Teachers from three East Cobb schools have been awarded grant money for lab ideas pitched at the Cobb County School District’s annual “Cobb Tank” competition.
A total of $71,00 in grant money was handed out to teachers at 10 schools in the district. They include Zakary Jezequel and Amy Morris at Hightower Trail Middle School (above, all photos submitted by CCSD), who will receive $6,595 to develop a project in which students will race toward a healthy lifestyle using spin bikes.
At Kell High School, English teacher Lauren Forbes’ grant of $1,600 is for an “Escape from the Ordinary Classroom” program, as her students will take a true literary escape in their studies.
Dickerson Middle School teacher Lawton Willingham is receiving a Cobb Tank grant worth nearly $11,000 for a music prototyping and programming program.
The program is modeled after the TV program “Shark Tank.” All recipients pitched their “Cobb Tank” ideas at CCSD headquarters. Per a CCSD release, here’s how the competition went:
Through lively, creative, and effective presentations, many involving their students, the teachers appealed beneath TV camera lights for the sharks to fund their ideas to enhance classroom instruction.
A panel of judges, or “sharks,” included several school district teachers and administrators, including assistant superintendent David Chiprany, a former principal at East Cobb Middle School and Wheeler High School, as well as business and community leaders.
A video presentation of the entire competition will be made available later this month on Cobb edTV, the school district’s cable access channel.
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It’s one of the main projects of the non-profit foundation, which raises private funds to assist the Cobb County School District.
Next Saturday, Jan. 20, the foundation is holding a major fundraiser at SunTrust Park with a “Casino Night” theme, and tickets are still available, as well as sponsorships.
The event lasts from 7-11 p.m., and the attire is black tie optional.
Individual tickets cost $150, and sponsorships run between $1,000 and $10,000. To sign up, click here.
For information call 770-426-3390 or email natalie.rutledge@cobbschoolsfoundation.org.
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Around 7:20 p.m. Sunday, the Cobb County School District announced that the system will be completely closed on Monday, for students and staff, due to a forecast of freezing rain overnight and into the morning.
That follows a winter weather advisory from the Atlanta office of the National Weather Service issued earlier Sunday afternoon. It’s a tiered advisory, going into effect for Cobb and metro Atlanta and north central Georgia from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday.
The forecast calls for light freezing rain, with an accumulation of up to 1/10th of an inch possible. In its announcement, Cobb schools said the potential impact on roads and travel was enough to prompt a full closure.
UPDATED, 8:50 P.M.:
Here are the latest closings/delays we have for the East Cobb area. If you have closures to report, please e-mail us at editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll include it in future updates.
The Walker School will be closed on Monday, as will High Meadows School; Eastside Christian School; Eastminster Christian Preschool; St. Catherine’s Episcopal Preschool; St. Ann’s Catholic Preschool and Monday Masses; and Transfiguration Catholic Preschool, PREP classes and adult ed classes.
All campuses of Kennesaw State University and Chattahoochee Technical College also will be closed Monday.
Paid programming events (swimming lessons, etc.) at the McCleskey-East Cobb Family YMCA and the Northeast Cobb Family YMCA are being cancelled on Monday.
The Cobb Chamber of Commerce breakfast scheduled for Monday morning also has been postponed.
Cobb County government announced that its offices would be open on a delayed basis, at 11 a.m. Monday. That includes all public library branches.
The LGE Community Credit Union is delaying opening all branches until noon Monday.
Returning to original post:
The NWS forecast indicated that the possible icy conditions were likely to be enough to affect the Monday morning commute.
Over the weekend, City of Atlanta and Fulton County government announced they would be closing early Monday, in part because of the weather but also due to the national college football championship game tomorrow night between Georgia and Alabama at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Georgia and Cobb DOT trucks also were going out overnight to treat roads ahead of the freezing rain. Cobb trucks were slated to begin salt treatment of bridges and overpasses around 2 a.m. Monday.
Shortly after Cobb schools announced they would be closed the Marietta, Atlanta and Fulton school systems, and others around metro Atlanta, also said they would be closed Monday.
After a very cold first week of 2018, temperatures in Cobb and metro Atlanta are expected to climb into the low 40s by Monday afternoon. Highs are forecast to be in the 50s during the week and even into the 60s by the weekend.
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The Pope girls basketball team attacks the rim in the first game played in the new gym, which opened to the public Saturday. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
After dignitaries, architects, construction engineers and school administrators were honored for their work making the new Pope High School gymnasium possible, the varsity girls basketball team made easy work of their opponent in the facility’s first event on Saturday.
The Lady Greyhounds trounced Chattahoochee 55-13, and the Greyhounds boys team also downed Chattahoochee 70-58, adding to the celebrations that brought out the Pope community.
From left, Pope principal Thomas Flugum, and Cobb County School District athletics directors Steve Jones and William Griggers.
The multi-level gym includes a running track on the top level, and peeking room at the floor down below.
Nick Parker, the executive director of the Cobb County School District SPLOST program, which oversees school construction, said the building of the new gym and adjoining theater (next to the existing gym) was one of the smoothest he’s experienced. He said the gym, which along with the theater cost nearly $24 million and took two years to build, will eventually have a capacity of 3,000, and will add 200 or so seats on the top level.
Representatives of the Pope PTSA were among those recognized at the gym opening.Pope parents and students applaud as the new court is ready for action.The Lady Greyhounds huddle up during pre-game warm-ups.
And it’s tipoff between Pope and Chattahoochee.Teya Holloman brings the ball up for Pope.The Lady Greyhounds’ defense didn’t allow a point in the first quarter.Cheyenne Holloman, who scored the first basket in the new gym, demonstrates her free throw form.Players on the Pope boys varsity team wait for their chance to play in the new gym.At halftime of the girls game, past Lady Greyhounds players took part in a 3-point shooting contest on Alumni Night.
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The Cobb County Board of Education met this morning in a special called organizational meeting to choose officers for 2018.
Cobb school board member David Chastain of NE Cobb
The new chairman is Brad Wheeler of Post 7 (Harrison, Hillgrove, McEachern). He is a former teacher, coach and administrator in Cobb schools, and has been on the school board since 2013.
Last year’s chairman, David Chastain of Post 4 in Northeast Cobb (Kell and Sprayberry), remains an officer and will serve as vice chairman for this year.
Chastain, a board member since 2015, attended Brumby Elementary School and East Cobb Middle School and is a graduate of Wheeler High School.
The seven-member Cobb school board annually elects officers for calendar year period. Wheeler and Chastain are among the six Republicans on the board, and they were elected with unanimous votes.
The Cobb school board also set its 2018 meeting schedule Tuesday, and has made some changes. Previously the board held work sessions on the second Wednesday and regular meetings on the third Thursday.
In 2018 the board be holding its monthly work session and regular meeting on the same day, either the second or third Thursday (see schedule below). From January through October, the work sessions start at 1 p.m., with regular meetings starting at 7 p.m. Both meetings will include public comment periods. Executive sessions will be held at 5:30 p.m.
In November and December, the work sessions begin at 9 a.m., followed by an executive session and regular meeting.
The meeting dates are as follows:
Jan. 18;
Feb. 15,
March 15;
April 19;
May 17;
June 21;
July 26;
Aug. 16;
Sept. 13;
Oct. 18;
Nov. 15;
Dec. 13.
All public meetings are held in the board meeting room of the Cobb County School District central office, 514 Glover St., Marietta.
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East Side Elementary School teacher Leslie Lyiak (center) is receiving a grant for her “Why Math Works” program. (Photos courtesy of Cobb County School District)
Eight East Cobb teachers have been named recipients of the Cobb Schools Foundation IMPACT grants, which are used to enhance classroom learning and other academic purposes.
According to information released Tuesday by the Cobb County School District, the foundation (which is independent from the school system) raised a record $40,000 for the grants, which are based on teacher “wish lists” for programs to help student success.
The money is raised from a variety of sources, including an upcoming fundraiser in January at SunTrust Park, as well as from several foundation partners, including the Cobb EMC Community Foundation, the Atlanta Braves Foundation, Gas South and the Credit Union of Georgia.
Sprayberry High School English Language Learner teacher Stacey Arnett (center) is using her grant to purchase Word-to-Word dictionaries to assist ELL students with test scores and graduation rates.Leigh Anna Engkaninan, who has already introduced chickens to her students at Daniell Middle School, will receive a $1,810 IMPACT grant to expand her teaching about the animals, including the use of a chicken coop.Charmagne Quenan, East Cobb Middle School, is receiving a $1,695 grant for PocketLab Voyager Probes to increase science engagement.Moniquea Willingham of Sedalia Park Elementary School is receiving a grant for her “Park Math Squad” program in the amount of $1,183.39.Kelley Davis of Keheley Elementary School has been awarded a grant of $1,834.94 for “Keheley Needs the Cube!”
Other East Cobb teachers receiving IMPACT grants include Susanne Smith, East Side Elementary School, who is receiving $2,500 for “Picture-Perfect STEM Books” and Debbi Snyder of Kincaid Elementary School, a $900 grant for “Extraordinary Gentlemen.”
A total of 23 teachers in the Cobb school system received IMPACT grants for the coming year.
In addition to the IMPACT grants, the Cobb Schools Foundation, a non-profit, helps raise money for SAT test prep, college scholarships and other academic and school-related programs.
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Just after 3 p.m. Monday, the Cobb County School District announced via social media that all classes and other school activities are back on for Tuesday:
All Cobb County schools will resume classes on Tuesday, December 12, on a normal schedule.
Cobb schools have been out of session since an early release on Friday, as a winter storm approached metro Atlanta and left in some areas nearly a foot of snow.
Some of those areas included portions of Cobb County, and resulted in power outages that includes some school facilities.
Cobb schools cancelled Monday classes for that reason, and because of icy roads, including school parking lots and driveways.
Temperatures reached above 50 degrees on Monday afternoon, and lows tonight aren’t expected to fall below 40.
As of 3 p.m. Monday, Cobb EMC said it was down to restoring power to 1,377 Cobb customers and working to repair a broken power pole on Ebenezer Road.
Georgia Power reported Monday afternoon that it has around 6,000 customers still without power, with a handful in Northeast Cobb.
Earlier Monday, Cobb DOT said that Davis Road between Holly Springs Road and Sandy Plains Road remained closed, due to downed trees and power lines that also cut off electric power.
All Cobb government offices reopened under regular hours on Monday, including libraries, which were closed all weekend due to the winter weather.
On Monday evening, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church (955 Johnson Ferry Road) is holding a Christmas Festival concert at 7 p.m. That was an addition to the schedule after two Saturday holiday concerts were cancelled due to the weather.
The forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday calls for mostly sunny skies and highs in the mid-40s and for the rest of the week, with highs in the low 50s projected for Thursday and for the weekend.
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Trees at the Marietta Campground covered with snow. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
We did get out and around East Cobb Sunday afternoon, as did many other East Cobbers needing food and other provisions (including Christmas trees) and trying to get back to normal.
Many businesses and restaurants were also open, and most roads with downed trees and power lines had been cleared.
As was reported earlier today, Cobb schools will be closed Monday, due to icy roads expected in the morning, and because some schools still do not have electrical power.
We haven’t gotten details on which schools were without power, but icy road conditions across the county are expected for Monday; temperatures are expected to reach into the low 50s, along with the same sunny skies we’ve had since Saturday.
Send us your photos and news!
Share your winter weather pictures, and we’ll post them, as well as business or other closings or cancellations. E-mail editor@eastcobbnews.com.
As of 5:20 p.m. Sunday, Cobb EMC estimated that about 5,000 of its customers are still without power (outage map), and that a broken power line on Ebenezer Road in Northeast Cobb is still among those needing repair.
Earlier today we also noted that there was only one road in the county that was closed, and that was the roundabout at Holly Springs Road and Davis Road. It was open when we drove through there shortly after 3 p.m. (photo just below); if you’re heading north on Holly Springs you may notice a few tree limbs hanging close to a power line, which apparently had been the cause of the closure.
We then traveled eastbound on Shallowford Road, from Sandy Plains to Johnson Ferry, there were some patches of ice, since there wasn’t a lot of direct sunshine. In particular, there were icy spots in the right eastbound lane on Shallowford between Sandy Plains and Lassiter Road, so if you’re in that area, take precautions and slow down, especially at the intersections of Wesley Chapel Road, North Hembree Road and Old Suttons Way (just below).
Johnson Ferry Road was well traveled around 3:30 p.m., and as traffic increased for the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church Christmas Festival service that began at 4 p.m. There’s another service at 7 p.m., and there are police officers directing traffic.
Heading westbound on Lower Roswell Road was almost pure slush, especially between Indian Hills Parkway and Old Canton Road. Unlike Shallowford, this stretch of Lower Roswell was getting a lot of direct sunlight, but with temperatures freezing overnight it figures to be treacherous for Monday morning traffic.
Here’s what we have on openings/closings for Monday as of 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Please e-mail your news/photos to: editor@eastcobbnews.com:
Cobb public libraries will be open;
St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church preschool and St. Ann Catholic preschool are closed Monday;
Classes at The Walker School are closed Monday. The U.S. Science exam will start at 12pm, the campus will open to U.S. arrivals at 11:30am. This is the only exam tomorrow and includes 8th grade students taking the Biology exam. The Lower School chorus concert will occur as planned at 7 p.m.;
Ronald Sachs Violins will be open from 3-6 on Monday;
High Meadows Schools will be closed Monday;
East Cobb Pediatrics will be open on Monday;
A Monday holiday concert of the Sprayberry High School chorus also is cancelled since there will be no school tomorrow.
Students (and we hope some adults!) get to enjoy a continuation of a most unexpected winter wonderland in East Cobb, two weeks before Christmas.
The entrance to the Willow Ridge subdivision at Robinson Road.
Send news of opening/closing/cancellations and photos of the snow near you to: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
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The start of Friday’s snow in East Cobb, which got between 2-4 inches in two waves of storms. A winter storm warning is in effect for Cobb County, metro Atlanta and most of north Georgia until 10 a.m. Saturday. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
UPDATED, 8 P.M. FRIDAY:
The National Weather Service has extended its winter storm warning that includes Cobb to 10 a.m. Saturday, as a second wave of snow and winter weather passed through metro Atlanta and north Georgia late Friday afternoon.
Cobb was expected to get between 2-4 inches of snow overall, but those amounts are likely to vary.
Roads in Cobb and elsewhere are becoming increasingly treacherous, as Cobb DOT, Georgia DOT and other crews work to brine roadways, bridges and overpasses overnight Friday. Temperatures have generally dropped below freezing in Cobb and Saturday’s high is expected to be only 40 degrees.
The chance of “black ice” is one of the major concerns, as well as the possibility of falling trees and reduced visibility on roads due to the unexpectedly heavy amounts of snow.
Cobb libraries will be closed on Saturday, after closing at noon on Friday along with other Cobb government offices and facilities.
The second blanket of snow came through metro Atlanta later Friday evening, behind early afternoon storms that prompted school, government, business and many other closures, and as commuters, buses and other vehicles created an early, messy rush hour.
Georgia DOT is urging motorists to treat an intersection with traffic light outages as a four-way stop. They should also call 511 to report outages when they reach a safe destination.
Georgia Power and Cobb EMC were reporting scattered outages. As of 6:30 p.m., Cobb EMC reported that its outage reporting channels were down and they’re working to fix the problem.
Cobb EMC customers who have lost power can download an outage on the Cobb EMC app or call 770-429-2100. The web link still wasn’t working as of 7:30 p.m. but an link can be found here that will link to detailed outage information when it’s available online.
(At 9 p.m. Friday an East Cobb News reader called to say that the Cobb EMC power outage phone number was down, and had been down for about an hour.)
Most of the estimated 5,500 Cobb EMC customers without power as of 8 p.m. were in western and north Cobb, with outages also being reported in several parts of Northeast Cobb.
Georgia Power is asking its customers to consult its outage map but has indicated it is not able to estimate when power may restored to an affected area.
Some closings for Saturday to report are below. E-mail us at: editor@eastcobbnews.com with your news of closings, and any weather photos to share. We’ll keep updating as long as we’re in a pre-Christmas Winter Wonderland:
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church has postponed Saturday’s Breakfast With Santa until next Saturday, Dec. 16, at 9 a.m.;
All events/classes at Studio 348 for Women have been cancelled for Saturday;
East Cobb Pediatrics will be closed Saturday;
Club Pilates East Cobb is closed Saturday;
St. Andrew UMC is postponing its Christmas concert to 6:30 p.m. Sunday (updating information below in this post about a 2 p.m. start);
All parish activities at Transfiguration Catholic Church will be postponed until noon Saturday. The Saturday 9 a.m. Mass will be held if weather permits.
Original report, with some updates from earlier Friday afternoon:
We’re keeping an updated tab on East Cobb weather closings for Friday, with the announcements earlier today of the early release of Cobb schools and the closing of Cobb government at noon.
Here’s what Cobb DOT sent out around 1:15 p.m. Friday:
“With conditions on Cobb County roadways deteriorating faster than expected, Cobb County Department of Transportation called in crews early and began treating trouble spots. By 12:30 traffic slowed to a crawl on many of the county’s roadways and crews manned trucks with salt to head out to the worse areas.
“DOT’s Road Maintenance Division planned on running full shifts until 2 pmSaturday, concerning falling temperatures could cause icing. Some crews concentrated at areas around schools where Cobb’s Elementary Schools, the last to dismiss early, would send buses out at 1:30 pm.
“The division’s full complement of trucks, 15 vehicles in all, will run predetermined routes treating much of the county’s 2500 miles of roadways, including state highways.
“Traffic maps at cobbcommute.org showed many of the county’s thoroughfares either running very slow or at a standstill. Officials urged people not already on the roads to avoid going out until the system moves away.”
Temperatures in Cobb and metro Atlanta are staying around freezing all day, and will be plummeting below that by Friday evening.
Information about closings is coming via e-mail, social media posts and other sources. If you know of closings (schools, businesses, churches, organizations, etc.), and especially planned activities, please let us know and we’ll share it with the community. E-mail news, photos, etc. to: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
Cobb schools are on early release, with the last phase elementary school students at 1:30 p.m. There will be NO extracurricular activities, including the ACT testing, which will be rescheduled
Most private schools in East Cobb are either under an early release or have closed.
Cobb government closed at 12 p.m., including libraries, which will be monitoring road conditions to determine whether to open on Saturday.
The Cobb government closures also include The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road), and tonight’s Center Stage North performance of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” has been cancelled.
Roswell Road at WellStar East Cobb Health Park, shortly after 12 p.m. Friday (From Georgia 511 camera)
Send us your photos and news!
Share your winter weather pictures, and we’ll post them! If you know of school, church, business or other closings or cancellations too! E-mail editor@eastcobbnews.com.
Here are the latest updates about openings/closings for local businesses, organizations, churches (especially for holiday events):
The Piedmont Church’s Christmas at Piedmont festival scheduled for 5-9 Friday has been cancelled; updates about Saturday’s 10-5 session will be posted on its Instagram account;
Mt. Zion United Methodist Church has postponed its Breakfast With Santa, which was to have been from 8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Saturday;
All Fidelity bank branches were closing around noon Friday;
The Lockheed-Georgia Credit Union also closed Friday around noon;
Tonight’s Christmas concert at St. Andrew United Methodist Church (3455 Canton Road) is being postponed until Sunday at 2 p.m., with a reception to follow;
Friday’s Bethlehem Walk from 7-9 at Mountain View United Methodist Church is cancelled; the final session of the holiday event is still on for the same time on Saturday;
At The Avenue East Cobb, carriage rides from 4-7 have been cancelled, but Santa Claus will be in the Santa Suite next to J. Jill for visitors and photos during that time;
The Carols for Christmas program Friday at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church has been cancelled. In its place will be a service at 6 p.m. Sunday
East Cobb Pediatrics closed at 1 p.m. Friday;
All J. Christopher’s locations closed before the normal 2 p.m. closing time;
Olde Towne Athletic Club has closed and will delay Saturday opening until 12 p.m.;
Chicago’s Steak & Seafood is closed Friday;
Seed, Stem Wine Bar and Drift are closed Friday;
The British Swim School of North Atlanta is cancelling Friday lessons and offering free makeup lessons;
Book Exchange is closing early Friday, but an author open house is still scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday;
Righteous Que is closing at 3 p.m. and is not accepting any more phone orders Friday;
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church offices have closed for Friday, and all Friday activities are cancelled. As of 2 p.m. Friday, the Christmas Festival services at 4 and 7 Saturday and regular Sunday worship services are still scheduled;
Big Peach Running Co. closed at 2 p.m. Friday and will update Saturday opening based on weather conditions;
WellStar Medical Group offices closed by 2 p.m. Friday. All WellStar Urgent Care locations were closing at 3 p.m. and are scheduled to open at 10 a.m. Saturday;
All CobbLinc public transit services will be suspended at 8 p.m. Friday and will open Saturday, with service times TBA.
Cobb DOT is urging motorists not to get on the roads if they don’t have to. Conditions are deterioarating and crews will be working to treat the roads as the day continues. To monitor the latest conditions visit the Cobb Commute site.
Sandy Plains Road at East Piedmont Road, also around 12 p.m. Friday (Georgia 511 camera)
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Cobb County was placed a winter storm warning area early Friday morning by the National Weather Service.
The Cobb County School District announced right around 10 a.m. Friday that it will be releasing classes early today and cancelling all weekend activities, due to winter weather conditions.
The early release schedule is as follows:
High schools, 11:30 a.m.;
Middle schools, 12:30 p.m.;
Elementary schools; 1:30 p.m.
In addition, all after-school programs are cancelled on Friday, as are extracurricular events scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
Those activities include ACT test sites at Cobb schools, which will be rescheduled.
Not long before Cobb announced early release times, Paulding County schools also announced they would be releasing early. Marietta, Bartow County, Douglas County and Cherokee County schools also were releasing students early.
Here’s what we have thus far for private school closings in East Cobb:
Both campuses of Mt. Bethel Christian Academy will be releasing students at 12:30 p.m., although after-school programs will be operating. Extracurricular activities will operate at the discretion of the coach or sponsor;
The Walker School is closed Friday for all classes and activities;
Faith Lutheran School is releasing all students at 1:30 p.m. Friday;
The Catholic Church of St. Ann preschool is releasing at 11:30 a.m.;
All Cobb County government facilities are closing at noon today, including all public library branches.
The closures also include The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road), and tonight’s Center Stage North performance of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” has been cancelled.
A few church-related items to share:
The Piedmont Church (570 Piedmont Road) announced around 11 a.m. that its Christmas at Piedmont holiday festival is going on as scheduled from 5-9 tonight, and from 10-5 Saturday;
Tonight’s Christmas concert at St. Andrew United Methodist Church (3455 Canton Road) is being postponed until Sunday at 2 p.m., with a reception to follow.
Send us your photos and news!
Share your winter weather pictures, and we’ll post them! If you know of school, church, business or other closings or cancellations too! E-mail editor@eastcobbnews.com.
Cobb schools began as scheduled on Friday, although Cobb was placed in a winter storm warning area around 6 a.m. by the National Weather Service.
However, by mid-morning, what had been rain was turning into snow or snow mixed with rain, including some areas in East Cobb. Here’s a view of the football field at Lassiter High School, posted on the school’s Twitter feed:
Temperatures in Cobb and metro Atlanta are expected to reach only into the high 30s on Friday, with freezing temperatures forecast for the evening and into overnight. Accumulated snowfall is expected to be less than in inch in most of Cobb, but more in northern and western parts of the county.
The winter storm advisory, which includes Cobb, Paulding, Douglas, Cherokee and Bartow in metro Atlanta and most of mountainous north Georgia, where 1-2 inches of snow has been forecast.
Winter weather has stretched across unexpected areas of the South, with snow falling in San Antonio and parts of Texas, before that storm front headed toward Georgia.
Temperatures aren’t expected to get much warmer in metro Atlanta over the weekend, with Saturday and Sunday highs in the low 40s. There is a 30 percent chance of snow on Saturday, with lows in the low 20s, but the sun also is expected to come out.
Sunday’s high will be around 40, with clear skies. Lows are expected in the low 20s.
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The Cobb County School District posted the following message on its Twitter feed shortly after 6 a.m. Friday:“All Cobb County schools open as normal today, Friday, December 8. Temps forecast to remain above freezing throughout the day with road temps a few degrees warmer.”
After-school programs also will operate on schedule but extracurricular activities are cancelled for Friday and Saturday.
Schools in Marietta and most of metro Atlanta also are open as the line for winter weather notifications issued by the National Weather Service is running northwest of Marietta and Cobb.
The National Weather Service has revised the areas to be included in a winter storm warning, and that includes Cobb, Paulding, Douglas and Cherokee counties.
Being in the storm area means that “periods of snow” are expected during the designated warning period, through 7 a.m. Saturday.
A social media message issued by Cobb government around 6:30 a.m. Friday said that the Cobb Emergency Management Agency and Cobb DOT are “watching situation carefully” but offered no other information.
A number of school districts in north Georgia have cancelled classes due to freezing rain and snow, but they are well north of metro Atlanta.
Early Friday morning the precipitation in most of metro Atlanta was rain, with temperatures just above freezing. The highs in the area for Friday, including Cobb, are forecast to be in the high 30s, with freezing temperatures expected by Friday evening.
Cobb DOT reported early Friday morning, also around 6 a.m., that most road temperatures in the county along the Interstate 75 corridor were above freezing.
UPDATED, 7:12 a.m.: Shortly after 7, Cobb schools tweeted this information:
“We will continue to monitor conditions and confer with forecasters and public safety officials throughout the day. We will continue to keep you informed via our website.”
Cobb County was included in a winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service shortly before 6 a.m. Friday.
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East Cobb high school graduation dates have been announced for the Class of 2018, with five of the six schools holding commencement exercises at the Kennesaw State University Convocation Center in May.
The KSU Convocation Center (590 Cobb Ave., Kennesaw) will be the venue for all but three of the 16 Cobb public high schools.
Among the exceptions is Wheeler High School, which will be holding graduation on campus (375 Holt Road).
Here’s the schedule for the East Cobb schools:
Walton: Tuesday, May 22, 7 p.m. (KSU);
Sprayberry: Wednesday, May 23, 3:30 p.m. (KSU);
Wheeler: Wednesday, May 23, 6:30 p.m. (Wheeler Gym);
Each school will announce separately its schedule for other graduation-related activities.
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A counselor at Timber Ridge Elementary School has created a program that provides informational sessions with parents on issues such as cyberbullying and digital citizenship.
Joslin Maxwell recently held a “Cyber Power” session that informs school staff as well as parents. Here’s more from the Cobb County School District, which also submitted the photo above:
According to Maxwell, elementary schools like Timber Ridge can help parents prevent their children from falling prey to the negative aspects of the digital world.
“The Cyber Power event gave parents the tools to go home and put a cell phone contract and an Internet safety contract in place,” Maxwell added.
The school provided both contracts to the parents so they could outline cyber safety rules for their children now.
“You want to make technology routines and expectations a priority from the very beginning, or else there will inevitably be push back when parents asks their high school students to let them look at their phones,” the Timber Ridge counselor cautioned.
Timber Ridge is also boosting cyber awareness among parents by encouraging families to take part in the “Stack Challenge” and put down their phones, tablets and laptops, and plug-in to quality family time.
The goal of the “Stack Challenge” is to remind parents that their use of technology is the greatest example to their children. Maxwell said parents should be part of creating the “balance is best” practice when using technology in the home.
Many of the students Maxwell talked to about the challenge feared it would be a difficult task for their parents.
“When I talked to one of my fourth grade classes about the challenge, I had a student tell me that their mom needed her phone at all times because they were remodeling the kitchen, and she needed to be able to always look at the pictures of the tiles,” Maxwell recalled. “The added awareness of just how much we are all using our screens is a valuable take-away.”
According to the district, Timber Ridge will be having another parent night called Cyber Power 2.0 in May with Jeff Dess, the CCSD’s coordinator of prevention and intervention.
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The following photos and story were submitted by the Cobb County School District after a birthday celebration at Rocky Mount Elementary School for Susie Raper, who lives near the Northeast Cobb school community and who just turned 97 years old.
She taught in Cobb schools for many years, including her final 18 years at Blackwell Elementary School, and after retirement was a guest reader at local schools and volunteered at her grandsons’ schools.
Rocky Mount students created birthday cards, and presented Raper with a tiara for the celebration:
Raper’s face brightened when Principal Peggy Fleming presented her with a basket full of handmade birthday cards from Rocky Mount students.
Her sons joked that their mom now has enough cards to read every day for the next year.
“It meant a whole lot to her,” her son Don Raper said. “She talks about her teaching career as much as she talks about anything in her life. This probably brought a lot of good memories for her. It is going to be a good memory for all of us.”
Her son remembers his mother as a very energetic teacher. He had difficulty keeping up with her as child when she taught at Green Acres Elementary School.
“She was relentless,” he added. “She would work whatever hours it took to do her job.”
Media paraprofessional Barb Evangelista, also known as Ms. E to the Rocky Mount students, didn’t want to miss an opportunity to take photos with Raper on her birthday.
“Ms. E.” still remembers Raper from when the veteran educator volunteered in her grandchildren’s class.
After her birthday surprises, Raper was able to visit a class of her beloved first graders, who serenaded her again with the “Happy Birthday to You” song.
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Wendy Sorkin with Richard Marriott, chairman of the Marriott Foundation.
Wheeler High School’s Wendy Sorkin has been named 2017 teacher of the year by the Marriott Foundation on behalf of the Bridges From School to Work program.
She was honored last week at a special dinner at the Atlanta Airport Marriott. More from a release from Wheeler:
“The Bridges From School to Work program, part of the Marriott Foundation, has been working collaboratively to transform the lives of young adults with disabilities through the power of a job. The Foundation recognizes teachers that help students match the workforce development needs of local employers with the skills and interest of our young people with disabilities.
“Since 1996, more than 760 local employers have provided employment opportunities for over 2,700 youth, helping these young people with disabilities succeed in the workplace.”
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Next Thursday, the Wheeler High School Fall 2017 Senior Projects program will be presented and they need what they’re calling “community judges” to help rate those projects.
This is a pretty big affair, according to the judge signup page—formal attire and dinner included.
The judges need to show up at the school (375 Holt Road) 5 p.m., with a short training period and the meal, followed by the presentations at 6 p.m. It’s over by 9 p.m.
Thus far they’ve got 136 of 150 needed judges confirmed, and you can sign up right on that link. You don’t have to have any previous training; that will be provided as mentioned above when you arrive.
For information contact Vicki Massey, the community judge coordinator, at: Vicki.massey@cobbk12.org.
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Because of Tuesday’s elections, Cobb schools will be closed for classroom and other extracurricular events.
The Cobb County School District calls this a “student holiday,” and it will also be a professional learning day for teachers and staff.
Municipal elections are taking place across Georgia, including Marietta (whose schools will be open) and other Cobb cities.
There also is a special election being decided on Tuesday to fill a Georgia State Senate seat that includes a small portion of East Cobb. Here is a sample ballot for that race, which includes five Republicans and three Democrats.
A portion of the Powers Ferry Road corridor, below Terrell Mill Road, is located in the State Senate 6 district. That seat has been vacated by Hunter Hill, who is running for Georgia governor.
The candidates are Republicans Leah Aldridge, Matt Bentley, Kathy Eichenblatt, Charlie Fiveash and Leo Smith and Democrats Jaha Howard, Jen Jordan and Taos Wynn.
The district (map) includes most of Smyrna and the Cumberland area of Cobb and portions of Buckhead and Sandy Springs.
East Cobb’s Eastvalley Elementary School (2570 Lower Roswell Road), will serve as a polling station in the Terrell Mill 1 precinct for the state senate race. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Turnout is expected to be light.
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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:
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).
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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In late September both Dickerson and Dodgen middle schools were named National Blue Ribbon Schoolsby 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 teachersRebecca Johson, Tara Thieme, Jackie Roche, Jennifer Attard, Maureen McLaughlin, Megan Lankes, Natalie Cornwelland 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.
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 teachersMaureen McLaughlin, Megan Lankes, Natalie Cornwell, Duane Perozzi and Drew Starnes.
It wasn’t quite unanimous, but close. The Cobb Board of Education Thursday voted 6-1 to adopt Cobb school calendars for the 2018-20 academic years after a brief discussion.
Scott Sweeney
The board didn’t make any changes to the calendars proposed by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale (see charts below). The first day of school for each of the next two years will begin on Aug. 1, and will include regularly scheduled breaks that have been the case in the last few years.
The “balanced” calendar had been the subject of strong board and community division in recent years, but not for this calendar scheduling cycle.
The only vote against was Scott Sweeney of Post 6 in East Cobb, who repeated comments he made at a recent work session that a large number of messages he’s received (63 percent) were in favor of a delayed start to the school year.
He also cited other issues, such as extracurricular activities, that are affected by a balanced calendar, and said he hasn’t received any evidence of academic improvements based on the adoption of a balanced calendar.
Connie Jackson of the Cobb County Association of Educators repeated the organization’s support of the balanced calendar and urged the board to use the adopted calendars to serve as a template for future years.
Also on Thursday, the board accepted the resignation of Mary Elizabeth Davis, the Cobb County School District’s Chief Academic Officer. She has been named the new superintendent for Henry County public schools.
Adopted 2018-19 Cobb school calendar
Adopted 2019-2020 Cobb school calendar
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