DISTRICT NEWS:
Music Supervisor Gary Markham Receives National Recognition
Congratulations to Gary Markham, CCSD Supervisor of Music, for his induction into the Bands of America Hall of Fame. The hall recognizes individuals who have made an impact on music education. Gary’s work with Bands of America has provided significant direction for the methods, standards, and training for music ensembles in the United States and abroad.  He has directed clinics, served as guest conductor and made presentations in nearly every U.S. state, Canada and Japan. Under his direction, Cobb County has been named among the Best 100 Communities for Music in America by the American Music Conference in 2000, 2004, 2005, and 2006.

For more information on the District's music programs, visit the music office web page.

SPLOST UPDATE:
Attendance Zones Approved
Three new schools – Hillgrove High School, and McClure and Lovinggood middle schools – will open their doors this August following school board approval of attendance zones for the three schools on April 12, 2006. The final attendance zone maps can be viewed online here.

The School Board appreciates the public input that played an important part in the decision-making process, and is looking forward to a great school year for these first-rate facilities built with SPLOST II dollars.

The good news story of SPLOST continues for Cobb County taxpayers. In March and April 2006, the School Board:

• Approved $459,000 to purchase 19 replacement vans and trucks for the District’s Maintenance Department.
• Approved a $4.3 million contract to make improvements at Daniell Middle School, including: adding five classrooms and four work/planning rooms, replacing the gymnasium and theatre floors, adding an HVAC unit to the gym, replacing 6th grade lockers, among other improvements.
• Approved $397,000 contract for the installation of HVAC in the school kitchens at Cooper Middle School, Durham Middle School, Lindley Middle School and Palmer Middle School.
• Approved a $1.2 million contract Award for HVAC replacement and upgrades at Brumby Elementary School and Clarkdale Elementary School.
• Approved $639,00 contract to upgrade main switchgear and panel at Birney Elementary School, Oakwood High School, and the Adult Education Center.

All of these projects were part of the SPLOST II program approved in 2003. To view the agenda items for the projects, please click here.

BUDGET UPDATE:
In May, the Board of Education will begin discussions on the Fiscal Year 2007 budget. Final budget approval will take place in June in preparation for the new fiscal year that begins July 1, 2006. State-level actions, including recent austerity cuts in education financing and a new mandate for regarding class sizes, will impact this year’s budget. Information about the budget approval process, including streamed video presentations, can be found online here.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT:
Cobb 8th Graders Outrank Peers In Writing Skills For Sixth Straight Year
For the sixth consecutive year, more than 90 percent of eighth graders in the Cobb County School District scored in the two highest categories on the 2006 Middle Grades Writing Assessment (MGWA). Cobb students maintained last year’s average scale score of 361, continuing a six-year trend of outranking the average scores of students in the metro area (359) and in Georgia (359).

Average scale scores throughout the state increased slightly in 2006, while metro and District scores remained the same. Ninety three percent of all Cobb eighth graders tested scored in either On Target or Exceeds Target, the highest two categories. In comparison, 91 percent of students in the metro area and state scored in these two categories.

Individual school results for the MGWA are available on the District's Office of Accountability web page.

NEWS FROM OUR SCHOOLS:
A team of East Side Elementary fifth grade students has been selected as one of 24 team projects designated regional winners in the 2006 Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards competition. Thousands of team entries were received from across the United States and Canada in response to ExploraVision's challenge to create a vision of a new technology. The East Side students’ project focused on a self-sanitizing doorknob for public bathrooms.

The North Cobb High School marketing education program has been granted Industry Certification from the Georgia Department of Education. The certification is awarded to programs that meet 11 standards in marketing education, including work-based learning and career training. Marketing teacher Shelley Gravitt and the DECA student marketing association worked together to apply for the certification.

Russell Elementary has been named one the nation's 'Top 100 Schools for Supporting Student Voices in Technology' by Netday, a national education technology organization. Technology teacher Mary Tidrick’s students complete an annual survey that helps the school make technology choices that directly meet the needs of its student body. The school’s inclusion was announced at the 11th Annual Consortium of School Networking for business and education leaders.

Forty-two eighth graders from Floyd Middle School will travel to Washington, D.C., the week of May 11 to participate in a wreath- laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The school was selected by the U.S. Army to join the ceremony. A professional tour guide will accompany the students as they visit a variety of educational and historical sites during their time in the capital.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
• Post 4 School Board Member Laura Searcy hosts the fourth in a series of Community Forums Monday, May 15, 2006. The forum will be held in the Pitner Elementary School media center, beginning at 7 p.m. The school address is 4575 Wade Green Road, Acworth, 30101