East Cobb high school spring theater performances conclude at Lassiter, Wheeler

We posted recently about an upcoming dinner theater performance of “Annie” by Wheeler High School students to benefit the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative food pantry.

“Annie” also will be performed four other times toward the end of the month, as noted below.

We’ve had requests to round up school theater productions, and while most have wrapped up their 2018-19 seasons, there are still some shows to take in, including this weekend at Lassiter High School.Wheeler Theatre Annie, East Cobb high school spring theater

Lassiter Theatre Troupe
“Little Shop of Horrors”
April 12 & 13, 7 p.m.
April 14 2 p.m.
LHS Theatre
Tickets: $9 (Order here)

Wheeler Theatre
“Annie”
April 26 & 27, 7 p.m.
April 27 & 28, 2 p.m.
Wheeler Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $7, $10, $15 (Order Here)

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

 

Cobb schools holding teachers job fairs this week

From the Cobb County School District:

The Cobb County School District is hiring, and educators are invited to attend the district’s two upcoming job fairs on March 26 and March 28. The hiring events are open to anyone interested in certified teaching positions. Thousands are expected to attend. 

The job fairs put teachers face-to-face with school administrators in a relaxed and personal setting and give candidates the opportunity to talk directly about teaching and learning in a diverse and dynamic school district. 

“Our job fairs help us hire the very best so we can strengthen our team of talented educators who continue to make Cobb the best place to teach, lead, and learn,” said Cobb Schools Superintendent Chris Ragsdale. “This year, we were once again the first metro district to issue teaching contracts, which has allowed us to identify areas of need and begin looking for tomorrow’s top teachers to support our vision of One Team, One Goal: Student Success.” 

Middle and High Schools Job Fair: 

  • Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2019 
  • Time:
  • 5-6 p.m. (Current CCSD Employees Only with ID)  
  • 6-9 p.m. (Open to All) 
  • Location: Kennesaw Mountain High School: 1898 Kennesaw Due West Rd NW, Kennesaw, GA 30152 
  • Register for the MS and HS Job Fair Here

Elementary School Job Fair: 

  • Date: Thursday, March 28, 2019 
  • Time: 
  • 5-6 p.m. (Current CCSD Employees Only with ID)  
  • 6-9 p.m. (Open to All) 
  • Location: Wheeler High School: 375 Holt Rd NE, Marietta, GA 30068 
  • Register for the Elementary Job Fair Here

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Dodgen MS art teacher honored by national arts educators’ group

From the Cobb County School District:Joan Weatherford, Dodgen MS art teacher honored

The National Art Education Association (NAEA) recently named Dodgen Middle School art teacher Joan Weatherford the 2019 Outstanding National Junior Art Honor Society Sponsor.  

This prestigious award, determined through a peer review of nominations, recognizes dedication from an NAEA member who sponsors an outstanding National Junior Art Honor Society Chapter.

The award was presented at the NAEA National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, March 14-16, 2019. 

“This award is being given to recognize excellence in professional accomplishment and service by a dedicated art educator. Joan Weatherford exemplifies the highly qualified art educators active in education today: leaders, teachers, students, scholars, and advocates who give their best to their students and the profession,“ stated NAEA President Kim Huyler Defibaugh. 

The Cobb County School District’s supervisor of learning design and visual arts echoes the praise of Weatherford by NAEA’s president.  

 “Joan Weatherford personifies teacher dedication and advocacy of Visual Arts Education in Cobb County. Her commitment allows students to see the importance of the arts in their school and their local community. I applaud Joan and commend her efforts as she receives this national award and is named the 2019 Outstanding National Junior Art Honor Society Sponsor,” said Laura LaQuaglia, Cobb Schools Supervisor of Learning Design and Visual Arts Division of Teaching and Learning Instruction and Innovative Practice. 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Cobb Career Academy approved on campus of Osborne High School

Last week the Cobb Board of Education approved the creation of the Cobb Career Academy, a magnet program that will provide a career tech pathway for students. Cobb Career Academy approved

The $14.5 million academy will be built on the campus of Osborne High School, which is undergoing a rebuild, and is slated to be completed by May 2020.

The academy is projected to accommodate 500 students as an extension of Cobb’s current Career, Technology, and Agriculture Educational programs.

More than 36,000 students participated in CTAE classes last year, according to the Cobb County School District.

“Our CTAE programs are not only preparing students for choice-filled lives through career opportunities, but clearly, they already having a positive impact on our county’s economic development, and they have yet to graduate from high school,” said Jennifer Lawson, Cobb Schools Chief Academic Officer, who briefed board members on the academy plans before their vote.

Cobb Career Academy students will be considered Osborne students—much like those attending the STEM magnet at Wheeler are Wheeler students—and they will be able to participate in work-based learning, dual enrollment, and advanced placement, among other benefits.

The academy will be built by Carroll Daniel Construction Co., with the funding coming from sales tax revenues in the Cobb Education SPLOST IV collection period.

In addition to the Wheeler STEM program, the other magnets in Cobb schools are at Campbell (International Baccalaureate), Kennesaw Mountain (math, science and technology), North Cobb (international studies), Pebblebrook (performing arts) and South Cobb (research and medical sciences).

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Cobb schools FY 2020 budget outline: Employee pay raises, more teacher allotments

Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday his priorities for the fiscal year 2020 budget are for across-the-board employee pay raises and increases in the teacher allotment pool to reduce class size. Chris Ragsdale, Cobb school superintendent

He and Brad Johnson, the chief financial officer for the Cobb County School District, briefed board members at their monthly work session.

There’s not a formal budget proposal now—that’s expected in April—so the size of the raises and the number of new allotments haven’t been determined.

The district is waiting on estimates for the Cobb tax digest for 2019 and monitoring the final days of the legislative session.

“The numbers are still changing,” said Ragsdale, who said he will not be recommending employee bonuses for FY 2020 and called the upcoming process “definite creative budgeting.”

Last year, Cobb employees got a late 2.6 percent raise to go with 1.1 percent bonuses in a $1.2 billion FY 2019 budget that included no millage rate increase.

Ragsdale said he’s emphasizing raises this year over bonuses because the raises can be figured into Georgia Teachers Retirement System calculations.

“It’s best for the employee to maximize that raise,” said Ragsdale, adding that he sought feedback from teachers. This decision, he said, “wasn’t made in a vacuum.”

Last year marked the end of education austerity cuts in Georgia that lasted more than a decade. That freed up $10.2 million in restored funds for Cobb, and Ragsdale immediately applied most of it to employee raises.

Johnson estimated that Cobb lost an estimated $586 million in revenues due to the austerity cuts since 2003.

“I’m not sure how we did balance the budget during some of those years,” he told board members.

The reference was part of a larger financial picture district officials painted as the board prepares for the budget process.

Cobb allows for a senior property tax exemption for homeowners aged 62 and older. Johnson said all exemptions totaled $146 million in FY 2019, with $111.9 million of that due to the senior exemption.

Cobb schools fair share revenue chart

At the board’s Thursday night business meeting, the two newest board members asked about the senior exemptions. Jaha Howard, who represents the Campbell and Osborne clusters, asked if budget information presented to the public will clearly include the funding Cobb is not getting due to that exemption.

Ragsdale said he does explicitly mention that when he speaks in public “as a point of education.” He said while the senior exemption is “is a benefit to our constituents in Cobb,” the larger issue for the district is addressing state “fair share” funding issues.

The Cobb schools millage rate is 18.9 (there’s a state cap of 20 mills), and 5 mills goes right back to the state for what’s called “fair share” funding.

But with the senior exemption, Ragsdale said, Cobb actually can’t touch 6.4 of that 18.9 mills. Last year, Cobb’s fair share contribution rose by $10.7 million, to $155.3 million.

“If we could get a cap on that . . . that would go a long way” in easing local budget pressures, he said.

Charisse Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters, noted that voters in Forsyth County last November voted to eliminate a senior tax exemption for homeowners who still have students living with them but who are not legal guardians. That change will net Forsyth schools an additional $500,000 in revenue a year.

Cobb is Georgia’s second-largest school district, with nearly 112,000 students.

After the formal budget proposal is presented to the school board, it will hold public hearings before adoption, which is slated for May.

The Cobb schools fiscal year is from July 1-June 30.

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Wheeler Fresh Collaborative kicks off with April dinner theater

Wheeler Fresh Collaborative
Pictured (L to R): Will Dezern (Horticulture), Stacy Regitsky (Magnet Advisor), Valerie Bolen (Drafting), Tiera Aguillon (Culinary Arts), Kelly Feddersen (Sports & Entertainment Marketing), Kelly Karr (Graphic Design); not pictured – Christian Barnes (Magnet Coordinator), Dayna Strickland (Theatre), Christopher Walstead & Jennifer Callison-Bliss (Environmental Science), Amanda Williams (Girls Who Code Club Sponsor)

Thanks to student Max Pacula for the submitted information and photo about the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative, described as a “cross-curricular collaboration by teachers and students whose goals are to increase community involvement and provide food essentials when and where needed.”

The project’s kickoff event takes place with a dinner theater event in April that’s detailed at the bottom of the post. Here’s what collaborative effort is all about:

This STEAM initiative (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) was originally conceived as a “farm to table” type program but has since evolved to include a food pantry started by Wheeler students and eventually supplemented with contributions from the surrounding community. The Wheeler Fresh Collaborative will utilize expertise from Wheeler’s culinary, horticulture. environmental science, drafting, graphic design, and marketing classes to help ensure fellow Wildcats students have a reliable source of food when needed.

From concept to realization, many classes have helped develop the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative. Drafting students designed the layout of the grow beds for Horticulture. Environmental Science students are studying the soil and growing environment. Horticulture students are growing herbs and vegetables for Culinary. Culinary students are preparing, cooking, and serving the meal. Graphic Design students are creating logos and visuals. Marketing students are branding and promoting the event and the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative program. Wheeler’s Girls Who Code Club members are creating an online ordering system for the Food Pantry.

To officially kick off the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative, Wheeler is hosting a Dinner Theater event this Spring. On April 26th, Wheeler theater students will perform Annie following a limited seating dinner hosted, prepared, and served by Wheeler students. “Through this dinner theater event, we want to showcase the sense of community Wheeler offers which has enabled a program like the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative to exist,” boasts Kelly Feddersen, Sports and Entertainment Marketing teacher and one of the leaders of the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative. On this night, the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative hopes to spread their mission through a fun and entertaining evening.

 As the program grows, Wheeler Fresh Collaborative hopes to sustain a food pantry with both Wheeler grown food and other nonperishable items to aid the 41% of Wheeler students who benefit from free and reduced lunch. The hope is the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative helps ease this challenge through a program that demonstrates what can be accomplished when students work together, building a true sense of community.

If you would like to attend the Dinner Theater, tickets can be purchased at https://www.showtix4u.com/events/14519. The event is Friday, April 26th, beginning with the Dinner at 5:30pm, and Annie at 7:00pm. Tickets are $50 for the Dinner + Annie, while tickets for Annie alone are $10. If you would like to donate funds, nonperishable food items, or help in other ways, please email Kelly Feddersen at Kelly.Feddersen@cobbk12.org.

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Sunshine Week: Filing open records requests for Cobb schools

Obtaining public records from the Cobb County School District is similar to requesting them from Cobb County government, but there are some differences due to federal laws governing student privacy.

Anyone may request public records from the CCSD at following addresses below:Cobb schools open records requests

Dr. Darryl York
Open Records Officer
Cobb County School District
514 Glover Street, Marietta, GA 30060
770-514-3870
openrecords@cobbk12.org

Like Cobb government, Cobb schools are also subject to provisions of the Georgia Open Records Act, and the CCSD also must reply to open records requests in three working days.

If open records requests are denied, school officials must cite a specific provision in the law that exempts that information from being released.

The information that’s available to the public from Cobb schools includes general administrative and operations records, school board proceedings, contracts and purchasing, budget and finance, curriculum and instruction, some hiring and personnel records, campus public safety records, SPLOST records and more.

These records include those in printed and electronic form, including tapes, computer records and correspondence, maps and photographs.

The exemptions are significant and are complicated, due to the federal law mentioned above. It’s called the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), first passed in 1974 (and also known as the Buckley Amendment), that governs the disclosure of student educational records.

The Georgia Attorney General’s Office produced this guide to the Georgia law and school records in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Education, the Georgia Press Associaiton and the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.

For students in K-12, the rights to educational records belongs primarily to their parents. They have the right to inspect educational records kept by school districts, and to request that information be revised for corrected if deemed inaccurate.

They also may request a formal hearing if those requests are denied. Likewise, K-12 parents must consent to any educational records of their children being released.

Certain non-educational information, such as a student’s name, address, date of birth and when they attended school, is generally considered public. So are records created after a student leaves a school.

After the age of 18, students have the rights to their educational records.

Test score information for individual schools and school districts is publicly available, but individual test scores of specific students are not.

Records produced by a school’s law enforcement department (Cobb schools has its own police force) are not protected from disclosure by the federal privacy law.

According to a revision of the law in the 1990s, “education records” subject to FERPA provisions do not include those “maintained by a law enforcement unit of the educational agency or institution that were created by that law enforcement unit for the purpose of law enforcement.”

However, FERPA does apply to records about internal student disciplinary matters.

Records that don’t need a parent or student’s consent to be released include “information necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals” and regarding a student whose “conduct poses a significant risk to the safety of that student, other students, and the school community.”

The Georgia Attorney General’s office notes, however, that in the case of the latter, another state law keeps most of that information confidential.

School employees, including teachers, may request that certain portions of their personnel records, such as Social Security number, date of birth, credit reports, financial data and insurance and medical information, be redacted.

The state guide to FERPA and schools includes more detailed appendices of what information is subject to open records laws and what may be exempted from disclosure.

There’s also a sample letter format. As with any other open records requests, the more specific, the better. There may be some fees that are charged for researching, retrieving and preparing documents for disclosure and for some copying expenses.

The Georgia First Amendment Foundation has published a guide to Georgia’s Sunshine Laws, which has further resources on open government.

Later this week East Cobb News will post similar information about obtaining public records from state and federal government agencies.

It’s all part of Sunshine Week, which is being observed March 10-16 by news organizations and open-government advocates.

Through Saturday, East Cobb News invites you to send your questions about how to get public information. E-mail: editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll get some answers for you.

General resources

Sunshine Week

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Georgia private school voucher bill rejected by Senate in close vote

In one of the more closely watched issues in the state legislative session this year, the Georgia Senate on Tuesday narrowly voted down a bill that would allow public school funds to be diverted for private school vouchers. State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick

The vote was 28-25 against a substitute version of SB 173 (read the summary or full bill), which was decided strongly along party lines.

All Democrats and several Republicans were opposed, including Lindsey Tippins of West Cobb, a former Cobb school board member. Among the Republicans voting for the bill was Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick of East Cobb (in photo).

The bill’s sponsors indicated they may try for another Senate vote later this week. Thursday is crossover day in the Georgia General Assembly, which means bills must pass at least one chamber to have a chance to become law this year.

Dubbed the Georgia Educational Scholarship Act, SB 173 and HB 301 are identical pieces of legislation. The bills would allow parents to use funds earmarked for public education to pay for qualified education expenses, including private school tuition, tutoring and transportation, as well as home-schooling curriculum.

Existing laws in Georgia allow indirect contributions for private school vouchers that are good for tax credits and for tuition for students with disabilities.

SB 173 has moved fast through the Senate, introduced only on Feb. 22 with the support of Gov. Brian Kemp. It was reported out of subcommittee without a vote, and passed out of the Ways and Means Committee Thursday. On Monday, the Senate Rules Committee placed the bill on Tuesday’s floor schedule.

Both bills are opposed by many public-school advocacy groups, including teachers organizations and the Georgia PTA. The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, which also is opposed, estimates that the voucher program could deprive the state of more than $540 million a year for public schools if fully implemented over the next 10 years.

In favor of the bills are school-choice interests, including the Georgia Center for Opportunity, which says the bill would allow parents to tailor their child’s educational needs.

 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Cobb Schools to hold SPLOST Town Hall Wednesday

A new Cobb Education SPLOST collection period has begun, and school district officials will be available this week to discuss those projects and more at a town hall meeting.Cobb schools parent portal

The Cobb Ed-SPLOST V will be the focus of the Wednesday meeting from 6-8 at Campbell High School (5265 Ward St., Smyrna), with deputy superintendent John Adams and Cobb Schools SPLOST chief Nick Parker on hand to brief the public and answer questions.

The new SPLOST period that began in January will last through 2023 and is expected to generate $797 million in revenues.

(Here’s the SPLOST V Notebook).

The major projects in East Cobb include:

  • Rebuilding Eastvalley Elementary School at the site of the former East Cobb Middle School;
  • Theater renovation at Lassiter High School;
  • Renovation of the career and technical building at Sprayberry High School;
  • New tennis courts and a softball field at Walton High School;
  • Renovation of the STEM Magnet building at Wheeler High School.

Dickerson and Dodgen middle schools also are slated for major classroom additions in SPLOST V.

SPLOST funds also are used for technology upgrades at every school, including for security measures, and for general maintenance of facilities and equipment.

In January the Cobb Board of Education approved taking out $90 million in short-term loans against the SPLOST collections to get a head start on the new round of projects, and to save money by locking in interest rates.

Related story

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

 

East Cobb Middle School’s special guest: Acting legend Louis Gossett Jr.

Louis Gossett Jr., East Cobb Middle School

Black History Month in February brought some star quality to East Cobb in the presence of actor Louis Gossett Jr.

His visit to East Cobb Middle School near the end of the month included some inspiring words for students, as he told them that “every month is American History Month.”

Gossett is the first African-American to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1982 movie “An Officer and A Gentleman,” and his message to sixth grade students was to embrace their role in shaping the future.

“If we are going to be together for the rest of our lives, we need to hold hands and show the rest of the world, by example, how this togetherness works,” Gossett told them, asking them to rise and join hands.

Here’s more about his visit from CCSD, which also submitted the photo:

“I know it is Black History Month, but every month is American History Month, and it is important you know how much you need one another and what you represent,” Gossett told the students. 

He advised the students to learn about their neighbors because everyone comes together to make America. He also pointed to the students’ grandparents as a source of valuable information about past generations. Explaining the importance of reaching across generations, Gossett revealed that he had a photo with his great grandmother, who had been a slave. She was 115 years old in the photo.  

“Take the time to listen to your teachers. Take the time to listen to your parents,” he continued. 

“Now is the time for you to start thinking about what you are going to be. This is when you go from childhood to grown up.”

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Wheeler science teacher named NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassador

Season Stalcup, Wheeler science teacher

Season Stalcup, a Wheeler science teacher, is one of four educators from the Cobb County School District to be named to the 2019 NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program.

Stalcup, also an assistant coach for the Wheeler softball team, is among 28 in Georgia, and Cobb is one of 14 district in eight states with teachers who were selected to participate.

Here’s what CCSD is sending out about the program:

The NASA Ambassador program is a professional development opportunity for high school science teachers designed to improve science teaching and learning and increase student engagement in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). 

As ambassadors, the Cobb teachers will join fellow educators from California, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Kentucky, Texas, and two from Columbus, Georgia for training in astrophysics, planetary science content, and pedagogy. Their training will include a week-long immersion experience at NASA’s science research aircraft facility in Palmdale, California with participation in research flights onboard NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).  

SOFIA is a highly modified Boeing 747SP airliner fitted with a 2.5-meter (100-inch) telescope and using a suite of seven cameras and spectrographs to study celestial objects at infrared wavelengths. SOFIA operates during 10-hour overnight science missions at altitudes between 39,000 and 45,000 feet (12-14 kilometers), above more than 99 percent of the water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere that blocks infrared light from reaching ground-based observatories. 

After their training, the Cobb teachers, with the help of program staff, will implement a NASA science-oriented electromagnetic spectrum and infrared astronomy curriculum module in their classrooms. The module is developed by the SETI Institute, which has managed the Ambassador program since its inception in 2011. Cobb’s teachers are part of the first NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors class open to teachers outside of California.  

“We are so proud of the teachers that were selected to be a part of the Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors Program,” said Christian Cali, Cobb County School District science supervisor. “Their experiences flying into the stratosphere on NASA’s SOPHIA will provide Cobb students with a chance to make real-world connections with the concepts they are learning in the classroom.” 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Tritt Elementary School earns first Library Learning Commons certification in nation

Tritt Elementary School

Here’s some winter break news about a noteworthy accomplishment by students and teachers, and staff at Tritt Elementary School, which is the first school in the country to be certified as a Library Learning Commons.

The concept has evolved over the last decade or so nationwide, and thus far Tritt is the only school in Cobb to go through the district’s certification process (explanation here).

The information (along with photo) submitted by the Cobb County School District explains in detail the Library Learning Commons approach, which at Tritt has incorporated space for experimenting, playing, making, doing, thinking, collaborating, and growing:

The engaging space with flexible seating includes the traditional books but so much more. Digital tools and technology help the students collaborate. The library media specialists not only guide students as they select which book will take them on their next literary adventure, but they also conduct lessons focused on the curriculum the students are learning inside their classroom. 

“In our Library Learning Commons, students can stretch their thinking, ask questions, build research skills, design new concepts in makerspaces, and collaborate with their peers,” said Holly Frilot, Cobb Schools supervisor of Library Media Education. “The library media specialist cultivates lessons to spark curiosity, teaches how to research effectively, and guides students to present their new knowledge with digital tools.” 

Many Cobb students are tech-savvy and able to quickly navigate apps and social media. The media specialists inside the Library Learning Commons help the students become tech-literate so they can understand the digital world around them and navigate it safely and successfully.   

“One of our newer spaces is the MakerSpace where students can come to work on small or group projects, including green screen productions. Students and staff feel welcome to use the spaces and resources as needed in a truly flexible learning environment,” explained Tritt Principal Karen Carstens.  

Frilot and Principal Carstens both credit media specialist Joanne Bates for her work with teachers and staff over the past five years to transition Tritt’s media center into a Library Learning Commons.  

“The traditional library has gone through a transformation as old and outdated print materials have been replaced with more high-interest print materials and up-to-date digital resources,” added Principal Carstens. “The digital resources extend the walls of our library into the classrooms and even beyond our school as students and teachers can access the resources at home.” 

“In support of Cobb’s commitment to innovation, the Library Learning Commons certification highlights the transformation schools undertake to create engaging, inspiring spaces for students,” Frilot explained. “In our Library Learning Commons, students go on virtual reality field trips, engage in the engineering design process in makerspaces, and use digital tools like 3D printers.” 

Related story

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Georgia school bus stop-arm law revised by legislature

ATS school bus camera, Cobb school bus camera program
Some Cobb school buses are equipped with cameras to photograph license plates of stop-arm violators.

When your kids return to school next week, a revision to a Georgia law regarding bus stop-arm requirements for motorists will have been put into place.

As Cobb students were letting out for their winter break this week, Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday signed SB 25, which clarifies language for when drivers must stop for buses on divided roadways.

The law passed by the General Assembly last year contained vague language about when motorists traveling in the opposite direction from a bus with the stop-arm extended had to stop.

The revision mandates that those vehicles must now stop on divided roads or highways unless there is a physical barrier between the two directions of traffic.

Along a road that is divided by a center turn lane or double yellow lane stripes, vehicles heading in the other direction must stop. The law passed in 2018 made that unclear.

However, if a road is divided by a grass or unpaved median or a raised barrier, vehicles traveling in the opposite direction do not have to stop.

Related story

All traffic on two-lane roads must stop for stopped buses, as has been the case since before last year’s legislation.

School Transportation News said two students in Georgia have been hit since the law was passed last year, one of them fatally, by vehicles that ran bus stop-arm signs.

SB 25 passed unanimously last week, 171-0 by the House and 55-0 by the Senate. It was the first bill signed into law by Kemp since he became governor in January, and it went into effect immediately.

State public safety agencies, including the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, released the following graphic to illustrate changes in the law.

Georgia school bus stop-arm law

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Walton softball parents petition school board for on-campus facility

Parents involved with the Walton High School softball booster club asked Cobb Board of Education members Wednesday when the district will come up with a plan to bring games back on campus.Walton fastpitch, Walton softball parents

It’s been nearly four years since the fastpitch field and fieldhouse, along with tennis courts, were demolished to make way for a new classroom building.

In a public comment session at the board’s monthly meeting Wednesday night, parents said they wanted to see a “replacement plan” in two weeks.

Parent Mary Littwin said that when plans were made in 2014 for what was described as a temporary move, “we were told that in 2-3 years” there would be a new outline for an on-campus home for Walton fastpitch. “Here we are, five years later, and what we would like to know is when a replacement plan will be put into action.”

Board members and school district officials did not respond to their concerns. Parents previously have brought the issue to new Post 6 school board member Charisse Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters.

The original Walton softball facility, including a fieldhouse was built in 1995, with private funding and donations that parent Kelly Landroche said cost around $160,000.

Since 2015, the Walton softball team and boys and girls tennis teams, also displaced during the construction, have played home competitions at Terrell Mill Park.

John Holland, whose daughter is a rising 8th grader with the Walton fastpitch program, said softball equipment in storage there has been vandalized.

More than anything, the parents said, they want their daughters to enjoy an on-campus environment.

Chris Andriano has had two daughters play softball at Walton. His youngest, he said, is a senior who will be part of the first class who won’t play a game on campus.

“She feels cheated by that,” he said. “Please help us to get these facilities back on campus as soon as possible.”

Financing the construction of new softball and tennis facilities for Walton teams is included on the new Cobb Education SPLOST V project list.

The main problem is a lack of space. Walton is situated on 43 acres on Bill Murdock Road, and most of that space is already being utilized.

The new classroom building opened in August 2017 and a new gym and peforming arts facility is expected to open before the 2019-20 school year.

One possible scenario would be to build a new softball facility on an athletic practice field that is used by several Walton teams.

Losing that field, fastpitch booster club president Amy Hecklinger said, “would put Walton in a less than equitable” situation compared to other high schools in Cobb County.

Another booster club parent, Suzanne Crosswhite, suggested that acquisition of nearby available land would be “proper and equitable,” and that the land “is right across the street.”

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Cobb schools rolling out parental bus-tracking app in March

Following other school districts in metro Atlanta, the Cobb County School District will soon offer a mobile application for parents to track school bus movement.Here Comes the Bus, Cobb school bus tracking app

At a Cobb Board of Education work session Wednesday, superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the app, which would be available through Apple, Android, Google Play other app stores, is expected to be available by March 1.

The name of the app is “Here Comes the Bus,” which Ragsdale said is one of more popular bus-tracking apps in the country. It provides real-time tracking of buses, shows schedules and issues alerts notifying parents when buses approach pick-up and drop-off points.

Most recently, Here Comes the Bus been implemented in Paulding County schools. Marietta City Schools have a bus-tracking app called Traversa.

Ragsdale said Cobb school buses already have GPS (Global Positioning Services) devices on them, and the on-board technology will be updated to provide parents with tracking information that will be secured with a login containing a school code number and a password.

Parents had been able to contact drivers on two-way radios, which had dead spots and operated on open lines.

“If you need private communication with a bus driver, you don’t want that on a speaker,” Ragsdale said.

Deputy Superintendent John Adams said Here Comes the Bus has been tried on a pilot basis with parents at some schools in West Cobb, and most of them were satisfied with the app.

Cobb schools operate 870 bus routes that cover more than 68,000 miles each day, making 38,000 stops and carrying more than 72,000 students.

For details on downloading Here Comes the Bus, visit the CCSD’s transportation page.

Related story

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

 

Hightower Trail music program honored by state educators group

Hightower Trail music program

Information and photo from Cobb County School District:

Out of all the middle school music programs across the state of Georgia, the top one calls Cobb County home. The Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) recently selected Hightower Trail Middle School as the Music Program of the Year. 

The award recognizes Hightower Trail for excellence in all facets of the school’s music program including band, chorus and orchestra.  

Hightower Trail’s five-member music faculty serves 942 students or 89 percent of the student body. The premier music program offers classes in band, chorus, orchestra, guitar, and music appreciation.

The band, chorus, and orchestra programs regularly earn Superior ratings during their large group performance evaluations, and their students consistently earn placements in District Honor and All-State ensembles. Instrumental students participate in solo and ensemble each fall. They also send two Jazz bands to the Jazz evaluation in the spring. The award-winning music department also collaborates with Hightower Trail’s art teacher to present an annual “Night of the Arts” that spotlights chamber ensembles. 

The Hightower Trail band is led by Andrew Cole, director, and Fred Norton, assistant director. 

Hightower Trail’s eighth-grade symphonic band has performed at the University of Alabama, University of Georgia MidFest three times, the Music for All-Southeastern Regional twice, the GMEA In-Service Conference three times including last year, and the Music for All National Festival. The band has also received the GMEA Exemplary Performance Award. 

Hightower Trail’s Choral Director Suzanne Logue is a 30-year member of GMEA, having served in many organizational capacities in the choral division, including State Choral Chair in 2010. She has presented at several In-Service Conferences and is an accompanist for All-State and Honor Choirs around the state.  

Directors Michael Tompkins and Paul O’Keefe oversee the orchestra program at Hightower Trail. The Chamber Orchestra has performed at the ASTA National Orchestra Festival and the 2019 GMEA In-Service Conference. The Orchestra has also received the GMEA Exemplary Performance Award. 

In addition to Hightower Trail’s recognition as the number one middle school music program in Georgia, GMEA recently recognized Christopher Ferrell as the Administrator of the Year for his work as the Cobb County School District Supervisor of Instrumental Music.

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

 

Cobb Young Professionals to volunteer at McCleskey Middle School

Cobb Young Professionals

Calling all professionals under 40, and who have some financial skills to volunteer:

There’s an opportunity to work with Cobb Young Professionals and the Communities in Schools of Marietta/Cobb County at a financial literacy seminar they’re holding at McCleskey Middle School (4080 Maybreeze Road) next Friday, Feb. 15.

It’s part of the Communities in Schools’ “Reality U” program that teaches students about fiscal well-being and academic achievement.

The session is from 8:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., and you can register to help them out until Tuesday. Here’s more about the program:

The one-day financial literacy and life skills event is designed to help students understand some of the “realities” involved in preparing for adulthood. Students are provided an adult scenario complete with family status, occupation and net monthly income—and will visit a variety of booths to “purchase” housing, transportation, child-care, food, utilities, etc.

Reality U helps students make a direct connection between academic success and financial stability.

Cobb Young Professionals is the professional development group of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, and is aimed at those 40 and under. Contact Rebecca Chadwick at rchadwick@cobbchamber.org or 770-859-2368, or visit www.cobbchamber.org/events for more information.

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

ArtsBridge Foundation gala to benefit Georgia arts education programs

Kristen Chenoweth, ArtsBridge Foundation gala

Thanks to Nicholas Wolaver for the information and photo of Kristin Chenoweth (yes, that one!) about the ArtsBridge Foundation Overture Gala on March 29 at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Tickets and sponsorships are on sale for the fundraiser, with proceeds going to arts programs for K-12 students in Georgia:

The benefit is an evening of philanthropy and fun including a cocktail reception, dinner created by the venue’s Executive Chef Nicholas Walker, a “Bid-to-Give” Auction, and live musical theater performances capped by a performance by Emmy- and Tony-Award winning actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth.

Co-chaired by Barbarella and René Diaz and Teena and Rob Garcia of Diaz Foods and Synovus, respectively, the gala also features performances by students of Milton High School, winner in the Overall Production category of the 2018 Georgia High School Musical Theater Awards. This prestigious program, also known as The Shuler Awards, recognized Georgia students as the state’s official entrants into the National High School Musical Theatre Awards—The Jimmy Nederlander Awards.

The Overture Gala’s honorary chair is local philanthropist Valery Voyles, CEO and chair of Ed Voyles Automotive Group and former board of directors of ArtsBridge Foundation.

ArtsBridge Foundation hosts the Overture Gala—the organization’s major annual fundraiser—to gather community support for the upcoming program season, which will serve more than 30,000 K-12 students from nearly 60 Georgia counties and five neighboring states.

Funds raised through the gala’s Bid-to-Give segment will go towards the ArtsBridge Adopt-A-School Program benefiting schools and students with specific financial assistance needs.

Individual gala tickets are $350 with sponsorship packages available in the $1,000 to $25,000 range. Sponsors include Presenting Sponsor Synovus, Georgia Power, Ed Voyles Automotive, Sylvia and Bruce Dick, Scicom Infrastructure Services, Terry Chandler, and Jimmy and Helen S. Carlos. For sponsorship opportunities or to purchase tickets, please visit www.ArtsBridgeGA.org/special-events or contact Lizzy Rhodes at 770-916-2817.

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Cobb schools begin issuing teacher contracts for 2019-20 school year

The Cobb County School District announced Friday it has begun sending out the first of 8,000 teacher contracts for the 2019-20 school year. Cobb schools closed

Cobb schools said in a release that all contracts will be distributed by the end of the day on Monday.

Deputy Superintendent John Adams said Cobb schools are offering contracts to nearly 98 percent of teachers and full-time certified employees. Those also include counselors, psychologists and food service directors.

“By offering early, we can identify areas of need, hire the very best, and allow our teachers to plan for the next school year as early possible,” Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said in a statement. “We are making commitments to our teachers and a promise to our students, parents, and community that Cobb will continue to be the best place to teach, lead, and learn.”

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Wheeler Celeritas Racing Team preps for F1 in Schools national competition

Wheeler Celeritas Racing Team
Wheeler Celeritas Racing Team members from L-R: Chase Waddington, Mateen Jangda, Sai Rajendrakumar and Davis Nilson. Submitted photo.

Last summer we told you about the Aeroflow Racing Team from the Wheeler Magnet School as they prepared for an international F1 competition.

Their successor is called the Celeritas Racing Team, and one of their team members, Shashaank Aiyer, got in touch to let us know that they’re prepping for the F1 in Schools National Competition in Austin, Texas from Feb. 20-23.

Shashaank tells us the Celeritas team is comprised of six juniors who’ll be taking part in a comprehensive, multidisciplinary challenge “in which teams design, analyze, manufacture, and test miniature F1 cars that are powered by compressed carbon dioxide and raced down a track.”

The Celeritas team members and their responsibilities are as follows:

  • Shashaank Aiyer, executive manager and graphic designer;
  • Chase Waddington, manufacturing engineer;
  • Jared Ryley, design engineer;
  • Sai Rajendrakumar, marketing director;
  • Mateen Jangda, financial manager;
  • Davis Nilson, resource director and web designer.

Last year’s Wheeler team won the U.S. competition and finished 15th in the global event in Singapore.

Here’s more about what’s coming up in Austin.

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!