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For Immediate Release What’s New in Fulton County Schools Summer is coming to an end for thousands of Fulton County students and their families. The new school year begins for most Fulton students on Monday, August 14. Two year-round elementary schools - College Park and Parklane - began July 24. At a Glance The Fulton County School System is the fourth largest school district in Georgia with a projected 2006-07 enrollment of 86,600 students. The school system includes 90 schools - 53 elementary schools, 18 middle schools, 12 high schools, two open campus high schools, and five charter schools. Back to School Activities New Teacher Orientation. Approximately 900 new teachers are gathering July 31 - August 4 for the school system’s annual New Teacher Orientation. The event is part of the pre-school year festivities to welcome teachers and help them acclimate to their new classrooms and teaching assignments. New teachers will meet at Alpharetta High School on different days according to their teaching area. Elementary school teachers attend orientation August 1 and middle/high school teachers attend on August 3. Special education and media specialists attend on August 2. On the other days of the week the teachers will be in their assigned schools or cluster meetings.
Personnel Changes New Principals. As new schools are built and veteran principals retire, it’s inevitable that school leaders will shift in Fulton County. The following schools have new principals this year. Northwood Elementary............ Sheila Michael (formerly assistant principal at River Eves ES) The replacement for retiring Mountain Park Elementary Principal Randall Brannon has not been hired. Cathi Barlow, a retired Fulton County principal, will lead the school until a successor is named.
New School Openings/Additions and Construction Renaissance Elementary School. Renaissance Elementary School is the newest elementary school opening in Fulton County. Located in Fairburn at 7250 Hall Road, the school will house approximately 850 students in grades Pre-K through five. Permitting delays have slowed the construction of the front office, media center and cafeteria areas of the school, but classroom wings are ready to house students. The new school relieves overcrowding at Stonewall Tell, Evoline C. West, and Liberty Point elementary schools. Creekside High School. Creekside High School officially opens a 28-classroom addition this August. The new wing is home to several new math, science, and social studies labs and classrooms, as well as the school's Talented and Gifted program and offices for the Special Education department. Creekside opened in 1990 with a student enrollment of 1,200 students but over the years, enrollment grew to 2,100 students. The new addition will alleviate student congestion and overcrowding. Independence High School. While technically not a new school, Independence High School is moving from its previous location at 791 Mimosa Boulevard in Roswell to the Milton Center in Alpharetta. As an “open campus” high school, Independence offers a more flexible class schedule for students who desire a less structured educational environment. The Milton Center is located in the former Milton High School building, which closed when a replacement school was built. The former building used by Independence will now house a Crossroads/Second Chance alternative program. New Charter Schools. Two new charter schools are opening in August Ridgeview Middle Charter School in Sandy Springs and TEACH (Technology Enriched Accelerated Charter High) in Alpharetta. A charter school operates as part of the Fulton County School System but is exempt from some local and state rules due to its charter, and as a result, may offer a curriculum that is more tailored to the student population. Ridgeview Middle, which began as a traditional school in 1985, earned conversion charter status in June 2006. The school is implementing the International Baccalaureate Organization’s Middle Years Programme, a liberal arts model similar to what is offered in nearby Riverwood High School’s International Baccalaureate program. Ridgeview also will use a Heritage Language Program for beginning non-English speaking students. These students will be enrolled in Spanish classes where they will be taught to read and write in Spanish. They also will learn English through the traditional ESOL program. Research indicates that building literacy in the student’s native language will help them learn to speak and write English. TEACH opens as Fulton’s newest “start-up” charter school. The school aims to increase student achievement by offering a strong focus on the use and instruction of state-of-the-art information technology systems. Students will use different kinds of advanced technology, including computers, networking systems, the Internet, database structures, and artificial intelligence and its applications. Wireless laptops will be provided for students and staff. Students will learn to use technology to communicate, conduct research, solve problems and carry out both group and individual projects. Located at 4100 Old Milton Parkway in Alpharetta, the new school expects to open with 250 students in 9th and 10th grades. TEACH eventually will grow to 450 students in grades 9-12 as the current students advance to the next grade level. Other Construction Projects. Ground is being broken for science additions at six middle schools: Camp Creek, Crabapple, Haynes Bridge, Holcomb Bridge, McNair, and Taylor Road. Nine science classrooms/labs are being constructed at each school, with completion expected in early 2007. Construction is set to begin for new additions at High Point and Woodland elementary schools in Sandy Springs. Once completed in late Spring 2007, the additions will house 13 additional classrooms for High Point and 16 classrooms for Woodland.
New Programs and School Improvement Initiatives New AP Course. Advanced Placement Chinese is being offered for the first time in Fulton County. Beginning as a pilot at Northview High School, the program may expand to other high schools or be offered through distance learning technology. Chinese also is being piloted as a foreign language option at River Trail Middle School. Student Achievement Management System. While not currently a familiar name, later in the 2006-07 school year Fulton teachers and principals will have a powerful new tool designed specifically to improve student achievement. SAMS, or Student Achievement Management System, will be introduced this year, with full implementation coming over the next three years. SAMS takes advantage of technology to deliver previously hard-to-research data to the teacher’s fingertips. The program provides a one-stop shop for teachers to readily review a student’s past academic record, and receive immediate feedback on current progress. It easily pinpoints areas of concern and provides an opportunity to share that information with parents. The web-based program gives teachers detailed testing information, broken down by multiple factors. It also allows for interim assessments to determine students’ progress in advance of state-required testing, and greatly improves the classroom teacher’s ability to analyze each student’s individual strengths and weaknesses. Georgia Performance Standards. As Georgia’s curriculum changes, Fulton continues to train its nearly 7,000-member teaching staff in its new objectives. Last school year, the new math curriculum was introduced to sixth grade and the new science standards were introduced in grades 6 and 7, and 9-12. This school year, kindergarten through second grade, as well as seventh grade, will use the new math curriculum. Students in third through fifth grades will begin using the new science curriculum. No-Charge Breakfast to Selected Schools. For a second year, the Fulton County School System is providing breakfast free-of-charge to all students attending schools not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets or in Needs Improvement status. The program provides each student access to a nutritional meal so they can remain focused on learning, and not distracted by hunger. Five elementary schools (Bethune, Hapeville, Hamilton E. Holmes, Liberty Point, and Mimosa), five middle schools (Holcomb Bridge, McNair, Ridgeview, Sandtown, and Sandy Springs), and eight high schools (Banneker, Centennial, Independence, McClarin, North Springs, Riverwood, Tri-Cities, and Westlake) will provide free breakfast, as well as the South Fulton Crossroads alternative program. In addition, a juice or fruit break will be offered to all Fulton students during Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) and Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) testing days. The quick energy boost should help students stay focused and perform better on state assessments. Cleaner-Burning Fuel for School Buses. Effective May 1, all Fulton vehicles requiring diesel - including more than 800 school buses - switched to Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel, which is the cleanest burning diesel fuel available. This fuel reduces sulfur emissions considerably, resulting in cleaner air. In addition, this August all 780+ Fulton school bus drivers will complete their training in the School Bus Watch Program, which is an offshoot of the Highway Watch Program. The training teaches school bus drivers how to spot unusual activity on their daily routes. Learning Matters Initiative. Schools within the Milton and Alpharetta clusters are piloting a new calendar that allows for five “early release” days during the 2006-07 school year. Students will be dismissed from schools early on those days for teachers to attend professional development workshops and seminars. Affected schools are:
Alpharetta Cluster
Milton Cluster Board of Education Changes in School Board Meeting Calendar. The School Board meeting schedule has changed for the 2006-07 school year. Previously, the Board met the second Tuesday of the month for a Pre-Board meeting, at 4:30 p.m., and then on Thursday for its regular Board meeting at 6:30 p.m. The meeting schedule now calls for the Board to meet for its Board meeting on the third Thursday of the month. By spacing the meetings a week apart, school system staff has more time to prepare reports and other information for the Board before it takes action. Meeting times and locations are posted on the school system web site, www.fultonschools.org. Videostreamed Board Meetings. Beginning with its August 17 meeting, the Thursday Board meetings will be videostreamed live on the Internet. Viewers must have Windows Media Player loaded on their computer to view live meetings or archived files. The web address is http://www.fultonschools.org/dept/broadcast/fcboemeetings.htm. Viewers also can access the files under “Streaming Video,” located in the “Board” section along the top navigation bar of the school system’s web site. Policy Changes New Wellness Policy. The Board of Education has approved a new wellness policy in accordance with the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004. A Wellness Council has been established to address school health issues and improve student health and wellness. The council currently is focusing on the nutritional value of food offered through school meals and after-school snacks, nutrition education, and physical activity. Graduation Ceremony Participation. Beginning with this year’s graduating class, students must earn all required credits, as well as passing scores on all sections of the Georgia High School Graduation Test, to participate or “walk” in commencement exercises. Previously, some Fulton County schools allowed students who were completing testing requirements through summer school to parade and sit with their fellow students during the graduation event, although they would not receive an actual diploma during the ceremony. The exact procedures varied by school. Now, systemwide guidelines state that participation is granted only if all graduation requirements are met prior to the ceremony. Testing Program Changes CRCT Used for Promotion. Although the requirement is no longer new, the Fulton County School System wants to remind parents that third, fifth, and eighth grade students now must perform at or above grade level in certain sections of the Criterion Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) to advance to the next grade. Third grade students must pass the reading section on the CRCT, and fifth and eighth graders must pass the reading and math sections. Those scoring below grade level will not be promoted unless they attend summer learning opportunities and pass a make-up test.
Changes in Georgia Law Parent Notification for Extracurricular Activities. High schools now require parents or guardians to sign an “opt out” form if they do not want their child to participate in a particular extracurricular activity, student organization, or club. Excused Absences for Students of Military Parents. State law now allows students of parents/guardians serving in the military to miss up to five days of school a year if the parent is called to duty to a combat zone or is on leave from overseas deployment. The law’s intent is to allow students more time with their parent before he or she leaves for military service. Parental Conference Prior to Withdrawing from School. Sixteen- or 17-year-old students desiring to withdraw from school must now have their parents’/guardians’ written permission before withdrawal can be completed. The parent(s) and student also must attend a conference with a school administrator so that they can learn about additional educational options and the consequences of not completing high school. If you want to be updated on the news that affects schools in your district, |
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