YOUR SCHOOLS

Volusia County Schools welcomes students back on the first day of classes

'To our families, thank you for trusting us with what matters most to you: your children,' Superintendent Carmen Balgobin said in a video.

  • By Observer Staff
  • | 10:00 a.m. August 11, 2026
  • Ormond Beach Observer
  • Schools
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Volusia County Schools celebrated the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 10.

Superintendent Carmen Balgobin welcomed students and their families back in a video posted on the district's Facebook page.

"To our families, thank you for trusting us with what matters most to you: your children," she said. "That trust is something we earn every day because every student matters, every family matters, and every day matters."

To mark the start of classes, Balgobin invited two local business partners — Jayson Meyer, founder and CEO of Synergy Billing LLC, and Jonathan Jallad, vice president-sales leader, public sector, at Acentria Insurance, a Foundation Risk Partners company — for a "VIP Insider Education Experience," made possible through the FUTURES Foundation, according to a Facebook post by the school district.

The group visited six schools in the district who improved their grades in the 2025-2026 school year: Westside Elementary (C to a B), Sugar mill Elementary (B to an A), New Smyrna Beach High School (B to an A), Sunrise Elementary School (C to an A), Pride Elementary School (First A since 2011) and Southwestern Middle School (First A since 2010). 

 

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