SRT-1 and SRT-4 N.W. cluster community stakeholders are invited to provide input and feedback on possible solutions to current changes in student enrollment. Independent demographers will present multiple scenarios for your consideration on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 from 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at Douglass High School. See below a letter from superintendent Erroll Davis along with a list of schools in the SRT-1 and 4 cluster.
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Board of Education approved personnel changes recommended by Interim Superintendent Erroll B. Davis Jr. in response to the state CRCT investigation report that replaced the regional leadership for APS schools, along with a principal at one of the district’s year-round schools that begins classes for the new school year Wednesday. The action came at the board’s regular monthly meeting Monday evening.
The district’s regional school management is divided among four geographical areas, known as School Reform Teams (SRT). The following changes were made to the leadership of those organizations:
Keisha Gibbons, former assistant principal at Centennial Place Elementary School, replaces Emalyn Foreman as principal at Boyd Elementary School, a district year-round school that begins classes for the new school year Wednesday. Additional personnel actions associated with the state investigation are expected in the next days and weeks.
In other action, Board of Education member and former chair Khaatim Sherrer El resigned his District 2 seat at the meeting. He said that he was resigning to accept an out-of-state position. Board Chair Brenda J. Muhammad congratulated El for his service to the children of Atlanta and participated in a standing ovation for him. There will be a special election in November to elect a new board member for District 2. The Board is expected to elect an interim representative to serve until the election.
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We had a great time covering First Lady Michelle Obama‘s visit to Burgess-Peterson Academy to mark the first anniversary of her Let’s Move campaign against childhood obesity by celebrating the elementary school’s health, wellness and nutrition initiatives. The initiatives are a part of an overall strategy by Atlanta Public Schools’ Nutrition Department, headed by Dr. Marilyn Hughes.
Enjoy these images above by Media Production Manager Scott King, as well as his expanded photo gallery in the Media Gallery section of the District website. Click here for the images.
First Lady Michelle Obama marked the first anniversary of her Let’s Move initiative with a visit to Burgess-Peterson Academy on Wednesday afternoon. The school is one of the leaders in Atlanta Public Schools when it comes to health, wellness and nutrition efforts thanks to hard work among faculty, staff, students, parents and its network of community partners. (Check out a mini-photo gallery above, or the big one here.)
In honor of the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, APS helped make this month’s R.E.A.L. Men Read event a family affair. Isaac Farris Jr. read to students at Hope-Hill and Toomer elementary schools from “My Brother Martin,” a children’s book by his mother, Christine King Farris. (Check out the photo gallery here.) Subtitled “A Sister Remembers: Growing up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” the book features rich illustrations (by Chris Soentpiet) that detail the civil-rights legend and Atlanta native’s work in the movement (and his home life) during the 1950s and 60s.
While regular R.E.A.L. Men Read volunteers Mike Howard, Frederick Rucker and Andre Barron focused on their second-grade classes, Farris read to the school’s entire third-grade class assembled in the media center.
Parents as Partners Academic Center’s (PAPAC) Fall Open House on Tuesday showcased the myriad services available to parents and guardians of Atlanta Public Schools’ 50,000 students. Family Involvement Liaison Emily Holland welcomed more than 100 visitors and vendors who met and learned more about this vital but sometimes under-utilized service housed in the same building that is home to Kennedy Middle School, School Reform Team 1 and the Pre-Kindergarten Program at 225 James P. Brawley Drive.
Check out the video above as Holland offers a walking tour through the center and explains the services and special events.
The theme of the event was “Home Sweet Home,” and guests crammed the morning session. Attendance for the afternoon session was hindered by inclement weather, but guests still received lots of information about PAPAC, which offers workshops, tutorials and special events targeted at everything from helping parents communicate with their children to tax-preparation assistance.
Vendors for the event included Atlanta Access Care, Babies Can’t Wait, the Georgia Department of Education, Raising Expectation and Parent to Parent of Georgia, along with such APS programs as the nutrition department and Project GRAD.
PAPAC is open Monday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Tuesday, 2:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.; Wednesday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Thursday, noon-2:30 p.m.; and Friday, noon-4:30 p.m. For more information on PAPAC, call 404-802-3673 or email parentsaspartners@atlanta.k12.ga.us.
Wanda Brown-Cook
Carver School of the Arts
Dr. Marvin Pryor, principal
Randolph Bynum, associate superintendent of high schools
Wanda Brown-Cook, a native of Atlanta, graduated from Spelman College with a bachelor of arts degree in English. She received a master’s degree in education at Buffalo State University of New York in the Teacher Corps/Peace Corps program. Later, she pursued further studies at Troy State University. (Watch her acceptance speech as High School Teacher of the Year here.)
Leslie Harrell-Tumlin
Warren T. Jackson Elementary School
Dr. Lorraine Reich, principal
Tamara Cotman, executive director, SRT-4
Leslie Harrell-Tumlin is a 2004 graduate of Furman University where she concurrently completed two bachelor of arts degrees in elementary education and French. Her first teaching assignment led her to an “at-risk” school in rural South Carolina. Two years later, she became the only non-native French teacher at a language immersion school. She is proud to begin her fourth year as a teacher of fourth grade at Warren T. Jackson Elementary School. Presently Tumlin is enrolled in Georgia State University where she is pursuing a master’s degree in reading, language arts, and literature with an ESOL endorsement. (Watch her acceptance speech as Elementary School Teacher of the Year here.)
UPDATE: View photo gallery here. Watch video here.
The second annual Neighborhood Celebration provided Atlanta Public Schools to showcase the schools in the southeast Atlanta neighborhoods that feed into host school Maynard H. Jackson High School, on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. The school halls were filled with representatives from the participating schools as well as community partners and supporters. The celebration touted the accomplishments of and programs at Benteen, Burgess-Peterson, Cook, East Lake, Hope-Hill, Parkside, Toomer and Whitefoord elementary schools; Coan and King middle schools; Jackson High; and the charter schools of Imagine Wesley Academy, Intown Academy, Neighborhood Charter, Atlanta Charter Middle, Drew Charter and Tech High.
UPDATE: Check out these profiles on Coan Middle School, King Middle, Parkside Elementary, the participating Confucius Institute schools, and the charter schools. Download and share this copy of the flyer!
The second annual APS Neighborhood Celebration will take place between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 2, at Maynard H. Jackson High School (801 Glenwood Ave. SE, Atlanta GA, 30316). Part pep rally, part open house, the “All for All, One by One” event will celebrate our neighborhood schools through student performances, a “Parade of Schools,” school displays and a canned food drive benefiting the Atlanta Community Food Bank and Hosea Feed The Hungry & Homeless. (Check out last year’s amazing Neighborhood Celebration!)
Parents, prospective students, Realtors and school, civic and business partners from the southeast Atlanta community are invited to attend to experience what’s happening at their neighborhood APS school. For more information, email zrobinson@atlantapublicschools.us.
Come back to this page for continual updates and previews from the participating schools as they give us a sneak peek at what you can expect as we celebrate our southeast Atlanta schools! For example, you can learn about such exciting school program’s as Jackson High’s performing arts offerings (pictured above).
Featured schools:
• Maynard H. Jackson High
• Coan Middle
• King Middle
• Atlanta Charter Middle
• Charles R. Drew Charter
• Imagine Wesley International Academy Charter
• Neighborhood Charter
• Intown Academy
• Benteen Elementary
• Burgess-Peterson Academy
• Cook Elementary
• East Lake Elementary
• Parkside Elementary
• Hill-Hope Elementary
• Toomer Elementary
• Whitefoord Elementary
• Tech High
