EDUCATION

New Education Opportunities Coming to Tyndall Elementary

by: Sharon Michalik, Director of Communications, Bay District Schools

With more than $4.9 billion in expansion planned for Tyndall Air Force Base, it should come as no surprise Bay District Schools is also investing in our school on base. We’re excited to finally be in the design/build phase of a $12 million facility that will be home to our expanding middle school.

Before the hurricane, Tyndall Elementary School operated as a pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade school. However, the damage brought by the storm on the east side of town, and the planned multi-billion-dollar expansion of the base, presented the district with a perfect opportunity to better serve the community with an expanded mission of our own. Adding a grade a year since 2020, Tyndall Academy will house students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade by the 2022-2023 school year.

According to BDS Superintendent Bill Husfelt, the K-8 model, which is currently utilized at Breakfast Point Academy, is a popular option for parents. “The transition from elementary to middle school is a hard one for students and parents,” he said. “ They have embraced the concept of a K-8 so there’s less of a transition.” Acting Tyndall Principal Carolyn Dehner explained that the K-8 model makes sense for students and parents. “If students and parents already have a solid relationship both personally and academically with their elementary school, it makes sense to keep that security in place to support them through the challenging times of sixth through eighth grade,” she said. “Because military families often move from place to place, adding middle school grades to serve a wider age range of students offers more continuity and stability for the military family while stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base. This is a way to support and serve those who serve our country,” Dehner explained.

The addition of the middle school is welcome news to base officials. “The growth of Tyndall Academy is exciting for the entire Tyndall Air Force Base community. As the base expands with new missions, thousands more Airmen and their families will join our community. Seeing Bay District Schools postured to support these children and enhance the educational structure for the growing community reminds us how important the ongoing relationship between Tyndall Air Force Base, Panama City, and Bay County remains,” explained USAF Col. Greg Moseley, Commander of the

ACC 325 Fighter Wing. “The recent Tyndall Academy classroom expansion and campus addition projects will undoubtedly support military-connected students and families as Tyndall Air Force Base sustains its Air Dominance mission,” he added.

The new building is scheduled to open in late 2023, and students, teachers, and parents eagerly anticipate the new spaces for teaching and learning. Many of those new spaces will be science labs and opportunities for pre-engineering and technology collaboration spaces.

That news is music to the ears of teacher Morgan Sansbury who heads up the Science, Technology, and Math (STEM) approach at Tyndall Academy. Under her direction, the middle school already has an Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Competition Team that meets daily and competes nationally. In 2021, the novice team placed third in Scout class and was only beaten by high school teams.

The school’s engineering program offers an elective to all interested middle school students. In 2020, the class learned to solder and completed industry certification exams for Networking and Computer Essentials and Communication Essentials. This year, they are learning to program in JavaScript, build and maintain Lego Mindstorms, participate in the 2022 Invention Convention, and build candy machines/programming with Arduino Unos. Students are also learning Computer-Aided Design (CAD) modeling and 3D printing.

Meanwhile, in the Media Center, Tyndall Academy students can use state-of-the-art technology through the Woz Ed curriculum, incorporating construction, coding, robotics, and problem-solving. Tyndall Academy also has a First Lego League team supported by the Doolittle Foundation. Fourth and fifth graders meet after school twice a week to construct missions, build robots and program them.

Tyndall Academy’s focus on STEM and robotics is just one example of the fabulous partnership between the base and BDS, according to Husfelt. “We are very blessed to have such a strong, supportive partnership with Tyndall Air Force Base,” Husfelt said. “We believe firmly in supporting the mission and vision of those serving our country, and it’s truly our honor to be able to take care of, and educate, the children of those men and women.”

Base and BDS officials meet regularly, Husfelt said, to ensure students at Tyndall Academy (and the district’s other schools) have access to cutting-edge programming and innovative curriculum. That partnership has contributed significantly to Tyndall Academy’s strong history of academic success with an “A” rating from the Florida Department of Education for 19 of the past 21 years.

The school’s academic ranking, Dehner said, is a testament to the commitment of faculty and staff and the high level of parental involvement.

“Our parents take a very active role in knowing their students’ teachers and what their children are learning. As a result, we see a high percentage of participation in school events, and we strive to communicate as much as possible to families,” she said.

Diversity also plays an important role. “Our population is diverse in race, ethnicity, and experiential backgrounds, which in and of itself creates a great learning opportunity,” Dehner said. “It is a place where acceptance, appreciation, and support of others is key to our success,” she added.

The home-to-school connection is strengthened with the aid of Military Family Life Counselors (MFLCs) who are on campus all day and the presence of DOD-sponsored Anchored 4 Life Club, which offers students a myriad of resources.

Dehner said the base also plays an integral role in daily life at Tyndall Academy. “Being on TAFB and serving military-dependent children we know can be a concern, but it also brings a high level of attention. TAFB personnel are our first responders, so we feel very secure knowing that if needed, they will be here within minutes to protect us or help in any given situation,” she said. “They patrol the campus and grounds regularly and work in cooperation with school personnel to provide additional safety measures.”

TAFB personnel also volunteer to help the school throughout the year and have played an integral role in the recent expansion of the school’s Parent Teacher Organization. The school is also supported by the hard-working School Liaison Officers and a plethora of other base officials.

“Working closely with our friends at Tyndall means the very best opportunities are being made available to the students and families of Tyndall Air Force Base and the surrounding neighborhoods,” noted Husfelt. “I am so proud of the strong partnership we have with both bases in our community, and I know that our students, and our schools, benefit from that collaboration and shared leadership approach. It’s truly an honor to serve our military families and to do so in partnership with our military officials.”