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Cobb County
A Message From
A Message From |
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Spotlight On.... |
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Spotlight on . . .
The Cobb Chamber of Commerce recognizes the Cobb County and Marietta City district-wide Teachers of the Year with a special handprint ceremony on the Marietta Square and a special reception in their honor. This achievement is special as it marks one unique individual as Cobb County’s top educator for the year. For Jennifer Frisch, the decision to become a teacher was an easy one. As a young girl, Ms. Frisch enjoyed playing school with friends, and her parents encouraged her love of reading, experiences which she credits as inspiring in her a passion for education. As a sixth grade teacher at Lost Mountain Middle School, Ms. Frisch has clearly demonstrated that her excitement and commitment to education is as strong as ever. Selected from among nearly 100 other Teachers of the Year from each school throughout the county, Ms. Frisch was named Cobb County’s Teacher of the Year for 2001-02 in Sept. 2001. “Learning to love reading brought me relatively easy academic achievement, which made me love school,” explained Ms. Frisch. “I became a teacher because I had very positive interaction with teaching and learning from the time I was very young.” Ms. Frisch joined the Cobb County School District in 1991 at Lost Mountain Middle School where she has since taught reading, literacy, science and social studies to sixth graders. A two-time graduate of Marshall University in West Virginia (B.A., English Education, 1978; M.A., Reading, 1979), Ms. Frisch began her teaching career in 1979 as a teacher of the hearing impaired in West Virginia and was formerly an English teacher at Milton Junior High School, also in West Virginia, and Pickens Junior High School in South Carolina. She firmly believes that teaching is the successful interplay between presentation of information by the teacher, assimilation of information by the student, and the personalities of both. “I focus on personality first and foremost in my classroom. Much is written about how learners are more successful in a positive environment. My classroom is a busy one, but one where students know they are welcome to express themselves.” Using technology
resources and hands-on projects also stimulates learning in her
classroom and makes the process more interesting for her students,
and less intimidating. These techniques, combined with an element
of mystery in her lessons, makes Ms. Frisch’s teaching more
effective for her sixth grade students.
Spotlight on . . . An impressive 26 Cobb County educators received the status of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) in 2002. Considered one of education’s top honors, earning National Board Certification takes nearly a year to complete with rigorous assessments of the candidates throughout the process. Established in 1993, national certification provides advanced evaluation of experienced educators and complements the state certification process. Teachers can gain national certification in their select teaching areas including language arts, early childhood, mathematics, and science, among others. “I am extremely proud of our Cobb County educators who have achieved the prestigious credential of National Board Certified Teacher,” said Superintendent Joe Redden. “Their dedication to pursuing national certification reflects their commitment to excellence in education and holds them up as a model for other educators, parents and students.” The new class of NBCTs brings Cobb County’s total number of NBCTs to 38. Congratulations to the class of 2002:
Elaine Bolek (Cheatham Hill)
Spotlight on . . .
ESOL & IEL Programs at At East Cobb Middle School, for example, more than 130 students participate in the IEL and ESOL programs. Students first take the Language Assessment Battery (LAB), which will determine their placement in either the IEL or ESOL program. The IEL is the first level of support and is designed to assist students who have lived in an English-speaking country for less than 12 months — those considered newcomers to the English language. Students in the IEL Program take three 90-minute blocks of English each day: the American Language Course, Reading and Writing, and Basic English. IEL students also take math and physical education as part of their curriculum. With a concentrated approach to all aspects of language acquisition, the IEL Program provides students with the necessary time to fully focus on developing proficiency in English prior to tackling language-dense courses such as science and social studies. The second level of support at East Cobb Middle School is the ESOL Program. Designed for students who have been in an English-speaking country for more than 12 months, but for whom English is not their first language, the ESOL Program provides participating students with specialized classes for enhancing their reading and language arts skills. In addition, ESOL students do take other academic classes along with their English-speaking peers. Their specialized ESOL classes focus on developing skills in reading comprehension, literacy, writing, and in furthering listening comprehension and fluency in spoken communication. The ESOL and IEL student population at
East Cobb Middle School is served by seven full-time ESOL teachers and
three para-professionals who strive to help their students reach a
high level of achievement in the English language. Cobb County is
committed to supporting our ESOL and IEL students as they work to
“graduate” from these programs and join their peers in the
English-speaking academic program of their schools.
Spotlight on . . . Garrett Middle School and Fair Oaks Elementary launched the ‘America’s Choice’ school program during the 2001-02 school year with great success! Designed to emphasize reading and writing during the first year of implementation, and math instruction during the second year, America’s Choice standards closely follow the Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) set by the state Department of Education. Students learn how to analyze their own work and evaluate it against the performance standards. With an emphasis on reading, all teachers, administrators and staff members demonstrate their support of the program by following the students’ lead and reading 25 books during the school year. The 2002-03 school year saw an expansion of the program as six more schools joined Garrett and Fair Oaks as America’s Choice program schools. The comprehensive school reform program launched at Austell, Green Acres, LaBelle, Norton Park, Powers Ferry and Sky View elementaries in August 2002.
Cobb County made the
decision to expand the America’s Choice program due to positive
results at Garrett and Fair Oaks, and due to the solid data
collected through the program at the state level. The county
provides each school with two coaches, as well as a design coach,
who provide ongoing training and guidance to teachers within the
program schools.
Spotlight on . . . The 2001-02 school year saw the implementation of a unique plan to improve student achievement. Bryant Elementary divided into two learning communities - a school-within-a-school - to become Bryant Primary (pre-K through second grade) and Bryant Intermediate (third to fifth grade). The smaller units allow the staffs of each school to develop more focused learning programs appropriate for the respective grade levels, all while building a stronger sense of school community among the students, as well as increasing parent involvement. The school-within-a-school strategy provides an intense literary focus with assistance from a consultant. In addition, instructional teams provide consistent reviews of achievement data, the curriculum and instruction, and intervention plans are in place to ensure that students stay on target with their goals.
The success of the
Bryant community paved the way for the addition of Frey and
Kennesaw elementaries to the school-within-a-school plan for the
2002-03 school year. Spotlight on . . . “It takes a village to teach a child,” is a philosophy that Cobb County Schools follows through its Partners in Education program (see page 5 for details). Through this program, business leaders provide support to our schools by donating money, time and volunteers. Since reading is a fundamental concern with every school in Cobb County, the school district relies on its business partners and other volunteers to assist in providing mentors and tutors to students. Brumby Elementary School is a true example of this philosophy in action. With many local businesses, including Publix, General Electric, Cousin’s Properties, Prudential/Atlanta, The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Cobb County Firefighters, the Optimist Club and others, as partners, Brumby is able to call upon these leaders to assist in its RISE (Reading Is Succeeding Everyday) instructional model. With the help of Communities in Schools, Brumby has recruited and trained more than 50 new volunteers to work one-on-one with students in grades K-3 to enhance their reading skills. Many volunteers also work with the school’s After School Program tutoring students in reading and mathematics. Because Brumby is rich with multicultural influences and represents approximately 42 different countries, they also have a need for translators. Community members showed an overwhelming response and offered their services as translators. Brumby has increased its volunteer force more than 350 percent in the last year alone and hopes to continue gaining community support and awareness.
Community involvement is a part of
what makes the Cobb County School District such a strong school
system. Through volunteers, business partners and community
leaders, Brumby Elementary and other schools in Cobb County are
better able to serve their students and help them prepare for the
future. |
As part of the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce’s
partnership with the school district, each year the Chamber
sponsors “Give Our Schools a Hand” week, a celebration that honors
each Teacher of the Year from every Cobb County and Marietta City
school. Out of those selected to receive this top designation, a
district-wide Teacher of the Year is chosen from each school
district.