DISTRICT NEWS:

Cobb Celebrates Bus Driver Appreciation Week
The Board of Education would like to thank all of our school bus drivers for their work transporting Cobb students. Our buses offer students the safest, most reliable form of transportation to and from schools and our drivers ensure that safety is first priority.

Jeanne Huck of Chalker Elem. Named Georgia PE Teacher of the Year
Congratulations to
Jeanne Huck, physical education teacher at Chalker Elementary in Kennesaw, who was named Physical Education Teacher of the Year by the Georgia Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (GAHPERD) earlier this month. GAHPERD is a nonprofit organization for professionals and students in related fields of health, physical education, recreation and dance throughout the state of Georgia. Prior to this honor, Mrs. Huck was named District Physical Education Teacher of the Year last spring.

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

• Heard a report from the Facilities and Technology Review Committee regarding the expenditure of SPLOST II funds. The F&T Committee is a revolving panel of Cobb County citizens first appointed by the Board in 1997 to review all SPLOST expenditures, evaluate the facilities and technology needs of schools, and provide an additional measure of public accountability for the SPLOST program. Members are: Charles Casto, chair, Pam Roberts, vice chair, Wayne Brown, Wallace Coopwood, Hobart Corwin, Dr. Mindy DiSalvo, Dennis Harding, Debbie Hayden, Ann Kirk, Mike Merrick, Donnie Newsom, Susan Pearson, Dr. Kerwin Swint, Tom Wassel, and Gary Wolovick. A copy of the report is available by clicking here, selecting the 09/28/2006 meeting, and then selecting “Board Business”.

• Authorized the purchase of additional copiers from Toshiba Business Solutions to complete the district-wide refresh of copiers. The contract provides a five-year copier and duplicator replacement program, alleviating financial burdens on local schools and providing the schools with reliable, functioning equipment. To date, 532 copiers have been replaced as part of this SPLOST II initiative. The Board’s action authorizes the purchase of approximately 200 additional copiers at a cost of $1.5 million.

• Approved the final project closeout for an addition at Smitha Middle School. By certifying that all accounts for labor, materials and services for the project’s construction have been paid in full and that there are no claims of any nature outstanding, either liquidated or disputed, the District will be eligible to receive $81,736.70 in State Capitol Outlay Funds allocated for the project.

• Awarded a contract in the amount of $237,900 to NetPlanner Systems, Inc., to provide the District with a means for purchasing network data cabling and wireless Infrastructure parts and labor. NetPlanner Systems, Inc., received the highest score of 16 proposals submitted.

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.

DISTRICT NEWS:
Board Approves 2007-2008 School Year Calendar
The Cobb County Board of Education approved the 2007-2008 school year calendar during its Oct. 26 meeting. School will begin on Monday, Aug. 13, 2007. The approved calendar is available to download on the 'School Calendars' section of the District Web site.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT:
Fifty-one Cobb Students Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists
The Cobb County School District is well represented among the 16,000 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists for 2006, with 51 students from eight schools making the cut.

Students qualify for the scholarship program based on their reading, math, and writing skills index scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). Out of 1.4 million entrants, just 50,000 students are selected as high scorers. Approximately one-third of the 50,000 are selected as semifinalists.

Ultimately, 8,200 students nationwide will receive $2,500 National Merit Scholarships and qualify for corporate and college-sponsored awards.

Congratulations to all of our Cobb National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists!

Campbell - Lauren Blanchard, Keru Cai, Hans Givens, Jordan Killpatrick, Anusha Pallamreddy, Christine Reagan, Merrick Sellers, Yan Shen, Kari Storla, Aurora Willgren

Kell - Jimmy Marquis, Steven Cushingham

North Cobb - Kelsey Shaul

Lassiter - Haylee Humes, Jeremy Johnston, Phillip Mote, Leo O'Toole, Jaclyn Parrott, Erin Wilson

Pope - Ashley Chang, Emily Cohen, John Mitchell, Scott Monat, Hillary Zondlak

Sprayberry - Jeffery Stevens, Kari Storla, Melissa Wallace

Walton - Rachel Baye, Andrew Choi, Matthew Greenland, Tiffany Han, Joelle Kaplan, Erica Lin, Reed Lipman, Emma Patrick, Hannah Shlansky, Phillip Silverman, Emma Stone, Caroline Tredway, Daniel Wiener, Changle Zhang, Lingyun Zhong

Wheeler - Mary Courtney Delvin, Caitlin East, Allison Gooch, Kristy Kao, Frank Li, Frederic Lu, Jacob Robertson, Janice Tiao, Jasmine Ye

COMMUNITY INTERACTION:
Cobb Schools Participate In
Make A Difference Day Oct. 28
Schools throughout the county encouraged students to get involved in community service on Make A Difference Day Oct. 28. Promoted by USA Weekend magazine, the day is an annual initiative to encourage Americans to serve others. Several Partners in Education also used their time to give back to schools. Here are some of the Make A Difference Day activities in Cobb:

• Volunteers from Pope High, Hightower Trail Middle and Tritt Elementary schools teamed up to beautify Brumby Primary School.

• Representatives from Lockheed cleaned and refurbished the boys' wrestling and basketball locker rooms at South Cobb High School.

• Osborne High's International Festival brought students and the community together to celebrate diversity and promote service.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Town Hall Meeting
Nov. 6, 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Stratton Library, 1100 Powder Springs Rd.
Board Chair Dr. Teresa Plenge and Commissioner Helen Goreham will participate in dialogue about education and community issues.