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 * Pine View redirects here. For the neighborhood in Ottawa, see Pineview.''
 * For the high school in St. George, Utah, see Pine View High School (Utah).

Pine View School for the Gifted is a public, college-preparatory, coeducational, school located in Osprey,Florida. The school is the only full time program in Florida for intellectually gifted students in the elementary through high school level. The mission of Pine View School is to provide a qualitatively different learning environment that nurtures a passion for intellectual curiosity; encourages risk taking, independence and innovation; and is committed to a tradition of academic excellence and social responsibility. Pine View serves students in second through twelfth grades.

History
In 1969, the school was founded under the direction of John D. Woolever, an educator who had written numerous scholarly articles on education throughout his career. During the school's early history, many feared it would be closed, particularly when the school moved to its current campus in 1992. Periodically, this possibility has re-arisen, the most notable occasion being in 2007 and 2008 when the Florida State Legislature considered abolishing the Exceptional Student Educational label "gifted". On this occasion, Pine View was included in a state-wide comprehensive policy assessment of the FL OPPAGA, which determined that gifted programs were thriving and that the ESE label "gifted" had more advantages than disadvantages.

There were 128 members in the first graduating class. Until the 1990s, Pine View's class sizes hoovered around 130 per graduating group. From 1990 until 2010, class sizes gradually rose but were generally kept under 200. However, the Class of 2012 (with 158 graduates) is generally considered the school's last small class, as class sizes are steeply increasing above 200 with the Class of 2013 and younger grades.

According to the OPPAGA report, there are four major advantages and three disadvantages of Florida's system of classifying gifted children and gifted programs as part of the FL ESE program. Those advantages are: 1. Creation of personal educational plans for each student, as required by federal and state ESE rules 2. Heightened parent participation in their child's educational planning 3. Heightened awareness of different needs and training requirements for teachers of gifted students 4. Stable funding source for gifted programs, as ensured by federal and state mandates for ESE program funding The disadvantages were: 1. Risk that federal and state ESE policy changes meant for students with disabilities will inadvertently affect gifted students 2. Lumping of gifted students with disabled students will not best facilitate the meeting of gifted student's needs 3. Less transparency in the amount of funding school districts divert to gifted education, for ESE funding is reported in lump sum



Awards and recognition
National Rankings: During the 2003-04 school year, Pine View School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive.

In 2012, Pine View was ranked by Newsweek as the 15th best public high school in the nation. Out of public and private schools, Pine View was rated the 6th best high school in the nation in 2007, 11th in 2008, 14th in 2009, and 30th in 2012 by U.S. News. Due to its average SAT score of 1335 for 2005, Pine View was listed among Newsweek magazine's 21 Public Elite American high schools. Pine View is the only Public Elite school in Florida. However, Pine View's U.S. News 2012 national ranking was called into question when it seemed the ranking was significantly deflated when U.S. News calculated Pine View's 8th grade students as high school students who did not participate in Advanced Placement courses (a significant factor in its methodology) and incorrectly factored Pine View's AP pass rate.

State Rankings: In 2012, the Florida Department of Education ranked Pine View as the best Florida school that combined high school students with other grade levels. The ranking was produced by crunching state and national test data. In the same year, Pine View was ranked by Newsweek as the 4th best high school in Florida. U.S. News ranked Pine View the 5th best high school in Florida, based on its 2012 national ranking. In 2009, Pine View was rated America's Best High School for Florida by Business Week.

Admission requirements
As a full-time gifted program, Pine View maintains selective entrance requirements. Students may be referred for admission by administrators, teachers, staff members or parents. Prospective students are admitted based on the gifted identification standards (described in the table below) that are required by the Florida Department of Education. Since other Sarasota County district schools house gifted programs, an important part of admission is considering if Pine View's program best meets the student's educational needs. At Pine View, students must enroll at the beginning of each school year. Other district gifted programs enroll students during the school year.

The gifted identification requirements for students living in Sarasota County and students moving to Sarasota County are similar. However, the procedure to submit the information is slightly different. For students living in Sarasota County, students may be referred by their parents or school staff for a gifted screening. Parents can request a gifted screening by contacting the ESE Liaison at their child’s district or charter school. Parents of a child enrolled in a private school should contact the ESE Liaison at the child’s district school. If the child scores 130 on the gifted screening, then the information in the table below is collected. For students moving to Sarasota County, the students should contact the admissions office at Pine View.

If a reevaluation of a student’s academic achievement is conducted within 12 months of the previous achievement testing, then both academic areas (reading and math) must be reevaluated to provide a current assessment of the student’s academic profile. To avoid a test/retest policy violation, an alternative academic achievement test must be administered. The most current reading and math scores will be used in determining full-time gifted program eligibility.

Curriculum
Pine View's curriculum emphasizes rigor, differentiated instruction, and, in high school, students' academic self-determination. A periodically updated description of the curriculum is available at the Course Code Directory Link Page. In elementary and middle school, students take classes that are accelerated and go more in-depth than topically similar courses at other schools. Students begin to rotate teachers and classrooms beginning in 4th grade. Starting in 6th grade, students are placed in different levels in math based on a standardized test administered at the end of 5th grade. Students can begin to chose some of their courseload beginning in 7th grade and continuing throughout high school.

At the beginning of high school, students create their own individual four-year academic plans, which they refine and revise as the years progress. This differentiated instruction results in a variety of math, English, science, social science, and foreign language levels being offered to students in the same grade. The substantial elective selection allows students access to breath and depth of their interests. By the 11th grade, students exercise significant autonomy over their schedules. Students largely build their own curriculum, subject to the approval of their teachers and administrators.

Most high school courses are offered as honors (except where Florida statute prohibits the designations, such as in foreign language classes) and/or Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Students can start taking AP classes, the centerpiece of the Pine View curriculum, beginning in 10th grade. Unlike most AP programs, Pine View requires all of its students who are taking AP courses to take their courses' respective AP exams.

To graduate from Pine View, students must abide by the following programming requirements :
 * Earn a minimum of 26 credits as approved in Sarasota County School’s Student Progression Plan for Pine View. (This includes credits earned in middle school.) Credits needed for graduation for transfer students after Grade 9 are determined at the time of registration.
 * Be enrolled in at least 6 classes each semester per year.
 * Complete through Level III of a foreign language.
 * Refrain from repeating courses that have been successfully completed ( C or higher).
 * Maintain, through grades 9-12, a minimum 2.5 cumulative unweighted GPA for all core classes during any 4 consecutive quarters throughout the year. At the end of each academic year, grade point averages are reviewed to ensure students are eligible for continued placement at Pine View.
 * Refrain from taking courses offered at Pine View elsewhere, unless there is a genuine scheduling conflict. Waivers may be granted only in extenuating circumstances after consultation with parents, teachers, and counselors. The Principal has final approval in determining such waivers.

Departments
Math Department:

Foreign language Department: As of 2012 Today, the school is well known for its extra-curricular activities and competitive academic teams, specifically the Speech and Debate Team, the Academic Olympics team, and the numerous language competition teams, including French (Congrès), Chinese (Chinese Competition), and Spanish (Conferencia), and many more.

Music Department: Pine View's musical education department teaches students across Pine View's age spectrum from 6th grade until 12th grade. In middle school, students generally progress thIt consists of programs in orchestra, chorus, and band. The Music Department has been recognized for outstanding performances at local and state levels. The high school chorus has performed at the 2008 Presidential Inauguration, Carnegie Hall, and numerous other venues. The Orchestra Program, the largest in the district, has received superior ratings at its most recent Music Performance Assessment. It houses a classical string quartet, which performs around the region at private and public venues such as the Sarasota Arts Festival, the Ringling Mansion, Congressional Receptions, the local Harvard Club, and more. The orchestra routinely sends its students to participate in the All-State orchestra. Additionally, the Pine View Jazz Band ranked "superior" at all state competitions in 2011 and 2012.

Publications
Pine View School comes out with three newspapers: The Torch (grades 7-12), The Match (grades 2-6), and their online publications, PineViewTorch.com and PineViewMatch.com, both featuring articles not put in the paper and articles from the most recent issue. It also comes out with two yearbooks: The View, the high school yearbook, and The mView, the middle school yearbook. The yearbooks have been ranked in the top 5 in Florida competitions and ranked highly in national competitions.

Competitive Teams
Academic Olympics: Pine View's Academic Olympic Team competes on the county and contributes to the All-County team for the state tournament. The team holds tryouts during the year for prospective members and trains and competes weekly during the season. The team won the county championship every year until 1990. More recently, the team won the 2011 and 2012 county championships.

Speech and Debate Team: The team is Pine View's largest competitive team, routinely having over 120 members. Team membership is open to all high school students who meet the membership requirements put forth in the Team Bylaws. Members are recognized as varsity competitors by the National Forensics League (NFL). The team has been recognized on the state, national, and international levels. In the 2011-2012 school year, the team placed in the Top 32 in the world in the International Public Policy Forum World Championship, sponsored by the Bickel and Brewer Law Firm and New York University. In 2012, the National Catholic Forensic League awarded a Daniel S. Masterson, Jr. Award of Excellence in Forensics to the Pine View Speech and Debate Team for ranking in the top 5 teams in the nation. From 200 until 2012, the team produced seven Academic-All Americans, the top NFL award.

Sports: Pine View has middle school sports teams for basketball, track and field, and volleyball. In the 2008-2009 school year, the tennis team went undefeated and won the Sarasota County Championship, and in 2009-2010 both the men's and women's basketball teams went undefeated and won the county final. In the 2009-2010 school year, the Pine View women's tennis team went undefeated in the regular season, but lost the county Championship to Sarasota Middle School.

Historically, Pine View was not home to sports teams. Students who wished to play sports joined the teams of other schools. However, Pine View is becoming directly affiliated with more sports teams. In the 2010-2011 school year, Pine View started their first official high school sport: lacrosse. The Pine View lacrosse program, however, despite its labeling as 'official', is not a Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) recognized varsity team. It is instead a club team of the Gulf Coast Lacrosse Chapter of US Lacrosse. The main reason behind the club not being recognized by the FHSAA as a varsity team is because Pine View never registered it, for the purpose of cost-cutting. According to the FHSAA by-laws, if a school has even one FHSAA recognized varsity program, no student attending that school could play for any other sport for any other school. Since Pine View would prefer to allow the students to have the freedom to choose to play any sport, on top of the fact that the school doesn't have the funding necessary to jump start every program, they choose not to make the club team FHSAA-recognized and instead take the county option to allow the students to play for their districted school. Additionally, Pine View has a club Sailing Team. The most popular club sport that Pine View students participate in (though not school affiliated) is sculling.