Character Education
Required instruction under Florida Statute 1003.42 includes Character
Education. The language in statute is . . . .
A character-development program in the elementary schools, similar to Character
First or Character Counts, which is secular in nature. Beginning in school year
2004-2005, the character-development program shall be required in kindergarten
through grade 12. Each district school board shall develop or adopt a curriculum
for the character-development program that shall be submitted to the department
for approval. The character-development curriculum shall stress the qualities
of patriotism; responsibility; citizenship; kindness; respect for authority,
life, liberty, and personal property; honesty; charity; self-control; racial,
ethnic, and religious tolerance; and cooperation.
Levy County recently worked with our educational consortium, NEFEC, to revise
and update our Character Education plans for Pre-k–5, 6-8, and 9-12 grades.
The new plans were recently approved by the Florida Department of Education.
You will find the links to the documents on this page.
Each school in Levy County has an individual plan for teaching the key character
traits listed in statute each month. Traits are displayed on bulletin boards
and/or the school marquee, morning announcements feature the trait, and teachers
may use lessons provided in the district Character Education Plan. Individual
schools are encouraged to use multiple resources and programs to supplement
the district Character Education Plans.
In addition to Character Education plans, the school district has other programs
in place that help to teach character. Second Step is a program that helps students
learn to solve problems without anger and teaches students how to treat others
with respect. The program is supported by research and is used in most of our
elementary schools. To learn more about Second Step you can visit the
Committee for Children website .
All of our middle schools are participating in an Alcohol Reduction Grant through
our NEFEC consortium. The curriculum used is Too Good for Drugs. The curriculum
is researched based and more information can be obtained by visiting Too-Good-for-Drugs-K-8.
The 2010-2011 school year is the second year of a three year Alcohol Reduction
Grant. During this second year, all middle school teachers will be trained to
use the Too Good for Drugs curriculum, so that the program can be sustained
after the grant period ends.
Click on the links below to view the Character Education Curriculum by Grade
levels