Dear Southside Elementary School Families,

Welcome to another school year at the most amazing elementary school in Sarasota County! Our little gem continues to provide families with safe and nurturing classrooms, innovative teachers, and arts opportunities that are unmatched elsewhere in the district. We provide rigorous instruction with a focus on fostering individual academic and personal growth.

My mission as your principal is to continue to build upon the successes we have experienced over the years. I believe this is accomplished by cultivating a culture of academic excellence and high expectations. I also believe it is a direct result of our outstanding instructional staff and the overall preparedness of our students. We are a school of “continual learners” both faculty and students, focused on doing a little bit better today than we did yesterday. For students, that means improving our classroom reading skills, our math fluency, our communication and thinking skills or our ability to cope when life throws us unexpected curveballs.

In a normal year, parent involvement is abundant at Southside; the campus buzzes with participation and excitement everyday thanks to our volunteers. We have always been proud of the diverse opportunities for parents to participate in the school experience, as helpful room parents, Reading Partners, Father’s Being involved (FBI), Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and Green Team, or Southside Foundation for the Arts (SSFA) members to name a few. We hope to bring back our face-to-face opportunities soon!

As we begin this new and unprecedented school amidst the pandemic, my goal is to stay focused on those things we can control and deliver the same exceptional educational experience our families have become accustomed to over the years. We will maintain collaborative and transparent communication and work collectively to meet the needs of our students and school.

Please read my weekly newsletters and stay up-to-date on events and school news by visiting our school website https://www.sarasotacountyschools.net/southside and Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/SouthsideElementarySCS/ pages regularly.

We are so grateful to our Southside Family. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me directly at jennifer.nzeza@sarasotacountyschools.net or call me at the school: 941.361.6420.

Sincerely,

Jennifer L. Nzeza, Ed.S.

Proud Principal