Changes for new school year include boundaries, transportation
The first day of classes for the 2012-13 school year for most APS students is Monday, August 6, 2012. APS students who attend the district’s three year-round schools began classes for the new school year on July 10, 2012.
There are significant changes impacting students and parents for the new school year resulting from budget considerations and the district-wide redistricting initiative. These changes are detailed on the district Web site (www.atlantapublicschools.us) under the scrolling banner at to the top of the home page ’New at APS for the 2012-13 School Year’.
Beginning this school year, out-of-zone students enrolled in magnet programs at Douglass, Grady, Mays, North Atlanta and Washington high schools will no longer receive district pupil transportation to and from school. Students who reside outside of the attendance zones for these schools and meet certain qualification criteria will receive MARTA passes provided by the district.
Additionally, students attending Crim High School and West End Academy will no longer be provided district pupil transportation to and from these schools. MARTA passes will be provided by the district for students who attend these alternative schools and who meet certain qualification criteria. Also, students attending out-of-zone schools due to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) transfers will no longer be provided with district pupil transportation services. Georgia is one of a number of states that was provided a waiver from the NCLB requirements by the federal government.
The Atlanta Board of Education approved attendance zone changes and school closures as part of the district-wide redistricting initiative. APS schools slated for closure under the plan are Capitol View, Cook, East Lake, Herndon and White elementary schools, along with Kennedy and Parks middle schools. Parks and Kennedy middle schools will remain open during the 2012-13 school year.
The district has also reconfigured the schools into cluster configurations with specific elementary and middle schools feeding into designated high schools with an associated continuity of foreign language courses and academic programs.
The district’s two single-gender schools – Coretta School King Young Women’s Leadership Academy and B.E.S.T. Academy – are currently available for district-wide enrollment.
Parents may now access school zone interactive maps on the district website.
A number of other changes are being implemented for the 2012-13 school year. Students and parents are encouraged to visit the district’s Web site for details or contract their local schools.
