Inclement Weather

Free Tutoring (SES)

H1N1 Flu Updates

Primary (K-3) Reporting

Calendars

Pinnacle (Parents)

PICASSO (Parents)

MealPay Plus

Lunch Menus

Bus Routes

Summer School Info

Cobb Virtual Library

Five Cobb Schools Named 2009 Georgia Schools of Excellence

Five Cobb County schools have been named 2009 Georgia Schools of Excellence by the Georgia Department of Education. For the second consecutive year, Cobb had the highest number of Schools of Excellence from any school district in the state! Ford Elementary, Mableton Elementary, Teasley Elementary, Dodgen Middle and Pope High schools are among just 27 across Georgia to receive the honor. Georgia Schools of Excellence are selected based on overall excellence and gains in student achievement. The Georgia Schools of Excellence program began in 1984 and has become a badge of honor for schools across the state. Cobb County schools have received 50 Georgia School of Excellence designations since the program’s inception, including 15 in the past three years.

The Georgia Schools of Excellence program identifies two winning schools from each congressional district in Georgia, based on two sets of criteria. First, a school must rank highest in its congressional district and also be among the state’s top 10 percent of schools as measured by assessments in reading and mathematics. Pope High School tied for qualification in Congressional District 6, and Ford Elementary met qualifications for District 11, making both schools eligible for No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools Award nominations.

The second category of distinction recognized schools from each congressional district with the greatest continuous gains in student achievement in reading and mathematics over a five-year period. Dodgen Middle School made greatest gains for District 6, while Mableton and Teasley elementary schools tied for qualification for District 13. Schools chosen for either category must meet Adequate Yearly Progress for at least three consecutive years, meet or exceed state mean scores in Science and Social Studies and have 100 percent of the teaching staff meet Georgia’s ‘highly qualified’ standards. Cobb

Superintendent Fred Sanderson said, “The number one priority for Cobb County is student success, and for the second year in a row the district leads Georgia with the highest number of schools of excellence. In fact over the last three years, fifteen different CCSD schools have received this distinguished status from the state. All of this success is thanks to our students, parents, teachers and administrators who have worked extremely hard to maintain a clear focus on learning and achievement. With these recognitions and the fact that more than 94 percent of our schools making Adequate Yearly Progress in 2009, one would be hard pressed to describe this school system as anything else than thriving.”

Details about the Georgia Schools of Excellence program, including selection criteria, is available from the Department of Education’s web site at www.gadoe.org.

###