VISION STATEMENT

Burnett Middle School will provide the best middle school education in Hillsborough County.

MISSION STATEMENT

Burnett Middle School is committed to excellence.

HISTORY

William Gordon Burnett believed that education was the most valuable work in the world. Of course, he was right.

Stories are told in the Burnett family about a young Gordon, who as an elementary school child already knew what he wanted to do. He and his cousins played school in his uncles garage. Gordon was always the principal and set up his teachers and students in order of their ages. He wrote a fire drill procedure on the garage wall which stayed there until the garage fell down over thirty years later!

As a high school student at Jesuit, he actually set up a summer program to remediate friends and neighbors. He was so effective, the nuns at Sacred Heart Academy told him at the time that they would pass any students he tutored.

Whether a student, teacher, administrator or committee member, he was always completely prepared to do the job. Gordon Burnett never asked someone to do a task he was unwilling to do himself. He appreciated the work done by each and every individual.

Mr. Burnett also gave us an example to follow. He didnt just encourage discipline, compassion, and excellence; he epitomized those qualities. He was that rare jewel - a man of integrity.

Gordon Burnett believed that the job of a principal was to make it possible for teachers to teach and for students to learn. He was modest, and he took his own hard work for granted.

William Gordon Burnett passed away in July of 1988. He was a leader not because he gave orders or flaunted his authority but simply because of who and what he was. He was greatly admired and he will always be missed by those who knew him.