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Fulton County School System prepares to open August 13
The 2012-2013 school year starts on Monday, August 13, for thousands of children in Fulton County.
At a Glance
The Fulton County School System continues to be the fourth largest school district in Georgia with a projected 2012-2013 enrollment of nearly 93,200 students – an expected increase of nearly 700 students from the previous school year. The system includes 100 schools – 58 elementary schools, 19 middle schools, 17 high schools and six start-up charter schools.
School Leadership Changes
New Principals. As veteran principals have retired or moved to different posts, it’s inevitable that school leaders will shift in Fulton County. The following schools have new principals this year.
Barnwell Elementary School………………………………………………………………………….. Norman Sauce
Creek View Elementary School………………………………………………………………………. Debra Doss
Feldwood Elementary School………………………………………………………………………… Trici Smith
Hapeville Elementary School…………………………………………………………………………. Jennifer Couch
Hillside Elementary School…………………………………………………………………………….. Maisha Otway
Lake Forest Elementary School……………………………………………………………………… Harvey Oaxaca
Medlock Bridge Elementary School…………………………………………………………………. Tiffany Hutchens
New Prospect Elementary School…………………………………………………………………… Rako Morrissey
McNair Middle School……………………………………………………………………………………. Lori Bolds
Woodland Middle School………………………………………………………………………………. Richard Fowler
Langston Hughes High School………………………………………………………………………. Eric Hollinhead
New Schools
Banneker High School (5935 Feldwood Road, College Park). Replacing an older, outdated structure, the new 340,000-square-foot Banneker High School opens to students on August 13. The school will be home to 1,300 students over five academic and administrative wings.
While the interior of the school is substantially complete, finishing touches are occurring outside of the school. During the summer, the old school was demolished to create student parking, multi-use fields and tennis courts.
Cambridge High School (2845 Bethany Bend, Milton). Located in the City of Milton, Cambridge High School will open its doors this August. The 320,000-square-foot school resembles the design of Johns Creek High School and will house almost 1,200 students.
The “C” in the school’s name is in honor of the Cogburn family, the original owners of the school site. The “A” represents the students rezoned from Alpharetta High School and the “M” represents the students coming from Milton High School. The “bridge” is both metaphorical and physical, representing how students will come together to form a new school community as well as for the 126-foot bridge on the property.
New Programs and School Improvement Initiatives
Charter System. Fulton County Schools became Georgia’s largest charter system in July. Over the next five years, its charter status will strengthen the district’s ability to provide flexibility in its operations with the result of increased student achievement.
The first year – 2012-2013 – of the five-year charter will focus on developing School Governance Councils for 20 schools (called “Cohort 1”) throughout the school system. These schools will be a model for others to observe as they elect students, parents, teachers and staff, and community members to serve on their governance councils. Elections for the Cohort 1 schools will be held in late fall and training for members will occur in the winter.
| Cohort 1 Schools | ||
| Abbotts Hill Elementary School | Paul D. West Middle School | |
| Autrey Mill Middle School | Randolph Elementary School | |
| Camp Creek Middle School | Riverwood International Charter School | |
| Centennial High School | Roswell North Elementary School | |
| Heards Ferry Elementary School | Sandtown Middle School | |
| Hembree Springs Elementary School | Shakerag Elementary School | |
| Milton High School | Spalding Drive Charter Elementary School | |
| Mountain Park Elementary School | Stonewall Tell Elementary School | |
| Northview High School | Westlake High School | |
| Oakley Elementary School | Woodland Elementary School |
Common Core Georgia Performance Standards. Georgia and more than 40 other states have adopted a set of core standards called the Common Core Performance Standards. The standards align expectations between the states, making curricula across the nation more consistent and rigorous, and ultimately preparing students to succeed nationally and globally.
In Georgia and in Fulton County, the Common Core Performance Standards are being introduced during the 2012-2013 school year in English/language arts for all grade levels and in math for grades kindergarten through ninth. Literacy standards are being added in the social studies, science and career technology for grades six through 12. Teachers received training last spring and this summer to transition to the new standards.
Five themes within the new standards aim to enhance the quality of instruction provided to students – rigor, text complexity, reading and writing across content areas, and balanced assessments.
Reorganization and Learning Communities. The Fulton County School System has restructured its central administrative office to place staffing and other resources closer to where schools need them. The realignment focuses on the district’s strategic priorities, better meets the needs of students, parents, employees and the community, and builds the organization’s capacity to meet current and future needs.
In addition, the schools of Fulton County are now divided into four “learning communities” – Northwest Learning Community, Northeast Learning Community, Central Learning Community, and South Learning Community. Organized geographically, the learning communities allow a decentralized approach to school management and provide schools the opportunity to work more closely together and align resources. Each will be managed by an area superintendent and supported by an executive director.
| Northwest Learning Community Vic Shandor, Area Superintendent Margaret Pupillo, Executive Director |
Northeast Learning Community Will Rumbaugh, Area Superintendent André Wright, Executive Director |
|
| Central Learning Community Karen Cox, Area Superintendent Rob Anderson, Executive Director |
South Learning Community Donald Fennoy, Area Superintendent Dara Wilson, Executive Director |
New Meal Offerings/Price Changes. School cafeterias will serve school meals that meet tough new federal nutrition standards, ensuring that meals are healthy, well-balanced and provide students all the nutrition they need to succeed at school.
School meals offer students all five food groups including milk, fruits, vegetables, proteins and grains, and they must meet strict limits for saturated fat and portion size. Starting this year, school lunches will meet additional standards requiring:
- Age-appropriate calorie limits
- Larger servings of vegetables and fruits (students must take at least one serving of produce)
- A wider variety of vegetables, including dark green and red/orange vegetables and legumes
- Fat-free or 1% milk (flavored milk must be fat-free)
- More whole grains
- No trans fats and less sodium
Lunch price will be $0.10 higher from last year. In elementary schools, breakfast continues to be priced at $1.05 while lunch is $2.20. At middle schools and high schools, breakfast is $1.20 and lunch is $2.45.
Text Alerts for Cell Phones. Launched last spring and continuing this fall, parents and staff members can sign up for text alerts on their cell phones. Using SchoolMessenger, the district’s mass notification system, text alerts will be sent to subscribers in the event of inclement weather, safety situations, school closings or other important information impacting the Fulton County School System. To opt-in, just send the message “Yes” to 88544 using any cell phone that can receive text messaging.
CPR for School Bus Drivers. This year, all 850+ school bus drivers will be certified in CPR to be prepared to render a faster life-saving response in the event of a medical emergency. In addition, the entire bus fleet has completed the six-hour Green Cross Defensive Driving training program. The national program is considered one of the best driver trainings for organizations with large vehicle fleets.
L.I.F.E. Programs. The L.I.F.E. Transition program has been expanded to include six off-campus programs for the 2012-2013 school year. This career preparation program enables students with disabilities the opportunity to complete the traditional four years of high school and then participate in ongoing training in the workplace.
Students will report to work at six companies where L.I.F.E. programs are located – Emory Hospital, North Fulton Hospital, Siemens, Verizon Wireless, Capital Square (Sloppy Floyd buildings), and the Ritz Carlton. Called “Community Based Instruction,” or CBI, the L.I.F.E. programs place students in an environment where job skills are performed, similar to an internship. But different from other CBI programs, the students and even their teachers are housed at the companies. They meet in office space provided by the company, which serves as their classroom, and students report to and from the area throughout the day, checking in on their schedule and asking about their next assignment. Students also learn the importance of proper work attire, time management and reliable transportation.
SchoolDude Facility Rental. Organizations wanting to rent and schedule the use of a particular school facility can now do so through the Fulton County Schools web site. The web-based rental program, managed through third-party application “SchoolDude,” streamlines the process for requesting use of a facility, scheduling a date and determining applicable rental fees.
The improved process is more efficient for staff and will be more convenient to the requesting organization, since the web site is available anytime, anywhere. The web site also is more automated by allowing the requesting organization to view availability and by collecting additional usage information. Principals will review the request and grant preliminary approval, if acceptable, with final approval given by the district’s Facilities Rental office.
Rental fees are collected from the requesting organizations to offset wear-and-tear for the use of athletic fields and the building facilities, payment for custodial and resource officer services, and to offset utilities costs.
Student Access Center and Home Access Center Improvements. The “Student Access Center,” a password-protected web site housing an individual student’s academic information, will be available to all high school students for the 2012-2013 school year. Students will have online access to registration information, discipline, attendance, schedules, standardized test scores, transcripts and grading information, which includes classwork grades, report cards and progress reports. Students also will be able to set up alert notifications.
In addition, the “Home Access Center,” which allows parents to see their students’ academic information, has been updated. Parents can now set up more specific alert notifications, such as when their student receives a failing grade, and receive an email alert.
Flexible Learning Program. Due to a waiver received by the U.S. Department of Education, Georgia school systems, including Fulton, now have flexibility in how they implement academic assistance programs as required by the Elementary Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind law.
The waiver allows school systems greater flexibility in designing a “flexible learning program” – or FLP – tailored to the needs of their schools, particularly to support students in the areas of language arts and math. Flexible Learning Programs will be implemented in the following Title I schools: Banneker High School, Bear Creek Middle School, Creekside High School, Esther Jackson Elementary School, High Point Elementary School, McClarin Alternative High School, Randolph Elementary School, Renaissance Middle School, Ridgeview Charter School, Sandy Springs Middle School, S.L. Lewis Elementary School, and Tri-Cities High School.
Posted In : Atlanta, College Park, East Point, Feed, Fort McPherson, Fulton County, Hapeville, Homepage, Schools
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