JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-- The sounds of progress met the leader of Duval County Schools on Thursday as he paid a special visit to Lee High School.
He went room to room and floor to floor to get a firsthand look at a massive renovation project. It's the last campus he'll visit as superintendent.
"It's going to be a great new building while conserving the architectural heritage," Ed Pratt-Dannals said.
Pratt-Dannals also stopped to talk to students and share his story as an educator. He has been leading one of Florida's largest districts for five years, so he has a lot to reflect on.
"We've made huge progress across the board and made even more progress among groups that were lower performing and closing those achievement gaps," he continued.
With some fresh faces on the school board and a new superintendent coming in, Pratt-Dannals says there will be challenges.
Finances, aging schools, and capacity at certain campuses all top the list.
A number of people will miss Pratt-Dannals and his decades of service to education. He says he's honored to go out with a bang, and will continue to root for DCPS.
"We haven't arrived. We have a long way to go, but I felt very hopeful doing those visits to see some of the things that we've been attempting to do, in place and see evidence of it in the classroom," he said.
Pratt-Dannals last official day is November 9. He plans on tying up some loose ends and soon finishing up his dissertation on educational leadership.
Dr Nikolai Vitti takes over as Superintendent on Monday.
