, students are graded on 1-4 number scale which represents the student’s progress on each standard at that time.

1 – The student has little to no understanding of the standard content, performing below expectations. 

2 – The student has some understanding of standard content and has mastered part of the standard.

3 – The student has mastered the entire standard. Achieving a level 3 on a standard demonstrates mastery at Babcock Schools and is the goal for all students for each standard assigned.

4 – The student is going above and beyond what is expected of the standard content.

Learn more about standards-based grading here.

The standards-based grading system is becoming increasingly utilized across the country and has gained much traction in the last few years due to the impact of rising academic gaps and the need to understand exactly what the student knows and needs to know to be successful.

The grades entered into FOCUS, Charlotte County’s student information system, represent the student’s progress at that time and serve as a projection of where the student should be at the end of the year if their work ethic is maintained. The Empower 1-4 standard levels convert to A-F grades to allow GPA calculations throughout the year acting as a performance indicator. The final numerical grade for FOCUS is obtained by utilizing the Marzano Conversion table.

All courses for high school credit will have a converted score from the platform for their official transcript.

Parents have full access to the student’s assignments, checkpoints, and evidence submitted to demonstrate mastery and performance within Empower.

Project-Based Learning is one of many instructional practices utilized in our classrooms. It is a specific instructional design that encompasses a driving question, community partner participation, relevant and real-world problem solving, reflections of learning, and exhibitions of the experience (this occurs in a variety of formats). PBL is not a curriculum, it is an instructional practice.

PBL requires students to be solid in their core academic standards. There are components to PBL that are hands-on, but those experiences are not without extensive reading, writing, math, and application of content knowledge.

Teachers at BNS and BHS go through three years of training and ongoing professional development to ensure their understanding and implementation of PBL is highly effective and quality. In year three, teachers are expected to obtain their official PBL certification from Magnify Learning, our partner in the work.

We are the 1st PBL Certified Demonstration site in Florida.

A variety of curriculum resources to design meaningful learning experiences for our students. There are very few “cookie-cutter” programs we use for classroom instruction. The exception is our reading/writing/phonics program; for this, we utilize the Units of Study for Reading Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. All other programs are rooted in a variety of resources but follow the required Florida State Standards for each grade.

Babcock Schools is a system designed around personalized learning, student voice and choice, and a variety of instructional practices embedded through the delivery of a curriculum designed to engage This is accomplished through Project-Based Learning experiences. This also provides students an opportunity to be enriched or receive support as needed.

BNS and BHS are public charter schools of choice. Our staff works collaboratively with the school district to ensure that all students’ needs are met. If your child has an IEP or an IEP is in progress, please contact the school directly to determine placement. 

Students who have been identified as gifted or talented will be serviced through classroom experiences designed by the classroom teacher in consultation and coordination with the Gifted/Talented teacher. Students with academic gaps will be placed in intervention to ensure they are ready for their next grade-level. Babcock Schools offers an inclusion model.

Electives are offered at each grade level and vary from year to year. PE is required to have 150 minutes in K-5. In middle school, they are required to have three semesters, and in high school, they are required to have a HOPE (Health Opportunities in Physical Education).

Homework should be purposeful and does depend on student need, pace, and grade level. It is expected that students are reading and practicing math skills daily for 10-20 minutes.

If students are not able to complete their work during the day, it may be necessary for them to complete at home to stay on pace.

High school students should expect to have homework regularly due to the rigor and expectations of the Cambridge AICE program.

Learners of BNS/BHS are required to participate in all Florida State Testing. It is our philosophy that while we do not teach to the test, students will be more than prepared for success on the state assessments. Remember, the standards are the minimum level of expectation; our classroom experiences in many cases will take students far beyond the expected minimal expectations.

Enrollment is selected by a lottery system with a preference for students in Charlotte County. Babcock Ranch is located in Charlotte County.

Yes. You can contact us to set up a tour and decide if BNS/BHS if the right fit for your student and family. Call the school at 239-567-3043 or email [email protected].

Sign up for the lottery here to begin the enrollment process. Enrollment is subject to current capacity and waitlist standings. Please contact our Data Technician, Erica Childers at [email protected] who handles our initial admissions process.

Yes. Babcock Neighborhood School and Babcock High School are both public charter schools of choice for families.

Mission: Growing World Changers

Vision: Babcock Schools will design meaningful learning experiences that: develop effective communicators, resilient learners, and global citizens, to become tremendous Trailblazers.