Cobb schools closing

Cobb County schools closing Monday ‘until further notice’

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New Brumby Elementary School

The Cobb County School District announced late Thursday that all classes and activities will be cancelled starting on Monday as the second-largest school district in Georgia will be closing due to the Coronavirus outbreak “until further notice.”

The decision was announced at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, not long after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp urged public school districts and the state’s public universities to close for two weeks.

He said at a press conference that it wouldn’t be a mandate.

Marietta City Schools and Atlanta Public Schools announced Thursday that those systems would be closing for two weeks, also starting on Monday.

The Walker School announced earlier Thursday it would be closing, and East Cobb private schools Mt. Bethel Christian Academy and Eastside Christian School also are closing, in accordance with CCSD.

The Georgia General Assembly was also suspending the current legislative session.

Those closures comes on the same day that the state announced the first Georgia Coronavirus-related death, a 67-year-old man at WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta.

The Cobb schools announcement reads as follows, and this story will be updated:

The school closures include all school building activities, athletics/sports, extracurricular school activities, and trips.   

While our school buildings will be closed, the education process will not stop. All staff will work remotely to best support students, including delivering digital and physical instructional resources to students while they’re at home.  

We know that you may have questions regarding how the school closure will impact you, and we will work to provide you the answers.  

We will continue to keep our community updated on the next steps during the school closure process as we turn to our digital learning resources.   

More information will be communicated on Friday, March 13 to all our families and staff. Please continue to stay updated on www.cobbk12.org/covid/.

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East Cobb Weather Update: Monday openings/closings, road reports and more

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East Cobb Weather update, Snowy Marietta Campground
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.

East Cobb Weather Update; Holly Springs Davis Roundabout

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).

East Cobb Weather Update; Shallowford at Old Suttons

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.

East Cobb Weather Update, Willow Ridge 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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Cobb schools releasing early Friday; all weekend activities cancelled

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Cobb schools releasing early, NWS Winter Storm Warning
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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