Cobb County School District Archives

Timber Ridge Elementary School parents learn about cyber safety

November 22, 2017 11:03 AM by Wendy Parker

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.

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!

Rocky Mount ES students celebrate retired teacher’s 97th birthday

November 15, 2017 11:24 AM by Wendy Parker

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.

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

East Cobb schools pace county results in 2017 CCRPI test scores

November 8, 2017 2:43 PMNovember 2, 2017 3:50 PM by Wendy Parker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elementary Schools

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

Middle Schools

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

High Schools

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

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!

Proposed Cobb school calendars discussed by school board members

October 12, 2017 11:19 AM by Wendy Parker

The proposed Cobb school calendars for the next two academic years were taken up by the school board Wednesday, with none of the widely diverging differences that have marked previous deliberations.

Scott Sweeney, Cobb school calendars — *School board member Scott Sweeney of East Cobb. (CCSD photo)*

Cobb County School District Superintendent Chris Ragsdale has proposed Aug. 1 start dates for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years. It’s his intention to establish an Aug. 1-3 range for the first day of classes further into the future, but acknowledged at a work session that “there’s not going to be a template is going to make everybody happy.”

This summer, some parents objected to this year’s July 31 starting date, a protest that included an online petition seen as a way to influence future calendar dates. (There’s an ongoing petition that advocates keeping frequent breaks in the Cobb school calendar, and has generated nearly 5,000 signatures).

In their discussion, board members were generally receptive to the proposed calendars (previous East Cobb News post here), especially a consistent range of starting dates, scheduled breaks and graduation dates.

The board considers and approves calendars in two-year cycles to avoid having to go through such a process every year. At Wednesday’s work session, Connie Jackson, executive director of the Cobb Association of Educators, suggested the board consider indefinite “rolling calendars” that would have the same date range for the first day of school.

Board member Susan Thayer said she would prefer keeping a two-year calendar approval process. “I don’t want to do any more than that,” especially if the state changes testing dates or other major changes come about, she said.

Board member Randy Scamihorn asked about syncing the Cobb school calendars to those in Cherokee County, which has a later starting date. Ragsdale said Cobb’s is currently synced with Marietta and Paulding, and that “we choose ours around grading schedules.”

However, the issue of starting the school year later in Cobb continues to come up with parents.

Scott Sweeney, who represents the Walton and Wheeler high school districts of East Cobb on the school board, noted that there’s no data showing differences in student achievement results and other metrics based on a school starting date.

But he did say that “there are a lot of people who favor a later start,” and that 76 percent of the e-mails he’s received since early September “want a later start.

“This is still very much a split issue,” Sweeney said.

The board is scheduled to vote on the calendar proposals at its Oct. 26 regular meeting.

Proposed Cobb school calendars for 2018-20 call for Aug. 1 start dates

October 9, 2017 12:10 PM by Wendy Parker

Draft proposals for the 2018-19 and 2019-2020 Cobb school calendars have been released, and they will be discussed at Wednesday’s school board work session.

The two proposals submitted by the Cobb County School District administration for board consideration both include Aug. 1 start dates. Those dates are on a Wednesday for 2018-19 and a Thursday for 2019-20. This would be a departure for Cobb schools, which typically have had the first day fall on a Monday.

After some parental outcry this year, when classes began on July 31 and prompted a petition drive (previous East Cobb News post here), the proposed Cobb school calendars for the next two academic years would revert to starting in the first week of August, which has been the case in recent years.

Both proposed calendars have generally the same scheduled breaks—late September in the fall, mid-February in the winter and early April in the spring—as well as the usual Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year’s holiday breaks.

For the 2018-19 proposed calendar, the last day of school would be May 22, and for 2018-19, the final day would be May 20.

The school board adoption of the calendars is expected at their Oct. 26 business meeting.

The work session (full agenda packet here) on Wednesday begins at 8:30 a.m. in the board room of the CCSD Central Office, 514 Glover Street. The meeting also can be seen live on Comcast Cable Channel 24 and Cobb edTV.

Proposed 2018-19 Cobb school calendar

Proposed 2019-2020 Cobb school calendar

Mountain View Elementary School honored by physical fitness group

September 25, 2017 11:43 AM by Wendy Parker

Before Cobb schools went out on fall break this week, they passed along this news about Mountain View Elementary School for creating a strong environment for physical fitness:

Active Schools honored Mountain View Elementary School with the 2017 Let’s Move! Active Schools National Award for its outstanding efforts in creating an active school environment. Active Schools is a national movement dedicated to ensuring that 60 minutes of physical activity a day is the norm in K-12 schools.

The Let’s Move! Active Schools National Award is the nation’s top physical education and physical activity distinction for K-12 schools and celebrates a school’s commitment to providing students with physical activity before, during and after school. Only 452 schools across the country achieved this prestigious honor in 2017.

Powered by a national collaborative of leading health, education, and private sector organizations, Active Schools equips schools with the resources, programs, professional development, and grants to increase physical education and physical activity opportunities for students, and to cultivate an active school environment.

According to Active Schools, active kids do better in school. Regular physical activity not only helps kids stay healthy and strong, but it can also lead to higher test scores, improved attendance, increased focus, better behavior in class, enhanced leadership skills, and a lifetime of healthy habits.

“ ‘We commend Mountain View Elementary’s model work around enhancing physical education and physical activity opportunities and inspiring students to perform their best, both in the classroom and in life,’ said Charlene R. Burgeson, Active Schools Executive Director. ‘Mountain View is leading the way in this generation-changing movement that is transforming our nation’s schools into active and healthy hubs.’ ”

To earn a Let’s Move! Active Schools National Award, a school must have met significant benchmarks in five areas: physical education, physical activity before and after school, physical activity during school, staff involvement, and family and community engagement.

As part of the Let’s Move! Active Schools National Award package, Mountain View received a large display banner, national award certificate, and congratulatory letter.

Find out more about Let’s Move! Active Schools at www.letsmoveschools.org.

East Cobb students named to state education advisory councils

September 22, 2017 9:13 AM by Wendy Parker

Two East Cobb students will serve on state education advisory councils this academic year after being appointed by Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods.

They are:

Zechariah Fuller, Dickerson Middle School, Middle School Advisory Board;
Nidhi Manikkoth, Walton High School, High School Advisory Board.

They’re among six Cobb County School District students and 142 across the state to serve on the advisory councils, who will meet with the superintendent during the school year to offer feedback on the impact of state education policies in the classroom and other education issues.

The panelists were chosen from an original pool of 1,500 students in Georgia public schools who applied and wrote essays explaining why they wanted to serve.

Here’s Woods, via a CCSD release:

“Every year, it is so valuable to hear directly from students through my Student Advisory Council, In the past, we have made direct changes based on student feedback, and I look forward to working with these 142 students who I know will make an impact. I’m so grateful for every student who took the time to apply and share their thoughts.”

The first meetings will take place Oct. 3-4, with future sessions in January and April.

East Cobb students named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists

September 15, 2017 10:17 AMSeptember 13, 2017 3:13 PM by Wendy Parker

UPDATED, 10:16 a.m. Friday: The CCSD has provided the names of an additional 12 students from Wheeler to its original release that were initially omitted. The figures in the story reflect those changes. — WP

A total of 71 East Cobb students have been named semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarships, the Cobb County School District announced today (a per-school list follows below).

Of the East Cobb students named semifinalists, 33 come from Walton High School, and 19 more are students at Wheeler High School. According to the CCSD, Walton has the second-highest number of semifinalists for any school in Georgia. Kell, Lassiter and Pope all had semifinalists, and Cobb schools overall had 82 semifinalists.

A CCSD release explains the program and process from here:

“These academically-talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth about $32 million that will be offered next spring. About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.”

Cobb schools resume classes on Wednesday

September 12, 2017 6:44 PMSeptember 12, 2017 6:07 PM by Wendy Parker

Shortly after 3:30 p.m. today, the Cobb County School District announced that all classes and operations will return Wednesday to their normal schedules. Cobb schools resume classes after being closed Monday and Tuesday due to Tropical Storm Irma.

Some schools have had to reschedule their administering of the Iowa Basic Skills Test, which was to have started on Monday.

East Cobb Middle School has announced that the start of the IBST period will be Thursday; we’ll add more details about other East Cobb schools and their new testing periods as we get them. Please send an e-mail to editor@eastcobbnews.com if you have information to add here.

There’s no word yet on how the weather days on Monday or Tuesday may be made up; Cobb schools will be having their annual fall break from Sept. Sept. 25-29.

Cobb made it through Irma in much better shape than surrounding areas of metro Atlanta, some of which are still without electricity. Atlanta, DeKalb, Clayton, Fulton, Gwinnett and Henry are among the school districts that will will remain closed tomorrow.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, nearly half of all DeKalb school buildings still had no power, and in many parts of the metro area work crews were still clearing roads of trees, power line and other debris.

Cobb braces for Irma with heavy rain, high winds; school closed Mon. & Tues.

September 10, 2017 7:03 PMSeptember 10, 2017 1:01 PM by Wendy Parker

It may not seem like it today, but East Cobb, metro Atlanta and the state of Georgia are about to get major tropical storm weather.

On Sunday it’s been beautiful, with sunny skies and temperatures rising to the low 70s, and humidity levels around 40 percent. But those conditions will change dramatically on Monday.

Late Saturday night, the National Weather Service in Peachtree City issued a tropical storm warning for the metro Atlanta area that is expected to last until early Tuesday.

The NWS is forecasting heavy rains and high winds as what’s left of Hurricane Irma pushes into Georgia, after the powerful Category 4 storm made landfall in south Florida Sunday morning.

Shortly before 1 p.m. on Sunday, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency for the entire state, and said state government offices will be closed on Monday and Tuesday. Many local governments and school districts quickly followed suit.

Tropical storm conditions are expected all day Monday in Cobb and metro Atlanta, with between 1-2 inches of rain possible (and likely more), as well as winds possibly gusting to 55 mph and even higher.

The possibility of flash flooding is also in the forecast, and already some metro Atlanta school districts and colleges, including Kennesaw State University, have cancelled all classes and activities. A flash flood watch is in effect for Cobb until 8 a.m. Tuesday.

UPDATED: Cobb County School District officials announced at 1:40 p.m. Sunday that there will be no school on Monday or Tuesday; all other activities also will be cancelled on those days and the school system’s main offices will be closed as well.

UPDATED, 7 PM SUNDAY: Cobb County government offices will be closed on Monday. Libraries also will be closed, and the Cobb Board of Commissioners work session scheduled for Monday has been cancelled.

In a Facebook message to Cobb school parents Saturday night, deputy superintendent John Adams said the district was considering possible power outage concerns as well as rain and wind conditions affecting travel.

Atlanta Irma wind speed — *National Weather Service rainfall and windspeed estimate maps as of 1 p.m. Sunday.*

“We are also interested to see if the Governor expands the State of Emergency to include metro Atlanta. Rest assured that we will always err on the side of student safety and will seek to make a decision about school on Monday as soon as reasonably possible.”

On Friday, the CCSD issued a message urging parents to visit its website homepage for updates, and to refer to the school system’s inclement weather page for details.

Already some brisk winds are whipping up in the East Cobb area. By early Sunday afternoon, the winds were reported at around 15 mph, and they’re expected to get even stronger as tropical storm-like weather approaches north Georgia.

The rain in metro Atlanta is expected to arrive overnight, with thunderstorms most likely after 7 a.m. Temperatures are expected to be only in the mid 60s, but the chance of precipitation is 100 percent.

On Monday night, tropical storm conditions are expected to continue, with more showers and the possibility of thunderstorms. The low temperature is expected to drop to 60.

On early Tuesday morning, as the tropical storm warning is projected to end, more showers are in the forecast, with highs in the high 60s. Winds between 15-20 mph could gust to 30 mph, and the chance of rain is 80 percent.

Over the weekend, Cobb County government urged residents to take safety measures and provided a page with emergency links and other related information.

Walton, East Cobb ACT scores top record Cobb results

September 8, 2017 4:31 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb ACT scores represented the four highest Cobb County school-wide composite figures for 2017, led by Walton High School.

ACT results were released Friday by the Cobb County School District. Walton’s composite score of 27 (out of a possible 36), led the way for all 16 high schools in Cobb, followed by East Cobb neighbors Pope (25.6), Wheeler (25.1) and Lassiter (25.0.)

Cobb’s composite score of 22.9 is a record for the district, and for 2017 it is four points higher than the national ACT composite and 1.5 points above the Georgia composite (full Cobb release).

The other two East Cobb high schools posted composite scores just below the Cobb average: Kell (21.6) and Sprayberry (21.0). The 2017 scores for all six East Cobb high schools represented increases from 2106, according to data released by the CCSD.

The ACT, a major barometer for college admissions and merit scholarships, is taken by high school students and consists of four subject-area sections (English, math, reading and science). A total of 7,800 Cobb graduating seniors took the ACT in 2017, about 54 percent of the high school enrollment.

Ten individual students recorded perfect ACT scores, including five from Walton and one each from Lassiter and Wheeler.

“These scores are just one indication of the quality of public education in the Cobb County School District and underscore our mission of One Team, One Goal: Student Success,” Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said in a statement Friday. “The credit for the results goes to our hard-working students and dedicated teachers and administrators.”

Wheeler’s score of 25.1 represents the biggest gain in the CCSD from 2016, a full point higher than a year ago. Principal Peter Giles said in a statement that the school in recent years began giving freshmen pre-ACT tests to prepare them for their senior exam.

“This gives students exposure to the format of the ACT,” Giles said, “while showing students that they are not limited to the SAT.”

Here’s how many East Cobb high school students took the ACT, school-by-school:

Kell: 214 students tested (62.6% of all seniors): 21.6 composite score;
Lassiter: 363 students tested (72.2%): 25.0;
Pope: 334 students tested (69.4%): 25.6;
Sprayberry: 164 students test (40.3%): 21.0;
Walton: 483 students tested (74.9%): 27.0;
Wheeler: 221 students tested (48.6%): 25.0.

More information on the Cobb ACT results can be found here.

East Cobb bank robbery prompts lockdown of Wheeler High, East Cobb Middle School

September 19, 2017 6:29 PMSeptember 7, 2017 6:05 PM by Wendy Parker

Fifth Third Bank Kroger Roswell Road, East Cobb bank robbery — *Surveillance photos provided by Cobb Police Department.*

An East Cobb bank robbery Thursday morning resulted in the short lockdown of two nearby schools as police pursued a suspect.

According to the Cobb County School District, the exterior doors to Wheeler High School and East Cobb Middle School were locked for about 15 minutes after Cobb Police began investigating the robbery at the Fifth Third Bank location inside a Kroger supermarket at 2100 Roswell Road.

The schools are located across the street from one another on Holt Road and 1.3 miles from the Kroger at the Pavilions at East Lake Shopping Center at Roswell and Robinson roads.

Police said the robbery took place shortly after 10 a.m., when a man walked into the bank and demanded money from a teller.

According to police, the suspect never showed a weapon and left the bank with cash on foot, through the shopping center parking lot, and possibly in the direction of Wheeler.

The suspect remained at large late Thursday afternoon. According to a CCSD statement, the lockdown was “done out of an abundance of caution” at the request of Cobb Police.

“There was never any threat at either school and both schools continued with instruction as normal,” the CCSD statement continued. “Student and staff movement within the building was never restricted.”

Cobb Police described the suspect as an Asian male, around six feet tall, with a husky build. He’s believed to be between 30-40 years old, and was last seen wearing a black hoodie, a black Washington Nationals baseball cap and jeans.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Cobb Police at 770-499-3945.

Lassiter clerk honored as Cobb schools classified employee of the year

August 29, 2017 6:52 PM by Wendy Parker

Alice Brown, Lassiter High School — *Lassiter High School clerk Alice Brown with Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale (Photos submitted by Cobb County School District)*

Alice Brown, a clerk in the Pupil Personnel Office at Lassiter High School, was one of several individuals named Classified Employee of the Year by the Cobb County School District for 2017.

Brown was the honoree at the high school level and was recognized at a special luncheon for the recipients Tuesday at Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta.

Classified employees are non-teachers: administrative assistants, custodians, paraprofessionals and staffers in the school district’s main office.

The following information was submitted by CCSD about Brown, who also was joined by her family members at the luncheon:

Despite all she does for Lassiter High School as a clerk, Alice Brown is still humble, according to her principal.

“She does an exceptional job working at Lassiter. She is [at school] every single day,” said Dr. Chris Richie as he congratulated Brown on being named High School Level CEOTY. “She is very diligent, keeping accurate records of everything our students do. We are extremely proud of her. She is great with staff members.”

Cobb schools to release early on Wednesday

August 29, 2017 10:10 AM by Wendy Parker

Just a reminder that the Cobb County School District is releasing students early on Wednesday for teacher in-service training, and at the halfway point of the first team of the school year. The release times are as follows:

11:30 a.m.—High School;
12:30 p.m.—Elementary School;
1:30 p.m.—Middle School.

The CCSD is asking parents to contact their local schools if they have questions about the early release.

After students return next week following the Labor Day holiday weekend, the first progress reports of the school year will be issued, for elementary and middle school students, on Wednesday, Sept. 6.

Cobb schools taking extra precautions for outdoor eclipse activities

August 21, 2017 12:45 PM by Wendy Parker

We’re just a couple hours from solar eclipse visibility in north Georgia, and the Cobb County School District is taking extra safety precautions.

Some schools that had planned outdoor eclipse sightings will be observing on television indoors instead if their glasses haven’t met safety standards.

It’s a school-by-school issue, depending on whether the glasses ordered or bought by students there have been approved; there’s a lot of chatter this morning on a Facebook page. According to one poster, some schools found out very late that they didn’t have the proper glasses; keep in mind these reports are not official information coming from CCSD.

The following message was included in a note to parents of Simpson Middle School students this morning:

“. . . our students will have to view the eclipse from inside our building on the TV due to the inability of the solar eclipse glasses company to confirm their safety.”

If you’re an East Cobb parent, what’s the latest you’ve heard about your child’s school? Let us know: editor@eastcobbnews.com or call/text 404-219-4278.

In our area, the moon will begin to cover the sun at 1:05 p.m.; maximum coverage is expected around 2:36 p.m. The sun will be fully visible again around 4:01 p.m.

The 45-minute delayed release plan for Cobb schools announced earlier is still in place.

Wheeler is first Georgia high school to receive STEAM certification

September 13, 2017 4:34 PMAugust 14, 2017 5:35 PM by Wendy Parker

Wheeler High School, STEAM program

Word’s just come in from the Cobb County School District that Georgia Superintendent of Schools Richard Woods will be on hand Tuesday as Wheeler High School will be recognized as a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) school, adding to its longstanding designation as a STEM school.

Wheeler becomes the first high school in Georgia to earn STEAM certification, and it’s a process that’s been a couple years in the making, starting with STEAM symposia and including a trip to Barcelona, Paris and London in June as part of the STEAM International Tour.

Here’s the rest of the CCSD release with details about Tuesday’s events:

Mableton is the first entire school in Cobb County to earn STEAM certification, which means 100% of the student population is involved in STEAM learning.

Wheeler is the first program in Cobb County to achieve STEAM certification. Program certification requires a designated group of students that are representative of the overall demographics of the school to complete a STEAM program. Cobb County School District Superintendent Chris Ragsdale will attend the Wheeler High School STEAM certification ceremony.

WHEN: Tuesday, August 15 (The STEAM certification and banner ceremonies will take place separately at each school.)

Mableton Elementary School – 9:00 a.m.

Wheeler High School – 1 p.m.

WHERE:

Mableton Elementary School: 5220 Church Street, Mableton, Ga. 30126

Wheeler High School: 375 Holt Rd NE, Marietta, GA 30068

WHY: To document the first state-level STEAM certifications in Cobb County and what the certifications mean for the success of CCSD students.

Here’s more about the Georgia Department of Ed’s STEAM program, which certified Henderson Mill Elementary School in DeKalb County as its first STEAM school this spring.

Bells Ferry ES helps launch new Cobb school emergency alert system

August 11, 2017 6:53 AM by Wendy Parker

Bells Ferry Elementary School

The Cobb County School District this week announced the implementation of a new emergency alert system, and East Cobb’s Bells Ferry Elementary School is one of the schools serving as a testing ground for the service.

Cobb Board of Education members and the public were briefed about the new system at a work session on Wednesday. The other school that is a “proof of concept” location during the current school year is Kennesaw Mountain High School.

The new emergency system, known as AlertPoint, allows each employee within a school—including administrators, teachers and other staffers—to activate a device should an emergency occur. This includes fires, active shooters and other intruders, physical altercations and medical emergencies.

When an AlertPoint device is activated, alert information is relayed via computer and mobile devices to school-level administrators and security personnel, as well as at the school district office, within seconds.

The location and identity of the person sending the alert also is transmitted. When a “Code Red” alert is triggered, flashing lights, beeping sounds and voice messages ring out, and the intercom system indicates a lockdown situation is underway.

The AlertPoint system is patterned after existing school fire emergency procedures.

Cobb is the first school district in Georgia to use the AlertPoint system, according to Superintendent Chris Ragsdale.

“Columbine [the deadly 1999 Colorado high school shootings] changed how we do school security,” he said.

Phil Bradford, a Cobb school police officer, said the biggest security concerns remain at high schools, since elementary and middle schools have more controlled access.

“This is a capability we’ve never had before, particularly in the high schools,” he said. “If one of the staff members sees something that is that threatening, within in a matter of seconds, the entire building can know what to do.”

Ragsdale said the school district is “starting with the rollout” of AlertPoint in other schools, but for security reasons he would not identify them.

PHOTOS: Walton High School ribbon-cutting and open house

August 17, 2017 2:00 PMJuly 30, 2017 6:55 PM by Wendy Parker

The new Walton High School building is open, and on Sunday afternoon, the day before classes were set to begin, several hundred students, parents, elected officials and others celebrating ribbon-cutting ceremonies and an open house.

Among the honored guests, in addition to local officials, were Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson and newly elected Congresswoman Karen Handel.

The three-story, $48 million classroom and administrative office structure replaces a 42-year-old main building that has been overcrowded for years. The old building will eventually give way to the second phase of the Walton project that is to include a new gymnasium and fine arts building scheduled for completion in 2019.

The 300,000-plus-square-foot main building is around 40 percent bigger than what it is replacing. Walton opened in 1975, at a time when rapid growth in East Cobb was vastly overburdening school capacity.

Isakson, whose children and granddaughter attended Walton, told the audience that while he was working as an East Cobb real estate broker in the early 1970s, then-Cobb school superintendent Kermit Keenum warned him that new schools in the area—especially high schools—had to be built, and fast.

Isakson helped the school system with finding land, and noted that the Bill Murdock Road properties on which Walton and nearby Dodgen Middle School are located cost around $4,500.

“That would cost at least 10 times that amount today,” said Isakson, who was formerly the president of Northside Realty. He called the new Walton building “a pearl of beauty.”

He was among the speakers who kept referencing the education SPLOST (or special local option sales tax) funding that paid for the new Walton building. Isakson said more than $6.8 billion has been spent on school construction across Georgia with SPLOST funding, and he thanked Cobb leaders for leading the way in changing the state constitution to allow for such referenda.

Isakson also said it’s not just bricks and mortar, but “teachers, parents and students” that make a school community strong.

Walton High School

Cobb schools to extend Aug. 21 school day due to solar eclipse

July 24, 2017 11:08 PM by Wendy Parker

The Cobb County School District sent out word late Monday afternoon that classes will be extended by 45 minutes on Monday, Aug. 21, primarily for safety reasons, due to the first full solar eclipse to traverse across the United States since 1918:

Due to the solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, the Cobb County School District will delay dismissal of elementary, middle and high school students by 45 minutes.

The peak time to experience the solar eclipse falls during our regularly scheduled elementary school dismissal time. Since student safety is always our first priority we will start the day on time and delay dismissal to ensure that neither students nor employees are on the roadways during the time of the eclipse. Subsequently, high schools and middle schools will delay dismissal as well.

Schools will be provided with further guidance and instructional resources as appropriate. Parents are welcome to pick-up their child at the typical dismissal time if needed.

The eclipse is slated to cross over extreme northeast Georgia, with two minutes of totality expected over Blairsville, and 2:35 over Clayton. The eclipse is scheduled in Georgia between 2:34 p.m. and 2:40 p.m.

Gwinnett County schools also have made a similar decision to dismiss class later, for the same reasons as Cobb.

Petition drive launched opposing July 31 Cobb school start date

July 10, 2017 3:18 PM by Wendy Parker

With the start of the 2017-18 Cobb County School District academic year exactly two weeks from today, a group of parents has begun a petition drive demanding schedule changes in the future.

The group, which calls itself Cobb Parents Against July School Start Date, has gathered more than 2,000 signatures thus far on the change.org platform, and here’s its main complaint:

“. . . we feel that the start date of July 31 crosses a symbolic line that both threatens the nature of the traditional summer vacation and the developmental promise a more traditional calendar affords our children and families.”

Among the suggested changes in the calendar include cancelling either the September or February week-long breaks and ending the school year later in May (recent graduation ceremonies ended before Memorial Day).

The group, which did not reveal member identification or provide other contact information, also mentioned that the lone school board member to oppose the July 31 start date is Scott Sweeney, who represents the Walton and Wheeler high school districts of East Cobb.

Many of the comments indicated a desire to enjoy a traditional summer vacation from school, especially with the hottest days and months of the season likely still to come.

A commenter named Sarajane Fletcher, who said the last of her three children is finishing at Walton this year, wrote on the petition site that the current balanced calendar adds more stress for students and parents, with added homework and reading assignments given during longer breaks:

“The kids are in a pressure cooker during the year with no escape, so what does Cobb do, just slowly take away their summer vacation! “

The petition organizers did not indicate if, how or when the petition results might be delivered to school board members. The board next meets on July 20.

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Proposed 2018-19 Cobb school calendar

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