STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT:

Student Achievement Highlights
Show Cobb Students Making Progress
The District's Accountability Office has published its annual Student Achievement Highlights brochure, providing answers to many of the most common questions regarding student test performance.

Benchmarking 2005 test scores to the prior year and beyond, the brochure provides detailed breakdowns of how Cobb students are progressing academically and comparing with their peers locally and nationally.

The Student Achievement Highlights cover CRCT, ITBS and the Georgia High School Graduation tests, as well as local Performance Series measures, SAT scores, and AP exams. It also includes information about how students who remain in the Cobb County School District see added instructional value over the course of their studies.

Click here to view the 2005 Student Achievement Highlights brochure in Adobe PDF format. If you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, it can be downloaded for free here.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT:
Eight Cobb Schools Granted
AVID National Certification
The AVID Center named two Cobb middle schools and six Cobb high schools to its list of National Certified Schools. AVID (which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a program that encourages 5th through 12th graders to enroll in advanced content courses, better preparing them for higher education. While students are being challenged, they are also supported by an academic elective course that provides further guidance from an AVID-certified educator.

Cobb first implemented the AVID program in 2002.  This year, we have 1,298 students being served by the program in 17 different schools.  Our eight AVID National Certified schools were given the designation for meeting 11 quality indicators that focus on the level of student support in the program.

Congratulations to:
• Campbell High School
• Griffin Middle School
• Kell High School
• Lindley Middle School
• North Cobb High School
• Osborne High School
• South Cobb High School
• Sprayberry High School

Congratulations to these schools for their AVID National Certification! For more information about the AVID program criteria, visit the Gifted Services web page.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
• Post 4 School Board Member Laura Searcy announces the following Community Forums.  All will be held at Pitner Elementary School in the media center at 7 p.m. The school address is 4575 Wade Green Road, Acworth, 30101.

Monday February 27, 2006
Monday, March 20, 2006
Monday, April 17, 2006
Monday, May 15, 2006

• Post 6 School Board Member Kathie Johnstone announces two Community Forums:

February 15, 2006
East Cobb Middle School
6:00 p.m.  Open House
7:00 p.m.  Open Forum: Wheeler Cluster Celebration,  Information and Board member forum

March 16, 2006
Walton High School
7p.m.   Town Hall meeting - All community members, parents, students and staff are invited to participate in this open forum to discuss education issues.

DISTRICT NEWS:
Cobb Celebrates National School Counseling Week Feb. 6 - 10

The Board welcomed several representatives from school guidance offices throughout the District at the Jan. 26 meeting, in honor of National School Counseling Week Feb. 6 - 10.

The District employs 291 guidance counselors, who assist students in career exploration, connect with parents in helping students grow, and work alongside teachers to improve the learning environments within our schools.

Take the time to tell a counselor at your local school that you appreciate the work they do for our students.

SPLOST UPDATE:
Attendance Zone Vote Postponed
The Board of Education has postponed voting on redistrictings for the new Hillgrove High School, and Lovinggood and McClure middle schools. The Board had originally planned to approve the redistrictings at its work session on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006, but postponed the decision in order to evaluate a new local law.

• There is an immediate need to open all three schools. These schools were approved by voters in the 2003 SPLOST II referendum and will provide much-needed relief for overcrowded schools such as McEachern and Kennesaw Mt. high schools, and several middle schools in the area.

• A new local law will change school board policy regarding redistrictings, as well as the procedure currently practiced by the school district’s planning staff. The Board and staff will have to evaluate all aspects of the new law to determine its effect on the redistricting process.

• There are many remaining steps to prepare Hillgrove, Lovinggood and McClure for opening in August. These steps include determining teacher allotments and hiring staffs, and determining how many students intend to move to the new schools (under current Administrative Rule redistricted students may stay at their current school if they provide their own transportation). These steps cannot be completed until district lines are established.

The good news story of SPLOST continues for Cobb County taxpayers. In January 2006, the school board approved:

• Borrowing $115 million in low-interest notes to proceed with school construction projects in 2006. These notes will be repaid with SPLOST revenue received in 2006, and will be invested until needed in order to earn offsetting interest.
• A $6.3 million, 22-classroom addition at Russell Elementary School.
• A $5.6 million, 17-classroom addition at Murdock Elementary School.