East Cobb Schools

Cobb Schools Foundation honors 2020 volunteers of the year

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Cobb Schools Foundation volunteers honored
Cobb County School District photo

The Cobb Schools Foundation, which provides financial and other support to the Cobb County School District, honored the volunteers of the year from each of the district’s schools at a luncheon Thursday.

The volunteers were individually greeted by Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale. Walton High School graduate Kit Cummings, founder of the Power of Peace Project, which fosters the creation of community role models, also spoke at the function at the Hilton Marietta Hotel and Conference Center.

The following volunteers from East Cobb schools were honored:

Elementary Schools

  • Addison: Kim Campbell
  • Bells Ferry: Stacy Zellner
  • Blackwell: Jackie Southern
  • Brumby: Al Zwettler and Bill Campbell
  • Davis: Kathryn Marek
  • East Side: Kelly Wilkinson
  • Eastvalley: Ellen Sauve
  • Garrison Mill: Lori Morrisey
  • Keheley: Laura Kubica
  • Kincaid: Amanda Musson
  • Mountain View: Stacey Albracht
  • Mt. Bethel: Dara Onori
  • Murdock: Kathy Dalen
  • Nicholson: Samer Dilbeck
  • Powers Ferry: Donye Demitri
  • Rocky Mount: Jerry Shepler
  • Sedalia Park: Susan Monk
  • Shallowford Falls: Anna Baker
  • Sope Creek: Darrell Young
  • Tritt: Lynn Gilbert

Middle Schools

  • Daniell: Linda Dafoe
  • Dickerson: Kelly Gunter
  • Dodgen: Stacy Gillen
  • East Cobb: Lisa Spessard
  • Hightower Trail: Sarah Chaloupek
  • Mabry: Barbara Adamson
  • McCleskey: Dawn Cooper
  • Simpson: Leslie Graham

High Schools

  • Kell: Kara Huey
  • Lassiter: Lori Bartik
  • Pope: Laura Borel
  • Sprayberry: Sharona Sandberg
  • Walton: Sallie Winokur
  • Wheeler: Linda Yu

For more on the Cobb Schools Foundation, click here.

 

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McCleskey MS science teacher honored by state teachers group

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The Georgia Science Teachers Association has named Annette Simpson of McCleskey Middle School in East Cobb as its middle school teacher of the year for 2020.

It’s not the first time she’s been honored by that organization for her work in the classroom. Annette Simpson, McCleskey MS science teacher honored

In 2015, she was the GSTA’s elementary school teacher of the year when she was at Keheley Elementary School. Per a Cobb County School District release, Simpson also has earned the Cobb STEM Distinguished Educator Award and the Shell Teacher Award, which honors classroom K-12 science teachers.

Here’s what McCleskey principal Dr. Andrea Jenkins-Mann had to say about Simpson:

“Mrs. Simpson is a consummate, caring professional who works tirelessly with all our school’s populations of students. 

“Annette works tirelessly outside of the classroom to extend learning for our students,” her principal praised. “She is a winning Science Olympiad Coach and is an assistant Math Team Coach. She revived our Environmental Club; and leads the 7th Grade campus cleanup with Rivers Alive! I fully support her efforts to implement new curriculum and bring new professional ideas to our staff. Annette leads our staff with assisting students in taking ownership of their learning, thinking more deeply, delving into the curriculum to relate it to real-world experiences, and engaging in meaningful tasks.”

Simpson and other honorees were recognized recently at the GSTA conference in Columbus.

 

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Cobb school board candidate withdraws; threatens to sue district

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A candidate for the Cobb Board of Education says he’s withdrawing after he announced that he may file a lawsuit against the Cobb County School District.Rob Madayag, Cobb school board candidate

Rob Madayag, an attorney, said late Monday that he wouldn’t be qualifying for the Post 5 seat currently held by two-term incumbent David Banks.

Madayag had been one of four GOP hopefuls to announce for the seat, including Banks, as qualifying began Monday.

Post 5 includes the Pope and Lassiter clusters.

In a post to a Cobb schools-related Facebook page, Madayag said that “based on several factors, I do not think I am the best candidate at this time.”

Madayag filed notice last week that he may take the CCSD to court, saying it doesn’t properly report bullying incidents under the state’s school anti-bullying law.

“I intend to win the lawsuit and will not be able to dedicate the amount of time to campaign and win that i think necessary,” Madayag said in his statement on Monday. “I do not plan on losing, and with the number of depositions and document requests in the litigation I have mapped out, I expect to have most of my free time taken up.”

In a letter sent to school board members and Superintendent Chris Ragsdale on Feb. 25 (you can read it here), Madayag said he was skeptical of huge reductions in reported instances of bullying in Cobb schools under Ragsdale—to be specific, 86 percent between 2014 and 2018.

Madayag, who said his daughter has been bullied in Cobb schools, wrote that it’s “a rate that defies all logic and reason and is a significant outlier with respect to all the other school districts in the metro-Atlanta area, and quite possibly the entire United States.”

In addition to Banks, the other Republican candidates for the Post 5 season are Shelley O’Malley, a Delta Air Lines pilot, and IT consultant Matt Harper.

Two Democrats also have announced, current Lassiter PTSA co-president Tammy Andress, and physical therapist Julia Hurtado.

Qualifying for the May 19 general primary ends at noon Friday.

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National Merit finalists include 60 from East Cobb schools

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Five high schools from East Cobb have students who have been named finalists for National Merit Scholarships. EAst Cobb National Merit Scholars

They include 35 from Walton High School and 13 from Wheeler High School.

National Merit Scholarships are awarded to high school seniors in the spring and summer of their graduating year for a academic achievements, based on test scores and other factors.

The Cobb County School District has 74 finalists this year—up from 41 in 2019—out of 15,000 nationwide. Other Cobb high schools with finalists are Campell, Harrison, Hillgrove and Kennesaw Mountain.

Recipients are awarded scholarships funded by a variety of organizations, colleges and corporations.

Lassiter High School

  • Eleanor B. Froula; Claire M. Halloran; Perry Kramer; Gabrielle P. Levitt; Anna K. Mitchell; Catherine L. Pereira; Paul H. Tegethoff

Pope High School

  • Ada R. Burris; Sanjeet C. Harry; Andrew M. Myers; Yelizaveta I. Pivnik

Sprayberry High School

  • Reilly S. Misra

Walton High School

  • Chanwoo Bae; Jordan Bass; Alec Berger; Andrew Cameron; Daniel Catanese; Anjali Chareddy; Taylor Chiles; Sinead de Cleir; Judith Denning; Julia Dierker; Russell Emerine; Reagan Jacobson; Guy Kemelmakher; Aleem Lakdawala; Andrew Li; Viviana Lu; Nidhi Manikkoth; Kara McKinley; Russell Newton; Erik Pitts; Neeraj Raja; Anant Rajan; Pranav Rajbhandari; Aaron Rieck; Arvind Saligrama; Tara Shabazaz; Eric Simon; Bill Sun; Shiloh Thomas-Wilkinson; Qilin Tong; Ria Uppalapati; Akshin Vemana; Tharun Venkatesan; Madeline Zhang; Zaim Zibran

Wheeler High School

  • Ann-Marie A. Abunyewa; Kruthik S. Alapati; Ava R. Autera; Charlie E. Bishop; Patrick G. Chen; Alessa L. Cullinan; Rose Jewel; Brian Kent; Emma G. Mason; Pranav J. Nedumpurath; Jeremy L. Payne; Morris I. Wan; Eric W. Yao.

 

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Winter weather prompts Cobb schools to cancel activities through Friday noon

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The Cobb County School District doesn’t have classes this week due to the winter break, but extracurricular activities have been cancelled Friday until noon due to the possibility of icy weather overnight.
Campbell High School lockdown

CCSD employees who are not on winter break do not have to report to work until noon Friday.

Activities taking place this week involve athletics, winter camps and clubs at some schools. Events scheduled after noon on Friday will be held.

Johnson Ferry Christian Academy announced late Thursday afternoon that all Friday classes and after-school activities are cancelled.

The Thursday night forecast called for continuing rain and low temperatures around or below freezing.

Cobb is included in a special advisory issued by the National Weather Service in Atlanta that warns about the possibility of black ice on the roads overnight.

Cobb County government issued the following message about 3:45 p.m. Thursday:

With wet roads, soaked soil, and diving temperatures, the National Weather Service is warning of a “higher than normal” chance of black ice overnight and during the Friday AM rush hour. Cobb DOT has crews on standby and trucks loaded to handle any calls that come in. Report dangerous situations to 911, and use extreme caution especially when driving in the dark.

The county also announced that MUST Ministries in Marietta will open its Loaves & Fishes kitchen (55 Elizabeth Church Road, Marietta) at 8 p.m. Thursday for women and children seeking shelter. Men will be referred to the nearby Extension.

Icy and snowy advisories were issued earlier for the mountains of North Georgia.

Heavy rains have poured all day on Thursday in Cobb and metro Atlanta. By mid-afternoon, the temperature reached 40, and the rain is forecast to end by Thursday night.

But there’s a 50 percent chance of rain by early evening Thursday, and overnight lows Thursday and into Friday could dip down to 30 or lower.

The sun is forecast to arrive by mid-morning Friday, but it will be cold all day, with highs only in the mid-40s.

Friday night lows will be even colder, in the mid-20s, before a sunny Saturday, with highs expected in the mid 50s.

Sunday also will be in the mid-50s and partly cloudy, before the rain returns Monday and Tuesday to greet students and teachers as they return to school.

 

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Eastvalley architect approved; superintendent gets extension

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Cobb school superintendent honored
Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale

The Cobb Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to approve a $1.6 million contract for an architect for the new Eastvalley Elementary School.

The design work will be done by the Atlanta firm of Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates, Inc., and construction for the $31.6 million replacement school could get under way by the fall.

Eastvalley will be moving to the site of the former East Cobb Middle School on Holt Road, across from Wheeler High School.

Separate contracts for demolition of the old facility and the replacement work will need school board approval.

The funding for all of those elements comes from collections from the current Cobb Ed-SPLOST V sales tax.

Eastvalley, located on Lower Roswell Road at the Holt Road intersection, has been overcrowded for years.

The school currently has nearly 800 students in 36 regular classrooms and 13 trailers, many of them aging. The condition of those units has prompted complaints from Eastvalley parents.

The Cobb County School District said the new Eastvalley will take up 136,110 square feet, including 61 classrooms, and could hold around 962 K-5 students when it is completed, possibly by 2022.

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The school board also voted Thursday night to spend $303,000 for new a HVAC system for the kitchen at Shallowford Falls Elementary School in East Cobb, and to rename the restructured Riverside Intermediate School in Smyrna to City View Elementary School when it opens in August.

Also on Thursday, the school board voted to extend Superintendent Chris Ragsdale’s contract by a year to 2023. No financial terms were disclosed. Last year, the board gave Ragsdale a seven-percent pay raise to boost his annual salary to $350,000.

 

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Longtime Kennesaw State president Betty Siegel dies at 89

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Dr. Betty Siegel, who guided Kennesaw State University for 25 years as it became one of the biggest institutions of higher learning in Georgia, died Wednesday at the age of 89.

Here’s the official obituary released by the school. Dr. Betty Siegel, Aloha to Aging gala

Siegel arrived at KSU in 1981, when it had 3,500 students and was transitioning from a junior college to a four-year, undergraduate degree-granting institution.

When she retired in 2006, KSU had 18,000 students and graduate programs. It’s currently the third-largest university in Georgia, with an enrollment of nearly 38,000 students, after merging with Southern Poly in Marietta in 2015.

In recent years, Siegel had been diagnosed with dementia, and in 2018, the East Cobb-based Aloha to Aging non-profit honored her at its inaugural gala event.

She had been cared for by her husband, Dr. Joel Siegel, who died in February 2019.

Dawn Reed, the Aloha to Aging Founder, said this when contacted by East Cobb News for comment about Siegel:

“Her energy and enthusiasm for not only life, but life-long learning was something to be revered. I had the great pleasure of working with Betty while serving on the KSU Caring Advisory Board 15 years ago.

“I remember I was struck vividly how the room immediately filled with high energy, big smiles and contagious laughter. I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to guide her and her family, years later, through her dementia journey.

“Betty brought that same energetic and fun-loving spirit to Aloha to Aging, Inc. programs, especially our ‘Aloha Day Club’ day respite. We felt so honored to pay tribute to the very deserving Betty Siegel at our 2018 Aloha Gala held at KSU.

“My heart goes out to her devoted and loving sons, David and Michael. I take comfort in knowing she will be reunited with the love of her life, her husband, Joel.”

 

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New Eastvalley ES design contract on Cobb school board agenda

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Eastvalley ES rebuild
Eastvalley ES parents have complained recently to the Cobb school board about aging trailers at the current campus.

The first step toward building a new Eastvalley Elementary School is on the horizon.

The Cobb Board of Education on Thursday will be asked to approve a contract for architectural design for a replacement school on the former campus of East Cobb Middle School on Holt Road.

The Cobb County School District is recommending the board approve a $1.58 million contract to the architectural firm of Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates, Inc. of Atlanta.

The contract will be discussed at a board work session at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, and during the board’s voting session at 7 p.m.

Both meetings will take place at the Cobb County School District central office, 514 Glover 9St., in Marietta. An executive session will take place in between.

(Read the full agenda here.)

A replacement for the current Eastvalley facility on Lower Roswell Road is included in the current Cobb Education SPLOST V collection period.

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Funding for the design work, reconstruction (estimated at around $31 million) and demolition of the former East Cobb MS buildings are earmarked in SPLOST V, which is being collected through 2023.

The Eastvalley rebuild is one of three for elementary schools in the current SPLOST. Construction for a new Harmony Leland ES in Mableton got underway last year, and plans also call for a new King Springs ES in Smyrna.

After the architectural design work for Eastvalley is complete, the board would then be asked to approve a separate construction contract.

Eastvalley currently enrolls around 700 students, around twice its stated capacity. The school has 13 trailers, many of them aging, which house about one-third of the student body.

In September, parents of Eastvalley students complained to the board about the condition of the trailers and demanded to know a timetable for the rebuild.

Also on Tuesday’s agenda is a contract for $303,000 for kitchen HVAC improvements at Shallowford Falls Elementary School.

Board recognitions at the Thursday evening meeting will honor Cayce Pope of J.J. Daniell Middle School, the district’s 2020 Middle School Counselor of the Year, and  Patty DaSilva of Pope High School, the district’s High School Counselor of the Year.

 

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Lassiter PTSA president running for Cobb school board Post 5

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A longtime PTA leader in the Lassiter High School community is the latest candidate for the Post 5 seat on the Cobb Board of Education.Tammy Andress, Cobb Board of Education candidate

Tammy Andress, currently a Lassiter PTSA co-president, said last week she is running as a Democrat for the seat held by three-term Republican David Banks.

Andress is a marketing specialist at the Sandy Plains Road Zaxby’s, and is the mother of three daughters—one is a 2018 Lassiter graduate, and the other two currently are Lassiter students.

She has held PTA leadership roles at Davis Elementary School and Mabry Middle School—her daughters’ previous schools—as well as Lassiter. Andress also is a current vice president of the East Cobb County Council of PTAs.

She said she’s running for the school board to improve transparency with the public, boost teacher planning time and to ensure fiscal responsibility.

Andress also supports the building of a college and career academy in the East Cobb area, similar to what’s under construction now at Osborne High School (read her platform).

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Other initiatives include creating “student stakeholders” to address issues like bullying. She also wants the Cobb County School District to create the position of Chief Resource Officer to better scrutinize budget allotments and contracts to root out waste and discover inequities.

Andress wants to restore public comments by school board members at meetings, a practice that was banned last fall in a contentious dispute that fell along party lines.

Andress is the second Democrat to announce for Post 5, joining first-time candidate Julia Hurtado, a phyiscal therapist who lives in the Sedalia Park attendance zone.

The primary is May 19, and the Post 5 seat thus far has drawn the most interest of the four Cobb school board races up for election this year.

Banks is seeking a fourth term representing Post 5—which includes the Lassiter and Pope clusters—and has drawn three GOP primary challengers. They include Delta pilot Shelley O’Malley, attorney Rob Madayag and IT consultant Matt Harper.

A forum for the Post 5 candidates is being held March 15 and sponsored by the Pope PTSA. It will start at 3 p.m. at the Pope performing arts theater.

 

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East Cobb state senator co-sponsors bill to cut school tests

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State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick of East Cobb is a co-sponsor of a bill backed by Gov. Brian Kemp that would eliminate some mandated state standardized school tests.State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick

Kirkpatrick is one of six Republicans, including two of the governor’s floor leaders, who submitted SB 367 (you can read it here).

Kemp announced the legislation at a news conference Tuesday with legislative leaders and Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods.

The bill would cut five current tests: High school end-of-year tests in American literature, geometry, physical science and economics and fifth grade social studies.

The number of required standardized tests in Georgia would go down from 24 to 19 (the federal government mandates a minimum of 17 tests) and the state could decide whether to factor in end-of-course test results as part of a students’ grade.

Those tests are included in the state’s Milestones tests, which include a wide range of test scores and other academic performance metrics for students in grades three through 12.

End-of-course test results currently amount to 20 percent of a high school student’s Milestones score.

More background here about SB 267 from the Georgia Recorder.

The bill has received the support of Woods as well as the Georgia Association of Educators and several public school districts in Georgia.

A Cobb County School District spokeswoman told East Cobb News that “we broadly support the reduction in testing and Gov. Kemp’s bill. We look forward to the next steps in a redesign of how Georgia assesses students and empowers teachers to better understand what students know.”

 

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Deadline for East Cobb PTA scholarship applications is Feb. 28

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The East Cobb County Council of PTAs awards a $1,000 scholarship to graduating seniors from each of the six Cobb County School District high schools in East Cobb (Kell, Lassiter, Pope, Sprayberry, Walton, Wheeler).ECCC PTA

The deadline for submitting applications for the Margie Hatfield Scholarship Fund is Feb. 28. Here’s more from ECCC PTA about how to apply:

The scholarship, known as the Margie Hatfield Scholarship, honors the dedication and years of service given by Mrs. Hatfield to the youth of our council. In recognition of her volunteer involvement, the Margie Hatfield Scholarship Fund awards deserving seniors who have made significant contributions to the community.

Any graduating senior enrolling in a full-time course of study at any institute of higher learning may apply. Students, however, must be a member of your school’s PTSA, and if awarded a scholarship, must use the funds for continuing education.

ECCC PTA Scholarship Awards Ceremony 
Date: Monday, April 20, 2020 
Time: 9:30 – 11:30am 
Location: Walton High School

Please contact Kimberly Webb, ECCC PTA Scholarship Chair, at kwebb1970@gmail.com if you have any questions.

 

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LGE Community Credit Union scholarship applications accepted

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LGE Community Credit Union scholarships
Maayan Lantzman of Pope High School (third from left) was a 2019 LGE Community Credit Union scholarship winner from the Cobb County School District.

Submitted information and photo:

Applications are now open for LGE’s 2020 Community Service Scholarship Program. The program awards scholarships to high school seniors who display an exceptional commitment to serving their community and others.

LGE is strategically partnered with both Cobb County School District and Marietta City Schools, and is proud to offer scholarship opportunities specific to students at those schools. Seniors who attend a Cobb County School District or Marietta City Schools public high school are eligible to apply for a $5,000 scholarship through their respective school. Students should contact their high school for application and details. One winner from each district will be selected as the recipient of a $5,000 scholarship.

An additional $3,000 scholarship is open to all other high school seniors within LGE’s footprint that attend a school that falls outside of LGE’s district-specific scholarships. The application and official rules for this scholarship can be found at LGEccu.org/scholarships. All applications must be received by March 18, 2020 at 5 p.m. ET.

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Mountain View ES recognized for book drive for Cobb students

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Mountain View ES book drive

Students and teachers at Mountain View Elementary School in East Cobb were recognized last week by the Cobb Board of Commissioners for a book drive they conducted for students at Clay Elementary School in Mableton.

During the drive, the Mountain View students met their goal of providing a new book for each Clay student to take home over the Christmas and New Years’s holiday break, collecting and donating used books, making bookmarks and wrapping and decorating each book with bows, ribbons and stickers.

The drive was undertaken in response to hearing about a dearth of reading materials for students at Clay, whose principal, Dr. Cynthia Winter, attended Mountain View. The Mountain View students took measures to provide books for Clay students that closely matched their reading interests.

Here’s Mountain View Elementary Principal Renee Garriss, in a comment from the Cobb County School District:

“We make it a priority to engage our children in acts of compassion and gratitude, of being nice to one another and thinking globally about kindness. Every day we invite our students to live out our mottos, which are ‘Be Nice, Show Compassion, and Express Gratitude.’ This is just one way in which they connect their learning with the world around them, and it so beautifully shows the kind of kids we have, thoughtful, generous, and kind.

“To be able to play a small part in connecting the students’ efforts allows us all at Mountain View to be active in what we believe: that the world is made better by practicing compassion and expressing gratitude. Our students are committed to not only doing their best every day but being their best, to making a difference in their community and to the world. It’s a simple act, to give someone a book, but the impact goes far beyond, and in the case of a child, can last a lifetime.”

 

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Sope Creek ES students learn problem-solving in STEM program

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Sope Creek ES STEM

Photos and information submitted by Cobb County School District:

Stewardship, citizenship, and leadership are central to the mission and vision at Sope Creek Elementary where young students develop skills to be the leaders of tomorrow. The nearly 1,200 students – from preschool to fifth grade – have used STEM education as a catalyst to change the world. 

“We have helped our students view the world as problem solvers. Even our youngest learners know that they have the potential to change the world,” said Sope Creek Principal Dr. Doug Daugherty.

Sope Creek Elementary teachers, together with their students, explore global problems through an interdisciplinary approach focused on science, technology, engineering, and math. The educators create lessons that give students the opportunity to serve as young agents of change in their community.  

As a result, a culture of care has spread throughout the school.  

After learning about the importance of conserving wildlife habitats, first-grade students at Sope Creek jumped into action. They decided to help the Atlanta Zoo by designing enclosures specific to the most endangered animals. 

“It is exciting to see our students demonstrating compassion and feeling empowered enough to imagine bold solutions,” explained first-grade teacher Nadia White. 

As second-grade students explored past and present Georgia, their research unearthed the pollution issue currently impacting the Savannah River. So, in partnership with Coca-Cola’s litter catcher initiative, students created their own designs to decrease water pollution, doing their part as great stewards of their home state.  

To fight the declining bee population, Sope Creek fourth-graders planted wildflowers in the garden beds right outside their classroom doors. Thanks to the 9 and 10-year-olds research and planning, the bees will have a reliable food source. 

Each year, Sope Creek Elementary chooses a theme. This year’s theme “Hero Makers” not only emphasizes the importance of being heroes but also helps students recognize their potential of being the heroes of today and tomorrow.  

 “We are most proud of the impact on our students who see the world differently,” Dr. Daugherty added. “They know that they have the ability to make a difference and to be the leaders to make change happen.” 

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Democratic candidate announces for Cobb school board Post 5

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The first Democrat to seek the Post 5 seat on the Cobb Board of Education has announced her candidacy.Julia Hurtado, Cobb school board candidate

On Monday, Julia Hurtado launched her campaign website and posted a brief introductory video (see below).

She is a physical therapist with the Shepherd Center, a rehabilitation facility in Atlanta for people with spinal cord and brain injuries.

Hurtado said on her campaign website that she is running “to build a coalition between teachers, parents, and students, and to help our community keep up with our changing world.”

Hurtado and her husband, David Hurtado, an attorney, moved to the Atlanta area 12 years ago to attend Emory graduate school. They have been in Cobb County for the last eight years and live in the Sedalia Park Elementary School attendance zone.

Post 5 includes the Lassiter and Pope attendance zones; Hightower Trail, Simpson and Mabry middle schools; and Davis, East Side, Eastvalley, Garrison Mill, Mountain View, Murdock, Powers Ferry, Sedalia Park, Shallowford Falls and Tritt elementary schools.

Republican David Banks is completing his third term representing Post 5 on the school board, and announced recently he is seeking re-election.

Three other Republican candidates have declared: Delta pilot Shelley O’Malley, attorney Rob Madayag and IT consultant Matt Harper (previous ECN post here).

Banks has said his goals for a fourth term include expanding STEM programs in East Cobb schools, including the addition of an arts component; continued support for the Cobb Teaching and Learning System that provides real-time assessments of academic progress; and to push for more teachers and better compensation when funding is available.

Hurtado said that in a county that’s becoming more diverse, “I want to amplify all of these voices in our community to ensure that every student’s needs are met,” and that her specific objectives will be to “focus on equal access, opportunity, and success for all students.”

Four of the seven posts on the Cobb school board are up for grabs this year; Post 5 is the only one in East Cobb. Republicans hold a 4-3 majority.

The general primary in Cobb and Georgia is May 19.

Post 5 map

Cobb BOE Post 5

 

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East Cobb’s Scott Sweeney named chairman of Ga. Board of Education

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Former Cobb Board of Education member Scott Sweeney will serve this year as the chairman of the Georgia Board of Education.Scott Sweeney, Georgia Board of Education

Sweeney is an East Cobb resident who represented the Walton and Wheeler clusters from 2011-2018.

“I look forward to working with Scott and Jason to pursue continued improvements in Georgia’s K-12 public schools and expanded opportunities for our students,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said in a statement. “They are both upstanding individuals with strong experience in education governance, and Georgia’s students will benefit from their leadership.”

Sweeney is a Senior Business Advisor for InPrime Legal of East Cobb, a business law firm recognized as one of four 2019 Small Business ROCK STARS by the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Georgia Economic Developers Association.

“It’s an honor to serve as Chairman of the State Board of Education,” Sweeney said. “I look forward to working with Governor Brian Kemp, Superintendent Richard Woods, and my board colleagues as we all strive to do our best serving Georgia’s K-12 students, their families, teachers and administrators.”

During his time on the Cobb school board, he served as chairman and vice chairman and currently serves as a member of Georgia’s Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) Business & Advisory Committee and as a member of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee.

Georgia Board of Education members are chosen by the governor via Congressional district. Sweeney represents the 6th Congressional District, and vice chairman Jason Downey of Macon is from the 8th District.

 

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Cobb schools to open Pre-K centers: $100M in loans approved

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At the end of the Cobb Board of Education meeting Thursday, superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the Cobb County School District will be opening two Pre-K centers over the next two years.Campbell High School lockdown

The first will open in August on the grounds of the current Harmony Leland Elementary School, which is moving to a new campus in Mableton.

The second Pre-K center will be located at the now-closed Brown Elementary School in Smyrna in August 2021.

“I am so excited that we will be able to support early learning for even more Cobb students,” Ragsdale said. “Research shows that students who enroll in high-quality early education programs are more likely to read on grade level by third grade and are better equipped for future success.”

The first Pre-K center will serve 250-300 students with four general education classrooms and 10 special education classrooms that are currently at neighborhood schools.

The Pre-K center is being built in partnership with DECAL (the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning), the Atlanta Speech School, WellStar, and Learn4Life.

The Cobb Pre-K centers must be approved by DECAL.

Cobb school board member Charisse Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters and is an advocate for Pre-K expansion, said after the announcement that “I appreciate district leadership for entertaining my thoughts on the issue and bringing more early learning options to the Cobb County community.”

Also on Thursday, the school board approved a bid from Morgan Stanley to borrow $100 million in short-term loans to continue construction projects in the Cobb Ed-V SPLOST program.

The loans will be repaid at the end of the year with an interest rate of 0.9 percent, according to Cobb finance director Brad Johnson.

 

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East Cobb Middle School named Georgia ‘Reward School’

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New East Cobb Middle School

The Georgia Department of Education has named East Cobb Middle School a “Reward School” for its progress in academic achievement results.

Title I schools that are in the top 10 percent of performance improvements are given Reward School status.

East Cobb Middle School posted a 14.6-percent increase in the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) for the 2018-2019 school year, from 67.1 percent to 82.7 percent.

ECMS got a 100 score in a measurement related to closing performance gaps.

According to the Cobb County School District, “the recognized schools also maintain the performance of their economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, and English learners.”

ECMS is one of 11 schools in the Cobb district to be granted Reward School status and the only one in the East Cobb area. The others are in the South Cobb area.

The CCRPI results were issued last October, and East Cobb schools are listed here.

 

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Wheeler to hold resource fair for students with disabilities

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Information submitted by the Cobb County School District:Cobb County School District, Cobb schools dual enrollment summit

Did you know that the Center for Puppetry Arts has Sensory-Friendly Sundays or the Children’s Museum of Atlanta opens early on designated Sensory-Friendly Saturdays? 

Did you know the Georgia Ballet offers a class for special needs students? 

Did you know McKenna Farms has a special needs equestrian team or the Studio Movie Grill offers special needs screenings where children are free to move around, talk, or even dance in the aisles during the movie? 

Those are just a few of the examples of what Cobb parents will learn about if they attend the fourth annual Community Connections Resource Fair for students with disabilities on Monday, January 27. To accommodate more community organizations and parents, this year the fair will welcome parents inside the Wheeler High School’s gymnasium from 6:30-8:30 p.m. 

More than 50 representatives from Atlanta and Cobb county attractions, organizations, and businesses will be on hand to share information about their accessibility and sensory-friendly offerings for families of students with disabilities.  

Parents, like Beth Foy, praised what they learned at the annual fair. 

“I knew that there were sports organizations out there but didn’t know that a variety of sports were offered throughout the year. [My daughter] participated in a bowling program and had a great time with the buddies provided by the organization which gave her opportunities for interaction with typically developing peers,” Foy explained.   

Other parents were just as quick to highlight how the event opened the door to new activities for their children.  

 “I learned about opportunities for [my son] to participate in, like a summer camp he could attend with his significant level of disability. He had the opportunity to go to sleepover camp and spend time with other people and do traditional camp activities,” shared parent Emily Riggs.   

She is already planning for her son Jackson to attend the camp again this summer.  

Most of the parents, who have attended in the past, were completely unaware of all the resources in the community available to students with disabilities.  

“I signed my son up for a weeklong horse camp, where he was paired up with a teen buddy,” said parent Susan Hand. “[My son Ben] just loved it. He was really proud of what he learned and had the opportunity to share it with others during the show on the last day.”  

Hand will be one of the parents at this year’s fair shopping for new opportunities for her son.  

Make plans to join Hand and the other parents by signing up to attend the free event today: www.signup.com/go/kBNgGbH. 

Browse the list of some of the groups planning to attend: 

Aerie Experiences Cobb County Therapeutic Recreation  McKenna Farms 
Alliance Theatre  Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame  NCG Cinemas 
Alternative Baseball Elm Street Cultural Arts Village Parent-to-Parent
Aqua-Tots  Engineering For Kids of Metro Atlanta  Pinnacle Climbing Team 
ARC of Georgia (Wings 4 All)  Erin’s Hope for Friends/E’s Club  ReClif
Art Station – Big Shanty  Fernbank Museum  Safe Kids Cobb County 
Atlanta Braves Exceptional Fans  Focus + Fragile Kids  Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse 
Autism Improvised  Georgia Aquarium  SHINE Sports @Johnson Ferry
Beyond Limits  Georgia Ballet  Six Flags Over Georgia 
Bounce U  Georgia Symphony Orchestra  Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History 
BSD Tae Kwon Do  Girl Scouts  State Farm Arena 
Camp Dream  GOALSoccer  Special Olympics 
Camp Twin Lakes  Hand, Hoof & Heart  Special Pops Tennis 
Center for Puppetry Arts  House of Artists Foundation  Studio Movie Grill
Children’s Museum of Atlanta  Inneractions Therapy Services  Tellus Science Museum
CK Danceworks  Kennesaw Parks & Recreation  Therabeat Inc.
Cobb Aquatics  Children & Family Programs at KSU  Zoo Atlanta 
Cobb County Library  Lekotek of Georgia 
Cobb Energy Centre  Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta 

 

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Wheeler Fresh Collaborative to hold Marketplace event

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Submitted information from the Cobb County School District:Wheeler Fresh Collaborative Marketplace

Something exciting and fresh is happening at Wheeler High School! The Wildcat Nation is expanding Wheeler Fresh Collaborative, a cross-curricular collaboration by teachers and students whose goals are to increase community involvement and provide food essentials when and where needed. This STEAM initiative (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) was originally conceived as a farm-to-table 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 utilizes expertise from Wheeler’s culinary, horticulture, environmental science, drafting, graphic design, and marketing classes along with many Wheeler clubs to help ensure fellow Wildcats 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 students. Environmental science students studied the soil and the growing environment. Now, horticulture students grow herbs and vegetables, and culinary students prepare, cook, and serve meals. Graphic design students create logos and visuals. Credit for branding and promotion of the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative goes to the school’s marketing students. Wheeler’s Girls Who Code Club members manage the online ordering system for the food pantry, which they created. 

For its kick-off event, Wheeler Fresh Collaborative hosted a dinner theatre ahead of Wheeler Theatre’s production of the musical “Annie” in the Spring of 2019. This event, along with Marketing students attending monthly business luncheons in the East Cobb and North Cobb areas and articles published in local media outlets such as East Cobber Magazine, brought attention to the initiative. Collaboration has since involved linking Wheeler’s feeder schools and their food pantries to further extend the program’s reach.  

Currently, Wheeler Fresh Collaborative is preparing for its inaugural Wheeler Fresh Marketplace scheduled for January 17. The Marketplace will be set up outside the Performing Arts Center [from 5-7 p.m.], in conjunction with Wheeler Theatre’s musical production of “Freaky Friday!”  

There will be an interactive gallery where a variety of Wheeler clubs, organizations, and classes will promote concepts of students helping students, collaboration and community involvement within the Wheeler family.  

The Horticulture Club will sell plant starters, AP Statistics students will display their original games for people to play, and other Wheeler clubs will have snacks for purchase or a community experience to present. Thanks to donation boxes placed around the Marketplace for the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative and Feed Our Friends initiatives, visitors will be able to help pay off student lunch debt across the Wheeler cluster of schools.  

Program organizers and volunteers plan for the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative to sustain a food pantry with both Wheeler grown food and other non-perishable items, which will aid the 41% of Wheeler students who benefit from free and reduced lunch. The goal is for the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative to reduce the challenges faced by those in need in the community, all the while demonstrating what can be accomplished when students work together to build a true sense of community. 

Those interested in donating funds, nonperishable food items, or help in other ways, please email Kelly Feddersen at Kelly.Feddersen@cobbk12.org or Will Dezern at Stanley.Dezern@cobbk12.org.  

 

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