Submitted information and photos from reader Wade:
Saturday morning, May 4, local Scouts and Rotarians braved the rain to join Friends for the East Cobb Park and Cobb Water to clean trash from the banks of Sewell Mill Creek in East Cabb Park.
2 hours and a lot of hands removed some interesting artifacts!
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The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports. They include the street address, subdivision name, high school attendance zone and sales price:
April 15
932 Red Apple Drive, 30066 (Sprayberry): $454,800
2262 Shadetree Court, 30062 (Post Oak Manor, Sprayberry): $805,000
3924 Lower Roswell Road, 30067 (Stone Walk on Lower Roswell, Walton): $1.65 million
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More than 20 restaurants, a couple dozen sponsors and a few dozen more local businesses and organizations set up after an early-morning rain Saturday, but that’s as wet as it would get for the 2024 Taste of East Cobb.
By the time the festival aisles at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church were flush with visitors—sampling food, picking up flyers and listening to the sounds of school jazz bands—the sun was out on a warm and sunny weekend afternoon.
In addition, there were games and face-painting for kids, raffle prizes, a silent auction and other activities as part of the Walton Band Parent Association’s main fundraiser.
Several jazz bands from Walton and Wheeler high schools, and Dickerson and Dodgen middle schools, also performed.
East Cobb News was proud to be a sponsor for the second year in a row, and we’re honored to be a part of this festive community event.
Here are the winners as voted by attendees:
Restaurants
Favorite Overall Taste – Sterling Estates
Rookie Award –Verandah Indian Cuisine
Most Scrumptious Sweet – Schmoo Pies
Most Unique Taste – Verandah Indian Cuisine
Most Likely to Order Seconds – Righteous ‘Que
Vendors and Sponsors
Friendliest Booth –Rohan Law
Most Likely to Call Tomorrow – Mojo Vitality
Most Interesting– Peachtree Curling Association
Best Giveaway – DC Patel Financial Services
Favorite Overall– East Cobb City Lifestyle
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The non-profit organization Widow Strong, a component of the East Cobb-based Life Transformed Christian Counseling, is holding a special Mother’s Day-related event Sunday at East Cobb Park for families without fathers.
It’s called “Pampering and Portraits,” and it’s for widows with their children, grandchildren and other family members from 2:30-5:30 p.m.
There will be lunch, a mini photography session and a pampering gift bag
You can go to the LTCC office at 3827 Roswell Road, Suite 104 for the portrait and gift bag, then go to the park (3322 Roswell Road) and look for the Widow Strong tent for grilling, games and a potluck meal.
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After more than 500 Cobb County School District teachers enrolled in an all-expenses-paid online graduate degree program last year, the district announced Friday it is expanding that offer.
The district said in a release Friday afternoon that Georgia’s BEST (Building Educator Success Together) will add 200 more enrollment slots for classes that begin in August.
Teachers get their degrees from the University of West Georgia. When Georgia’s BEST was unveiled last year, the district approved spending $500,000 for a proof of concept proposal that also included certificate programs.
The district release Friday didn’t indicate if any additional funding would be required for the expansion.
Cobb schools superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Georgia’s BEST is designed not only to improve teacher retention, but to broaden professional development in the classroom.
Certified staff and paraprofessionals have until May 10 to file an application of interest form, including those who applied last year but were not enrolled.
Nearly 500 slots will be filled for the upcoming academic year. The August cohort degree programs include education specialist, a master’s in special education, an MAT in special education and an educational doctorate in school improvement.
The January cohort programs include education specialist and master’s of education in instructional technology.
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Some rain is expected Saturday, but the Taste of East Cobb will go on, rain or shine!
That’s what festival organizers said Friday morning, as some wet weather will be moving into the area for the next few days.
The latest forecast calls for a 30 percent chance of rain early Saturday morning, followed by more possible rain the late morning and early afternoon. More rain is expected in the early evening. High temperatures will be in the mid 70s.
East Cobb News is proud to be a sponsor of the Taste of East Cobb, our community’s signature food festival once again (we had an absolute blast in our debut last year!), and we’re looking forward to seeing all of you.
Please stop by our booth and say hello, pick up some swag, and learn more about East Cobb’s only daily news resource. We help local businesses with our dynamic all-digital advertising products and services that reach a growing and engaged readership.
We’d love to meet our readers and the general public and spread some springtime community cheer.
The festivities take place from 11-5 at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church (955 Johnson Ferry Road). Parking and admission are free, as is jazz musical entertainment from Walton and Wheeler high schools, and Dodgen and Dickerson middle schools.
You pay for food and drink tickets to sample, featuring some of East Cobb’s favorite restaurants and eateries (full lineup here).
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!
At April’s Rally on the Runway fundraiser at the Georgia Aquarium, 10-year-old Nick from Roswell/East Cobb and Rally Kids from throughout Georgia who are fighting or surviving cancer, each took 47 steps down the runway as a reminder that everyday 47 children are diagnosed with cancer.
The evening’s host was longtime Rally supporter and Atlanta Falcons Defensive Tackle Grady Jarrett. Jarrett along with other NFL players walked with each model down the runway. Nick was joined on the runway by Atlanta Falcons Linebacker Donavan Mutin, where the two struck a pose to excited cheers from the crowd. That evening more than $780,000 was raised for pediatric cancer research. Joined by NFL players, the kids also got a chance to have a behind the scenes tour of the aquarium prior to the event. You can see Nick modeling at about the one-minute mark here.
Last summer, he was having fun when he suddenly became fatigued and tired all the time. His parents knew something was wrong and after a few hours at the hospital, it was confirmed that Nick had acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Nick immediately started treatment and has been fighting cancer ever since. Nick loves sports especially baseball. Within the first six months of his diagnosis, he and his family decided to raise money to help fight childhood cancer. Nick and his family have raised $50,000 and are going to be able to name a research grant in his honor.
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Omer Mustafa Inan, second from right, of Walton HS, is the 2024 State PAGE STAR Student. Tamara Hollingsworth, second from left, an English teacher at Walton, is the State PAGE STAR Teacher. With them are Vickie Hammond, left, a member of the PAGE Board of Directors, and PAGE Executive Director Craig Harper. Photo courtesy of PAGE.
Submitted information and photo:
Omer Mustafa Inan, a senior at George Walton Comprehensive High School in Marietta, Ga., is the 2024 State PAGE (Professional Association of Georgia Educators) STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Recognition) Student. He named Walton’s Tamara Hollingsworth, an English teacher, as his STAR Teacher. As this year’s State PAGE STAR Student, Inan won a $7,500 scholarship from PAGE, and as State PAGE STAR Teacher, Hollingsworth received a $7,500 cash award from the Frances Wood Wilson Foundation.
Parv Mahajan, a senior at Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology in Lawrenceville, Ga., is the State Runner-up PAGE STAR Student. He named Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology’s Julia Rachkovskiy, a computer science teacher, as his STAR Teacher. Mahajan received the $2,500 SouthState Bank Scholarship, and Rachkovskiy $2,500 SouthState Bank Award and the $500 Mozelle Christian Award.
Twenty-seven PAGE STAR Student Region Winners were state finalists in the annual STAR program for high school seniors.
The search for the State PAGE STAR Student began earlier this school year with the naming of local STAR Students from more than 600 participating public and independent high schools across the state. In turn, those STAR Students then recognized the teacher who had the most influence on their success as their STAR Teacher.
To obtain the STAR nomination, high school seniors must have the highest score on any single test date of the SAT and must be in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of their class, based on GPA.
“Recognizing these outstanding students and their teachers in region events and then at the state event each year is our great honor,” said PAGE Executive Director Craig Harper. “We are pleased to be a major sponsor and administrator for the STAR program to ensure that Georgia’s excellent students and teachers receive the attention they’ve earned through their success.”
Sponsors for the 2024 State PAGE STAR awards are PAGE, the PAGE Foundation, the Frances Wood Wilson Foundation, SouthState Bank, and the Mozelle Christian Endowment.
As the largest independent educator association in the state and nation, the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE) exists to support our members who serve in every Georgia public school. PAGE provides unparalleled legal coverage, legislative advocacy, professional learning, grants, and scholarships. PAGE honors and encourages educational excellence through student programs including Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR), Future Georgia Educators (FGE), Georgia Academic Decathlon (GAD), and PAGE Academic Bowl for Middle Grades.
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Cobb DOT estimates that a roundabout will provide the biggest time reduction in getting through the Holly Springs-Post Oak Tritt intersection.
After holding an open house in February to solicit feedback on proposals to ease congestion at the intersection of Holly Springs Road and Post Oak Tritt Road, Cobb DOT has scheduled a similar public meeting this month.
The next open house is set for Tuesday, May 14, from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Mountain View Regional Library (3330 Sandy Plains Road) “to review community input received on the Holly Springs Corridor 2022 SPLOST project.”
Cobb DOT has presented three options for improvements at that intersection:
A roundabout costing $3.4 million
A signal upgrade costing $2.5 million
Right turn lanes costing $449,000
Another proposal includes a signal improvement at Holly Springs and Sandy Plains Road, at a cost of $383,000.
Those expenses don’t include acquiring right-of-way properties. The available budget overall is $3.9 million.
Cobb DOT said a roundabout would provide the best traffic relief option, in terms of reducing wait times (see table below).
If that’s done, the existing traffic signal would be removed, and a multilane roundabout would be constructed, similar to what’s on Hembree Road at the entrance to Pope High School.
The signal upgrade calls for through lanes going north and south as well as turn lanes in the north-, south- and eastbound lanes, with the signal rebuilt.
Those projects would take an estimated 16 months to complete.
The third option would add southbound and eastbound right lanes and rebuild the signal.
That option, plus the Holly Springs-Sandy Plains option, would take around six months to complete
Cobb DOT didn’t specify what proposed changes may be in store for the upcoming open house, but the project is still considered to be in the conceptual stage.
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!
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Present and previous educators and staffers at Hightower Trail Middle School recently celebrated together the school’s 30th anniversary with a photo-and-memorabilia walk down memory lane.
The Cobb County School District said in a release that the commemoration in the school’s media center included refreshments, laughs and plenty of nostalgia.
The tribute included composite staff photos from the past three decades, honoring “the the dedicated individuals who have played a pivotal role in shaping the school’s identity and fostering a culture of excellence.”
The event also took place on the same day of Hightower Trail’s Night of the Arts, highlighted by musical performances by students.
Hightower Trail opened its doors off Post Oak Tritt Road at the start of the 1993-94 school year, helping ease growing middle school attendance in the Pope High School cluster.
“We were beyond thrilled with the overwhelming turnout for our 30th Anniversary Celebration,” Hightower Trail principal Dr. Hannah Polk said in the release.
“How gratifying for the entire Hightower Trail family to witness current and former staff members become reacquainted and share their favorite husky memories. It is an honor and privilege to serve this incredible community as we look forward to the next 30 years of celebrating student success at Hightower Trail Middle School.”
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A citizens group that scrutinizes Cobb County School District finances is inviting the public to an online information session next week to go over the proposed fiscal year 2025 budget.
Watching the Funds-Cobb (Facebook page) said the Zoom call is scheduled for next Tuesday, May 7, at 7 p.m. It’s open to anyone who wants to take part, but you must register in advance by going to this link.
Those who sign up will get a confirmation e-mail with more information about the session.
Watching the Funds-Cobb said that all seven Cobb Board of Education members have been asked to serve as panelists, but only Becky Sayler of Post 2 has agreed. The budget session will, according to its event listing:
help taxpayers understand the budget
earn about new laws going into effect impacting our property taxes, millage rates and district funding
learn how to contact board members to provide input into the budget, as allowed by law.
The Cobb school district’s proposed budget is $1.85 billion, up from the current FY 2024 budget of $1.5 billion that lasts through June 30.
It includes pay raises for most full-time employees ranging from 4.4 percent to 9 percent, and holds the property tax rate at 18.7 mills.
(Proposed FY 2025 budget documents can be found by clicking here.)
The budget was presented to the Cobb school board and was tentatively adopted, which means the district can properly advertise it to the public.
Formal adoption is scheduled for May 16, following the second required public hearing.
But Watching the Funds-Cobb was among those last week calling for more opportunities for public comment on the budget, especially given the significant spending increase.
Some complained the public hadn’t had time to look through the extensive documents which were posted only a short time before the first public hearing last Thursday, hours after the budget presentation.
“Sadly, you hold the minimum hearings required by law, and you hold them on the same day of these votes,” Watching the Funds-Cobb leader Heather Tolley Bauer said, noting how other local school districts provide citizens more opportunities to review and comment on their budgets.
“While they give their stakeholders months, you give us only hours, sending a clear message that you want our money but not our opinions.”
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Recently the Whataburger fast food chain filed plans with the Cobb Zoning Office to replace the nearly 7,000-square foot restaurant building and construct a new facility on the same site.
It would be the fifth Whataburger location in Cobb County, but a site plan amendment is needed to do so.
According to the preliminary files (you can read them here), there are a number of stipulations dictating future land use for the 1.31-acre parcel.
Among them are restrictions against a fast-food restaurant and anything with a drive-through service. The Whataburger site plan, drawn up by a Cumming-based architect, calls for a double-lane drive-through fronting Sandy Plains Road.
Those were among the stipulations included in a 1998 pending litigation settlement between Cobb County and Sembler Family Partnership, a retail developer, over a rezoning case that permitted the O’Charley’s.
The land once belonged to the prominent Gordy’s family (of Varsity restaurant fame) that owned many parcels in the area, and is part of a larger retail center currently anchored by a Target store.
Cobb property tax records indicate that the land, owned by the 1987 Donig Living Trust Nov 23 87, sold for $2.575 million in 2004 and has an an appraised value of nearly $2 million.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners is scheduled to hear the request on May 21, and the zoning staff has not yet issued a full analysis or a recommendation.
Rezoning isn’t needed because the community retail commercial (CRC) designation includes restaurants.
Whataburger, which started in Texas in 1950, has nearly 1,000 restaurants, mostly in Texas and the South.
There are three open in Cobb: On Cobb Parkway near Akers Mill Road, on Barrett Parkway near I-75 and at Chastain Road and George Busbee Parkway. Another is planned for the Acworth area.
There’s also a Whataburger on Highway 92 in Woodstock near I-575.
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The Cobb County Water System is currently transitioning to a new online customer account service system. ALL online services, including billing and payment systems, will be unavailable from Monday afternoon, April 29 through Monday, May 6. During this time, we will have no access to customer accounts. For more information, visit cobbcounty.org/water/customer-service/request-service.
You can still make a cash or check payment in person at 660 South Cobb Drive, Marietta. This payment will not be applied to the account until the new system is available. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
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Open burning is banned from May 1 – Sept. 30 in Cobb County. You may not burn leaves, tree limbs or other yard waste, forest land or use air curtain destructors for land clearing. This rule is in addition to the year-round state ban on the burning of household garbage.
Cobb Fire and Emergency Services staff enforce this state-issued burning ban in unincorporated Cobb County, and the cities of Acworth, Kennesaw and Powder Springs.
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Pamela Reardon doesn’t have another Republican to run against in her campaign for the District 2 seat on the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
Not after the Cobb Board of Elections disqualified another GOP hopeful for living outside the map boundaries that are being used for the May 21 primary.
Reardon, a retired real estate agent who’s active in local Republican politics, knows her name also could be scratched from the general election ballot if a long-running legal dispute over commission electoral maps is decided before November.
But she’s campaigning anyway, as two courts are mulling over where commission districts might be formed that affect the East Cobb area in particular.
“Until something changes, this is how it is,” Reardon told East Cobb News on Monday, as advance primary voting got underway. “I’m not going to take a chance and not be on the ballot.”
She lives in the East Cobb portion of the current District 2 boundaries that are being observed by Cobb Elections for the primary. The district also includes the Smyrna-Vinings-Cumberland area.
They’re roughly the same boundaries that make up the area Democrat Jerica Richardson has represented since 2021.
But the Georgia legislature drew Richardson out of her seat during reapportionment in 2022, prompting an unprecedented maneuver by the commission’s three Democrats to claim home rule authority in redistricting.
Their vote in October 2022 challenges a long-held Georgia Constitutional provision that only the legislature can conduct redistricting. A Cobb Superior Court judge recently ruled the Cobb action unconstitutional, but the county has appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court, and hearings were conducted earlier this month.
Another Cobb judge recently heard the appeal of Alicia Adams, a Republican who lives in what the legislature drew to be District 3, comprising most of East Cobb and part of the Kennesaw area, and who was disqualified from the primary.
In 2022, East Cobb voters found the District 3 race on their ballots, and Republican incumbent JoAnn Birrell was re-elected to a fourth term.
At left, maps recognized by Cobb Democratic commissioners, with District 2 in pink and District 3 in yellow. At right, maps approved in 2022 by the Republican-majority Georgia legislature.
While plenty of confusion abounds, Reardon thinks there’s more to come. She doesn’t believe either legal case will be decided before the primary, if at all.
“Are they really going to stop the primary? Do you really think that’s going to happen? No,” she said.
Five Democrats qualified for the District 2 seat after Richardson announced her candidacy for the 6th Congressional District.
Among them are two East Cobb residents, Will Costa and Kevin Redmon, the latter a former member of Richardson’s “community cabinet.” Another Democratic candidate is Taniesha Whorton, who lives in the Powers Ferry Road area that’s also in the county-recognized District 2.
They also could be affected by a court ruling along residency lines. Two other Democrats were disqualified by the Cobb Democratic Party for similar reasons: former Marietta City Council member Reggie Copeland and Marietta resident Donald Barth.
East Cobb News has left messages with Costa, Redmon and Whorton seeking comment.
Redmon’s campaign said in an e-mail response that “the courts have taken the posture of taking their time to get this right and we will respect their decision. As it stands today, the Home Rule map is what Cobb is operating under and what the Cobb Board of Elections is using for this election.
Kevin Redmon
“We’re out in the community at public and private events, knocking doors, meeting for coffee doing what it takes to show up for District 2,” the statement said. “[Redmon] will stand up for District 2 when elected. We encourage folks to vote on or before May 21.”
The other Democrats are in the Smyrna area that would be in District 2 either way: former Cobb Board of Education member Jaha Howard, and former State Rep. Erick Allen, who as Cobb legislative delegation chairman drew the maps the county is following.
Reardon finds it ironic that Cobb Democrats are fighting to redraw District 2 lines that include East Cobb. Richardson barely edged GOP nominee Fitz Johnson in 2020 with similar boundaries.
Reardon said she thinks District 2 as is and which previously was held for three terms by Republican Bob Ott, is “red.”
In the meantime, Reardon said she continues to canvass, not just in her own race but with other Republicans. She’s against the 30-year proposed Cobb transit tax that’s on the November ballot, wants the property tax millage rate to be rolled back, opposes a proposed stormwater impact fee and thinks the county needs to rein in spending.
“I’m not going to be devastated if they change the maps,” Reardon said, referring to what she calls “Home Rule 2,” adding that she’s considering a run in District 3 in 2026 (Redmon has filed a similar declaration of intent).
“I want to help give our citizens and the ordinary people of Cobb County a voice.”
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Advance voting is underway in Cobb County in the 2024 Georgia primaries, and will continue for another three weeks.
The locations include two in East Cobb, at the East Cobb Government Services Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) and the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road).
Their hours are as follows:
April 29-May 3 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 4 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
May 6-10 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 11 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
May 13-17 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The East Cobb Government Service Center will have a dropbox available on those dates, during those voting hours. Early voters also may go there for the two Sundays of advance voting, May 5 and May 12, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
There several locations in the county where voters can cast their ballots ahead of the formal election day, May 21, and you can go to any location you choose.
You can get the latest updates on estimated wait-times at those polling locations by clicking here.
They include Democratic races for Cobb Commission Chair, Cobb District Attorney, Cobb Sheriff, Cobb Superior Court Clerk and Cobb Tax Commissioner.
Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk also has primary opposition, as do some local legislative office-holders.
The Cobb Comission District 2 race has several Democratic hopefuls and a Republican seeking to replace incumbent Jerica Richardson, who’s running for Congress.
But the Georgia Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on contested redistricting lines for that seat. It recently heard an appeal by Cobb County, whose Democratic commissioners approved “home rule” maps that include some of East Cobb in District 2.
A Cobb Superior Court judge ruled that the county must abide by maps approved by the legislature in 2021 that put East Cobb almost entirely within District 3, drawing Richardson out of her seat.
A Republican candidate for District 2 is appealing a decision by the Cobb Board of Elections to disqualify her, based on the county-approved maps.
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The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name, high school attendance zone and sales price:
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!
Three high schools in East Cobb have been ranked in the Top 25 in Georgia public high schools in the 2024 U.S. News compilation of high school rankings.
In addition, Dickerson Middle School was rated No. 1 among public middle schools in the state. Mt. Bethel Elementary School was No. 15 and Sope Creek ES was No. 16 in the K-5 listings.
The magazine’s annual high school listings, which were released this week, have Walton High School ranked fourth, with Lassiter at No. 12 and Pope at No. 25.
They topped the Cobb County School District rankings (you can read the Georgia listings by clicking here).
Wheeler is listed at No, 41, Sprayberry is at No. 69 and Kell is at No. 78. More than 400 public schools were included in the state rankings.
Dodgen Middle School was ranked No. 3 in the middle school category in Georgia. Mabry Middle School came in at No. 12, with Hightower Trail at No. 24 and Simpson Middle School at No. 32.
U.S. News evaluated more than 17,000 high schools across the country based on a variety of factors, including taking AP exams; math, reading and science proficiency; and graduation rates (methodology explained here).
Walton’s “scorecard” of 98.85 out of 100 (details here) shows that 68 percent of students took at least one AP exam and 64 percent of them passed. The school also had a 97 percent graduation rate in 2024.
Walton is listed at No. 203 nationally and in Georgia, only Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Technology and Science, Columbus High School and the Alliance Academy for Innovation ranked higher.
Lassiter (scorecard here) had similar numbers, and is ranked No. 395 nationally; Pope (scorecard here) is at No. 772.
The middle school rankings in Georgia (listings here) evaluated more than 1,000 schools on student-teacher ratio, and math and reading proficiency.
Dickerson’s latter numbers were 82 and 80 percent, respectively, while Dodgen’s are 79 and 77 percent.
Other statewide rankings for East Cobb middle schools are McCleskey at No, 90, Daniell at No. 130 and East Cobb at No. 219.
A total of 1,888 elementary schools (listings here) were evaluated along similar lines. The other East Cobb elementary schools are ranked as follows statewide:
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Attention high school students interested in getting more involved in their community — The Atlanta Regional Commission offers an exciting opportunity just for you. The Model Atlanta Regional Commission (MARC) is a youth leadership program designed to explore the planning challenges facing our region. Through engaging activities and discussions with peers who share your interests, you’ll delve into topics like transportation, sustainability, and community development.
MARC is open to rising 10th and 11th graders who live or go to school in the 11-county Atlanta region (Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, and Rockdale counties, as well as the city of Atlanta).
Apply now before the May 3 deadline. This program is completely free, but spots are limited, so don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity.
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!
The signal upgrade calls for through lanes going north and south as well as turn lanes in the north-, south- and eastbound lanes, with the signal rebuilt.
