Month: November 2017

Community Garden planned at East Cobb’s Hyde Farm

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Hyde Farm

From Cobb County Government:

The Hyde brothers were the last in a long line of family farmers in what was rural East Cobb County. The Hyde property, located at the end of the road named for them, Hyde Road, runs off Lower Roswell Road. It is now owned by Cobb County government who have allocated a piece of land and have partnered with the Cobb Master Gardeners to create the brand new Hyde Farm Community Garden. The space is completely fenced with irrigation available and will be comprised of 40 garden plots measuring 4 ft. by 8 ft. each.

“It will be a fantastic space for our community! We believe community gardens really connect people to their food, their land and each other,” says Master Gardener Randy Threatte.

Plots will be filled with excellent planting soil from SuperSo Soil3 and will be ready for planting winter crops and herbs around Thanksgiving. Plots are available to rent at a cost of $50/year for a 12-month growing season from March 1 through February 28. The first gardeners renting will get an added advantage of an additional free 3 months as the first rental year will run from November 2017 through February 2019. Two handicap accessible raised beds are available as well as two beds with priority to veterans. Reservations may be made on a first come first serve basis by contacting Master Gardener Randy Threatte at 404-431-3112 or threatte@bellsouth.net. Educational gardening and seed starting classes will also be held at the property – free and open to the public.

East Cobb football update: Pope, Kell join Walton in state playoffs; Lassiter waits

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Pope football, East Cobb football

There will be at least three East Cobb football teams in the Georgia High School Association state playoffs next week.

There could be a fourth, Lassiter, which lost to Etowah Friday night and could be selected for an at-large berth in Class AAAAAAA.

Walton clinched the Region 7-AAAAAAA title Friday with a 42-37 win at home over Woodstock, giving the Raiders a perfect 10-0 record in the regular season.

That’s only the third time in Walton school history that has happened. The Raiders will play at home next Friday in the first round of the state playoffs against North Cobb.

East Cobb football
Tab Griffin of Pope, Brett Sloan of Kell and Daniel Brunner of Walton have led their teams into the state playoffs as first-year head coaches. (East Cobb News file photo)

Kell lost to Hiram 52-37 at home but still clinched a playoff berth in the Class AAAAA playoffs. The Longhorns, who finished 5-5 in the regular season, will play at Flowery Branch.

The most unlikely East Cobb football story this season is Pope High School, which had won just three games in the past two seasons. The Greyhounds got off to a sluggish start, losing their first three games.

Pope came into Friday’s game against Northview on a two-game losing streak, but rolled to an easy 41-22 win to qualify for the state playoffs for the first time since 2012. The Greyhounds will take a losing record—4-6—into next Friday’s Class AAAAAA first round game at Dacula.

Lassiter could have cemented a playoff berth in Class AAAAAAA but lost at Etowah 29-20 to finish the regular season with a 6-4 record. The Trojans await word on whether they’ll be selected as an at-large team.

The three East Cobb football teams that have clinched playoff spots also have something else in common. They’re coached by first-year head coaches, which was one of the leading storylines heading into the season.

Walton’s Daniel Brunner had been an assistant for the Raiders and was elevated to head coach after Mo Dixon resigned to take a coaching job in south Georgia. Another Walton assistant, Brett Sloan, was hired to succeed Derek Cook at Kell.

Tab Griffin’s task at Pope was considered the biggest job of all. He was a former Greyhounds player and Pope graduate who was hired in the summer after coaching at Mt. Paran Christian School.

Two other East Cobb teams ended their seasons Friday on a down note. Sprayberry, also coached by a first-year coach, former Yellow Jackets player Brett Vavra, lost to Sequoyah 38-28 and finished 2-8 on the year.

So did the Wheeler Wildcats, a playoff last year who lost 51-37 to Pebblebrook.

 

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EAST COBB FALL PHOTOS: The look, if not always the feel, of autumn

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Gant Quarters Drive, East Cobb fall photos
Gant Quarters Drive, off Lower Roswell Road

After another unusual weather week—wet and wintry conditions over the weekend, followed by temperatures in the high 70s—East Cobb fall photos look like they could encompass all four seasons.

Willow Glenn Drive, Weatherstone, East Cobb fall photos
Willow Glenn Drive
Hampton Lake Drive, East Cobb fall photos
Hampton Lake Drive
Indian Hills Parkway, East Cobb fall photos
Indian Hills Parkway

The best barometer is typically East Cobb Park, where balmy, sunny weather drew out a nice late Friday afternoon crowd, including some young boys playing catch—both the football and baseball varieties.East Cobb Park, East Cobb fall photos

All seasons—sports and weather—are converging on this first weekend of November, which will remain warm, with high temperatures in the high 70s. There is the chance for rain, and low temperatures in the 60s.

If you’ve got photos you’d like to share with the East Cobb community—of the weather, a school, or church or organizational event—please feel free to send them, and we’ll post them.

Email us at: editor@eastcobbnews.com and please add any identifying information you have. To send news tips and other information, check our submission guidelines.

 

EAST COBB WEEKEND EVENTS: Lassiter Craft Fair and holiday markets; baby fair; community piano; and more

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Lassiter Craft Fair, East Cobb Weekend Events

Halloween is over, November has begun and with it the earliest of two months of holiday-related activities. East Cobb weekend events through Sunday include ongoing holiday markets, a maternity and baby fair, two pet-related events and the unveiling of a new community piano.

Check out our full calendar listings for more, this weekend and beyond, but here’s whats highlighted for the next few days:

  • Lassiter Craft Fair (2601 Shallowford Road), runs 10-5 Saturday and Sunday, with more than 100 booths featuring handmade crafts and products and includes a bake sale and other concessions to benefit the Lassiter Band;
  • Mt. Bethel UMC Ribbons and Holiday Handcrafted Market (4385 Lower Roswell Road), is from 9-4 on Saturday, with more than 50 vendors, face painting for kids, a bake sale and lunch, with proceeds benefitting the church’s missions;
  • Good Mews Holiday Decor Market (1860 Sandy Plains Road) continues Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 12-6 and every weekend through Dec. 17, to benefit the shelter’s programs to rescue, nurture and adopt homeless cats and kittens;
  • Pet Events: An adoption day is Saturday from 9-12 at Janice Overbeck Real Estate Team (2249 Sewell Mill Road), to benefit the Homeless Pets Foundation; from 10-3 Sunday Good Mews is holding a vaccination and microchip clinic at its facility (3805 Robinson Road), and they do encourage you to make an appointment;

    Tommy Piano, East Cobb Weekend Events
    “Tommy” is getting tuned up to be played at Egg Harbor Cafe.
  • On Saturday at noon, the latest community piano, courtesy of Play Me Again Pianos, will be unveiled at Egg Harbor Cafe (4719 Lower Roswell Road); it’s the second such piano in East Cobb (see our posts here and here for more); “Tommy” will remain at the restaurant, just as “Sunny” sits under the upper gazebo at East Cobb Park;
  • If you’re expecting a child or recently had a baby, the WellStar East Cobb Health Park (3747 Roswell Road) is holding a Baby and Maternity Fair Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. that includes medical information from health providers, vendors and more, and it’s free;
  • Football finales: The regular season is coming to a close Friday with Walton already having secured a playoff spot, and with Kell, Lassiter and Pope still in the hunt; Sprayberry and Wheeler will be concluding their seasons for sure. The Raiders, who also have earned a home playoff game, can go for a 10-0 regular season against Woodstock at Raider Valley.

Did we miss something? Do you have a calendar item to share? Please let us know, and we’ll post them to our full calendar listings. E-mail calendar@eastcobbnews.com.

Have a great weekend!

East Cobb schools pace county results in 2017 CCRPI test scores

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Timber Ridge Elementary School, East Cobb schools, CCRPI
CCRPI scores at Timber Ridge Elementary are up almost 18 points from 2015.

Seven East Cobb schools surpassed the maximum scores in the latest CCRPI test results released Thursday by the Cobb County School District.

The CCRPI—which stands for College and Career Ready Performance Index—is a state accountability measure that gauges overall achievement results and how schools are preparing students for the next level of education.

The CCRPI is formulated on a 100-point scale as follows:

  • Overall achievement comprising 50 percent (based on Georgia Milestones Assessment System);
  • Student progress totaling 40 percent (Milestones results from year to year);
  • The remaining 10 percent related to closing the achievement gap (between the 25 percent lowest-performing students in a school or district compared to all Georgia students).

Students at all three K-12 levels are tested, and the full state CCRPI results are available at the Georgia Department of Education website.

At the elementary school level, Timber Ridge (100.5), Murdock and Sope Creek (100.3 each) led all of Cobb, earning what’s referred to as “challenge” points in such categories as improved results among subgroups of students and innovative measures at a school, the so-called Exceeding the Bar (ETB) score.

Three Cobb middle schools, all in East Cobb, also exceeded the 100 mark: Dickerson (103), Dodgen (101) and Hightower Trail (101.5).

At the high school level, Walton’s score of 101.1 led the county as well. The high school achievement score includes graduation rates.

Cobb’s overall CCRPI score of 82.9 was higher than the statewide average of 75. For the high-scoring schools in East Cobb, those results were among the best in Georgia.

Timber Ridge’s score of 100.5 not only was a gain of 5.8 percent from 2016, but it’s one of the highest in the state (Lake Windward, in north Fulton County, topped out at 104.5). Timber Ridge scored 47.1 on achievement, a perfect 40 in progress, and earned 3.4 challenge points.

In a statement, Jeffrey Castle, the Timber Ridge principal, attributed his school’s results to “a supportive parent community, engaged students and motivated, highly-capable teachers who have the education of the whole child as their main priority.

“Our focus last year was on progress, with implementation of computer-based reading intervention programs, and on intentional delivery of rigorous instruction and congruency among curriculum, assessments and instruction.”

All but two of the 21 East Cobb elementary schools had higher scores than 2016, but the drops by Kincaid and Sedalia Park were slight.

The biggest jump was at Powers Ferry, with a score of 72.3 representing a 14.5 percent increase from a year ago, the fourth largest boost among Cobb elementary schools.

Although the achievement score at Powers Ferry was 26 and its progress was at 37, the school reported a score of 8.3 (out of 10) in closing the achievement gap.

In a release, Cobb schools said that measuring year-to-year progress in 2017 is not exact because of some minor changes to how the CCRPI is formulated. At all levels, science and social studies were removed as indicators in the progress and achievement gap categories.

Elementary Schools

2017 Score Change from 2016
All of Cobb ES 80.5 +4.8
Addison 93.0 +5.3
Bells Ferry 89.3 +7.5
Blackwell 86.2 +6.8
Brumby 67.8 +7.1
Davis 87.5 +2.4
East Side 96.3 +4.5
Eastvalley 93.5 +5.8
Garrison Mill 96.8 +1.5
Keheley 88.7 +2.6
Kincaid 89.9 -0.9
Mt. Bethel 96.4 +1.4
Mountain View 99.7 +7.8
Murdock 100.3 +6.2
Nicholson 88.5 +11.2
Powers Ferry 72.3 +14.5
Rocky Mount 97.4 +5.0
Sedalia Park 68.9 -0.1
Shallowford Falls 88.0 +1.0
Sope Creek 100.3 +6.1
Timber Ridge 100.5 +5.8
Tritt 96.8 +6.0

Middle Schools

2017 Score Change from 2016
All of Cobb MS 82.0 +2.2
Daniell 77.9 -2.1
Dickerson 103.0 +4.3
Dodgen 101.0 +1.4
East Cobb 79.2 +3.6
Hightower Trail 100.5 +2.9
Mabry 91.3 0.0
McCleskey 82.5 -0.3
Simpson 89.9 +3.2

High Schools

2017 Score Change from 2016
All of Cobb HS 87.3 -0.9
Kell 85.8 -6.4
Lassiter 99.9 0.7
Pope 92.9 -6.5
Sprayberry 86.7 -2.0
Walton 101.2 -1.2
Wheeler 90.3 +1.7

 

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Dodgen and Dickerson recognized for National Blue Ribbon school status

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Dodgen and Dickerson

In late September both Dickerson and Dodgen middle schools were named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education.

Last week the Cobb Board of Education formally recognized the administrators and teachers at both schools.

Dickerson and Dodgen were among 342 schools nationwide earning the Blue Ribbon designation, and they’re among 17 East Cobb schools so named since the award began in the early 1980s.

In both group photos the school board members and Superintendent Chris Ragsdale are in the back row. The Dickerson staff, in the photo above: Dr. Carole Brink, principal; Sandra Alford, assistant principal; and teachers Rebecca Johson, Tara Thieme, Jackie Roche, Jennifer Attard, Maureen McLaughlin, Megan Lankes, Natalie Cornwell and Drew Starnes.

In the photo below, the Dodgen staff in the front row: Dr. Loralee Hill, principal; Gary Jackson, assistant principal; Sheri Dennard, Teacher of the Year, 8th grade lead and math teacher; Marlo Sharp, French teacher; Tonia Martin-Gatlin, counselor; and Tricia Eoff, counseling office clerk.

Dodgen and Dickerson

Dickerson also was recognized by the school board for recently being named recipient of an Award of Excellence in Physical Education by the Georgia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.

Those recognized by the school board included Dickerson physical education teachers Maureen McLaughlin, Megan Lankes, Natalie Cornwell, Duane Perozzi and Drew Starnes. 

Black Swan Tavern opening delayed to next week

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Black Swan Tavern

We mentioned over the weekend that the opening for the Black Swan Tavern (1401 Johnson Ferry Road, in the Merchants Festival Shopping Center) was set for Thursday.

But that’s not going to happen, as health inspection delays and scheduled fundraisers this weekend are pushing back the opening into early next week. From the tavern’s Facebook page: “It’ll probably be Tuesday but we are pushing for Monday. Cheers and our apologies!”

Projected Cobb budget deficit for FY 2019 grows to $30 million

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A startling new figure was tossed out at the Cobb Board of Commissioners retreat earlier this week: a projected Cobb budget deficit of around $30 million.

The commissioners met in Austell Monday and Tuesday to get an early start on the fiscal year 2019 budget, a month into fiscal 2018, which they had to balance with $20.8 million in contingency funding.

Mike Boyce, tax millage increase
Cobb Commission chairman Mike Boyce. (East Cobb News file photo)

They discussed a wide variety of budget priorities and options, but made no decisions. The rise in the budget deficit projection is attributed to an increase in health care costs, among other expenses.

“We’re basically nine or ten months ahead of where we usually are when it comes to developing a budget for this county,” Cobb Commission chairman Mike Boyce said in a statement Tuesday. “Today we’ve done something that hasn’t been done in the past as far as having something in October for a fiscal year that starts ten months from now.”

Boyce said the information and perspectives offered at the retreat will assist in formulating a budget proposal by early next year.

He said he will schedule town hall meetings around the county next spring, similar to what he did this summer with a proposed property tax millage rate that was ultimately rejected by the commissioners.

The Cobb government fiscal year budget runs from Oct. 1-Sept. 30, and commissioners set the millage late late in the budget process, in August.

Commissioners voted not to raise the millage rate this year, including East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell.

 

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