BRADENTON, Fla.-- In just two years, a Bradenton all boys school has improved from an F to an A letter grade.
- Visible Men Academy gets A letter grade
- All-boys school serving low-income families
- School says I-Ready learning program helped
Visible Men Academy has been Daniel Delcid's home away from home for the last five years.
The upcoming fifth grader has been a part of the school since its opening day. He can also rattle off the charter school's character development traits as quickly as his spelling words.
"With selflessness, you're gonna want to think about others before thinking about yourself. Honesty, you know how it is, telling the truth," he said, with a smile.
Visible Men Academy is an all-boys school that serves low-income families. But, its focus on self-worth and a love for the classroom, didn't translate into test scores.
"We knew they were progressing, and we were seeing that progress in someways and we weren't in others," co-founder Neil Phillips said.
That is, until last school year.
The school just came back with an A grade from the state. An incredible jump from the failing grade it received two years ago.
"It was just a matter of really finding our stride," Phillips said.
After receiving that F, the school switched to I-Ready, a learning program for Florida State Testing. Then, the boys were tested quarterly so teachers had the chance to remedy any weak areas before the big Florida Standards Assessments.
"We had to balance that patience with urgency, which was that we needed results," Phillips said.
The school is celebrating its A grade with both students and staff.
It hopes to expand its student body to about 125 students for the upcoming school year.