Press Release

Twenty-eight Cobb Schools Honored
With State Awards For Student Achievement

Twenty-eight Cobb County schools have been named award winners for student achievement and academic improvement by the Georgia Department of Education and the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. To celebrate, Georgia Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox arrived this morning at Kemp Elementary School via helicopter and led the students and staff in a pep rally. Kemp is one of just seven schools in Georgia that met the award criteria for both the Highest Achievement and Greatest Gains categories. A crowd of Kemp students, teachers and school district officials welcomed Superintendent Cox, who presented principal Kristy Mason with award banners for the school.

The awards are based on student performance on the 2006-07 CRCT tests (for elementary and middle schools) or the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (for high schools), state assessments that help determine a school’s status under federal No Child Left Behind standards. Each award has four honor levels – Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze – that correspond to a school’s consistent performance and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status.

The Highest Achievement award is given to schools that have a very high percentage of students meeting test standards, as well as a significant percentage exceeding standards. The Cobb County winners are:

   Platinum:  Shallowford Falls and Tritt elementary schools; Walton High School;
   Gold:         Davis, Mount Bethel, Murdock and Timber Ridge elementary schools;
                    Dickerson Middle School, Lassiter High School;
   Silver:       East Side, Ford, Kemp, Rocky Mount, Vaughan and Sope Creek elementary schools;
                    Hightower Trail and Mabry middle schools; Harrison and Pope high schools;
   Bronze:     Garrison Mill and Mountain View elementary schools; Dodgen and
                    Simpson middle schools.

The Greatest Gains award is given to schools that showed the greatest improvement in CRCT or GHSGT scores and had a significant percentage of students exceeding standards. The Cobb County winners are:

   Platinum:  Kemp and Teasley elementary schools; Durham Middle School;
   Gold:         Pebblebrook High School;
   Bronze:     Riverside Primary School.

Additional information is available at The Governor’s Office for Student Achievement Web site at http://www.gaosa.org.