Pembroke Pines Charter Middle can now add “Blue Ribbon School” to its list of accomplishments.

The Central and West Middle campuses recently netted the U.S. Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon award, which honors public and private schools that place on state or national assessment, or have show improvement in student performance to high levels.

The Pembroke Pines Charter Middle was the only school to pocket the kudos in Broward County, is one of 12 across the state and 312 in the country.

To recognize, the Charter’s status, the Department of Education is staging an awards ceremony Nov. 3 inside Washington, D.C.’s Omni Shoreham Hotel.

The West and Central Middle campuses, at 12350 Sheridan St. and 18500 Pembroke Road, respectively, qualified for placing in the top 10 percent on state tests or nationally-normed tests.

For more information, call 954-322-3300 and 954-443-4847, or visit www.pinescharter.com.

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Thanks to one Pembroke Pines charter school, fathers and sons can appreciate some upcoming bonding time.

That’s because FSU Charter Elementary, 601 SW 172 Ave., is hosting an All-Pro Dads breakfast bonanza at 7:40 a.m. inside FSU’s cafeteria.

The gathering lets children and their pops grab some family-friendly face time while noshing on breakfast and participating in numerous activities. As the father/son duos grow closer together, the charter is also giving away prizes.

The inaugural All-Pro Dads kicks off Oct. 29 and the following get-together is Dec. 3. Dads must RSVP in advance.

For more information, call 954-499-4244 or visit www.pinescharter.com.

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It’s November, and that means the new season of Pembroke Pines Theater of the Performing Arts is kicking off.

Running Nov. 6 through Nov. 28, PPTOPA is staging performances of “Bye Bye Birdie” at Susan B. Katz Theater of the Performing Arts, 17195 Sheridan St.

The Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, which homages Elvis Presley’s early career, centers on a hip-gyrating rock-and-roll up-and-comer named Conrad Birdie who’s drafted into the Army.

Actors’ll hit the stage Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Admission is $20 for adults, $15 for seniors.

For more information, call Marlene at 954-437-4884, or visit www.pptopa.com.

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Come Halloween, Pines Recreation Park will see a spooktacular makeover.

The Pembroke Pines hangout will notice its baseball diamonds, recreation center and its sprawling grass fields swarming with thousands of Pines residents, several parlor games and rides during the city’s seventh annual Boo-ville celebration.

For the haunted fête, children can dive headfirst into a hay-strewn pumpkin patch and, with “passport” in hand, scavenge for trick-or-treat stations, greet strolling Hallo-characters and cut wicked Mummy Raps with a turntable-spinning DJ.

Visitors can also expect food vendors, crafts and partake in “Hallo-win,” a fundraiser benefiting the city’s Special Populations Department where players crack open pumpkins in exchange for prizes.

And, of course, there are the 40,000-plus pieces of candy up for grabs.

The shindig runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 31 at Pines Recreation Center, 7400 Pines Blvd. Free. Call Novo at 954-435-6525, or visit www.ppines.com.

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The Truth in Millage notices are in the mail, but what to do?

Sweeping in for the rescue is the Broward County Property Appraiser’s office, who’s making the rounds in November to field more TRIM notice questions.

Deputy appraisers will be on hand from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Nov. 10 at Pembroke Pines City Hall, 10100 Pines Blvd. to assist with Homestead, Senior, Portability and other property tax exemption applications.

Interested residents should bring a current Florida driver's license ID, a voter registration card or declaration of domicile and proof of permanent residency.

Eligible senior citizen residents, or those with a total adjusted gross income less than $25,873, should bring either a copy of their 2008 income tax return or 2008 Social Security 1099 Form.

Later that month, deputy appraisers are hitting the condo community Pembroke Pines Century Village from noon to 2 p.m. Nov. 20 at 13550 SW 10th St.

For more information, call Kelly Brown at 954-357-5579, or visit www.bcpa.net.

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Pembroke Pines officials voted 5-0 on Wednesday to strike an agreement with Broward County to refurbish 10 very low to moderate income homes ravaged by Hurricanes Wilma or Katrina.

The program, whose contract was extended through March 31, 2010, uses a $689,283 grant to aid homeowners whose incomes are less than 80 percent of the average median income.

The home repair program is a 15-year deferred payment loan specifically designed to target the Holly Lake mobile home community, a Pines neighborhood west of U.S. 27.

To qualify, homeowners must show proper documentation of disaster-related damaged still unfixed by the Disaster Recovery Initiative, according to contract documents.

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Pembroke Pines city commissioners Wednesday approved a contract to launch a tax-exempt nonprofit designed to benefit a Sept. 11 memorial sculpture.

The nonprofit, called the City of Pembroke Pines 9/11 Memorial Foundation, would begin culling donations toward a museum that would house the Sept. 11 sculpture.

Last August, one of the two sculpture’s artists, Benoit Menasche, pitched a two-story gallery fitted with four double-doors, closet space and two bathrooms.

Designed by his son, Davie-based architect Maurice Menasche, the building would cost about $300,000 and be installed inside City Center, an in-progress 115-acre mixed-use downtown plaza sitting just west of Pines City Hall, 10100 Pines Blvd.

“We need to encourage people and local businesses to make donations to this foundation to get the project up and running,” said Vice-Mayor Angelo Castillo.

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The School Board of Broward County pocketed yet another $250,000 Broad Prize last month, their second in as many years.

The Broad Prize for Urban Education, designed to reward the most improved urban school districts across the United States, will be plunked into a college scholarship fund and awarded to eligible graduating seniors by school year’s end.

The district earned the 2009 finalist nod for demonstrating the strongest student achievement and improvement while narrowing achievement gaps between income and ethnic groups.

An eight-member jury of business, government, civic and education leaders handpicked the School Board of Broward County, citing the district’s work in improving math and reading scores for low-income students, hikes in African-American and Hispanic student test scores and strong practices and county policies.

To grade Broward, jurors poured over student performance data compiled and analyzed by research firm MPR Associates, Inc., visited various school sites and met teachers.
Four other large urban school districts also netted the $250,000 honors.

For more information about Broward’s eligibility, call Charles Webster at 754-321-2300, or visit www.broadprize.org.

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Pembroke Pines commissioners said Wednesday the School Board of Broward County isn’t paying its share of a $1.8 million school resource officer contract.

Vice Mayor Angelo Castillo said the district was underpaying 12 SROs, or cops assigned to protect school campuses, by more than $1.6 million, with the city being forced to bare the brunt of salaries, pensions, benefits and vehicle repairs.

“We’ve been held hostage by the school board for a very, very long time,” Castillo said. “The school board needs to pay for those cops. They’ll hold us over a barrel forever. We have to put out a cost structure that’s fair to everyone to prevent laying off officers, which is a very real possibility next year in the current economy.”

City officials inked a resolution with the board in June 2008 to split the tab on an agreement dispatching officers to the city’s public schools. That contract, enforced through June 2012, puts 12 resource officers into 14 public schools and Somerset Academy, a district-run charter school.

According to expense forms, the district chips in $29,126 per officer for the 2009-10 school year, up from $20,653 in 2008-09. That’s nearly $350,000 for the dozen SROs.

City staff, meanwhile, coughs up roughly $1.6 million for the Pines Police Department lawmen, which includes salary, sick leave, pension and other health benefits. The price tag might be higher, since it doesn’t include maintenance and gas for police cars, added Castillo.

Officials will discuss the agreement during the Nov. 17 meeting.

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Dozens of vendors are descending on one Pembroke Pines church this weekend to hock their treasures.

That’s because St. Maximilian Kolbe Church, 701 Hiatus Road, will be the epicenter for an afternoon of bartering, bargaining and low-bidding thanks to its annual Outdoor Flea Market from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 24.

The church grounds are a hotbed for discarded treasures like hand-made crafts, white elephants, stacks of paperbacks, piles of pristine clothes, plants and other curious curios.
For more information, call 954-432-0206, or visit www.stmax.cc.

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