Atlanta Public Schools parents and students are invited to visit their school, meet teachers and principals and receive class schedules during the district’s open house events this Friday afternoon, August 1.
District-wide Open Houses – Friday, August 1, 2014
(All APS traditional schools)
High Schools                 1-3 p.m.
Middle Schools              3-5 p.m.
Elementary Schools    5-7 p.m.
APS projects an enrollment of 50,000 students this school year at its 107 learning sites. Â 22 schools will have new principals during the upcoming academic year. Â All high school students will receive their schedules in hand during the open house events and middle school schedules will also be available.
WHAT’S NEW
Several schools are experiencing changes beyond new leadership.  Booker T. Washington High School will transition from three small schools to one comprehensive high school with one principal. The school is also celebrating its 90th anniversary educating high school students in the city of Atlanta.  D. M. Therrell High School will operate with one principal to supervise all three schools.
Coan Middle School closed at the end of the recent school year and has merged with M.L. King, Jr. Middle School. The merged King Middle School will be temporarily housed at the original Coan facility until modifications to the existing M.L. King, Jr. campus are completed in the summer of 2016. On August 4, 2014, students and staff of the merged M.L. King, Jr. Middle School will report to 1550 Hosea Williams Dr. N.E., Atlanta, GA 30317.
North Atlanta High students will experience a new bell start time at 8:45 a.m. – all other high schools start at 8:30 a.m.
Forrest Hill Academy students will continue to receive MARTA cards to ride to the East Point MARTA rail station. Â APS will now provide roundtrip shuttle service from the station to the school.
Bus schedules were posted online Thursday morning and can be found at http://www.atlantapublicschools.us/transportation.  APS has added 13 new buses that operate on green diesel technology to its fleet. The 72-passenger, Bluebird buses are also air conditioned and will be added in all quadrants of the school zone.  Students receiving special transportation have been contacted by the Office of Student Services.  If you are new to the district and have not secured transportation for your special needs student, please call 404 802-1699.
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Continuing last year’s trend of embracing online learning, the Atlanta Virtual Academy (AVA) is increasing the number of courses available online from 12 to 44 courses this fall. For the first time, APS middle and high school students can take Advanced Placement (AP) classes, gifted honors and world languages courses through AVA. Â Registration is currently taking place at http://www.atlantapublicschools.us/AVA.
Students in grades 3-12 will now have access to a secure Microsoft Outlook email account through the APS student portal –My Back Pack. Students will use their APS email to share digital notebooks and collaborate with teachers and other APS students.  The Division of Information Technology is excited to bring 21st century tools to students in Atlanta Public Schools.  Parents will be given the opportunity to opt-out of student email if needed – open house provides an excellent opportunity for parents to speak with classroom teachers about student email.
Did you know that lunch prices have increased for the upcoming school year?  Meal Prices for the new school year have increased by the following:  Elementary, middle and high school students – $.25  Adults – $1.00.  New this year, APS cafeteria health scores are now posted on the district’s main website in the quick links section.
For the 2014-15 school year, the state of Georgia will no longer use the Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) to test students’ knowledge in reading, English/language arts, math, science, and social studies. The Georgia Milestones Assessment System, known as Georgia Milestones, will replace the CRCT, as well as the CRCT-M, the End of Course Test (EOCT) and the writing assessment administered to third, fifth, and eighth graders at APS.
The Gifted and Talented program will now assess students only during the month of October. Parent, teacher, and student data referrals are due October 3, 2014. Students determined eligible will participate during the 2014-2015 school year. APS will launch the Gifted High School Redesign Program. The newly designed gifted delivery models for high school students will include mentorship, internship, resource seminars, and directed studies.
CHARTER SCHOOLS
Centennial Elementary School has become the first K-8 conversion charter school in the district. Centennial Academy will serve students in grades K-6 during the 2014-15 school year, and add a grade each year until grade 8. The academy’s revamped curriculum will include more project-based learning and extensive professional development, with an instructional focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and math.
Drew Charter High School students will move from their temporary location at Kennedy Middle School to their permanent, newly constructed facility at 301 East Lake Blvd., SE 30317.
KIPP WAYS will open a primary school, serving kindergarteners in 2014, and add a grade each year thereafter.
The Atlanta Classical Academy will open as a new APS charter school, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grades.
LEADERSHIP
The district will be led by new superintendent, Dr. Meria Carstarphen. Â Carstarphen brings with her nearly 20 years of education and experience in diverse, urban public school districts including Austin, Texas, Saint Paul, Minn. and the District of Columbia. Â Dr. Carstarphen is excited to be in Atlanta. She is eager to join the Board of Education and the Atlanta community in working collaboratively to make Atlanta Public Schools the best in the nation.
Learn more about back-to-school activities and changes at http://www.atlantapublicschools.us/dayone.
Booker T. Washington High School recently hosted its annual Title I Open House.
During the open house parents and students learned more about Title I programs, budgets and initiatives for the new school year. 
“We discussed the school data and we received input on the Title I plan and budget,” explained Dr. Charcia Nichols, Principal of Washington High School- Banking, Finance, and Investment. “We reviewed the parent compact forms and discussed ways to encourage students to complete additional community service hours.”
GivingPoint participated in the open house event and spoke with parents and students about a variety of community service opportunities throughout the city of Atlanta.
GivingPoint is a nationwide community-based youth development organization that inspires a passion for learning and service through cutting edge technology resources, virtual educational modules, and hands-on volunteer opportunities. GivingPoint was created to help youth discover their unique passion, fuel their spark, elevate their ideas and share their stories to create a better, more connected and socially responsible world.
“This was a great event for the school,” Dr. Nichols said. “Several alumni were also in attendance to support the event.”
This year guests enjoyed a wonderful spaghetti dinner during the open house. The food was prepared by Washington’s Culinary Arts teacher, Chef Sinclair. Many parents said they left the open house event informed and FULL.
North Atlanta High School
For the first time, APS hosted a districtwide open house on August 5th at all school sites. Elementary, middle, and high schools opened their doors a few days before school starts to welcome their parents and students. Open house was a great opportunity for parents and students to interact with their teachers and become familiarized with the school facilities. They gathered information about the classes, programs, extracurricular activities, transportation, and more, as they walked around booths or classrooms. The open houses were a great success and APS welcomes all new and returning parents and students!
Thomasville Heights Elementary School
Peyton Forest Elementary School
Maynard H. Jackson High School
Dr. Nicole Evans Jones, Toomer principal, children and families planting elm tree donated by Trees Atlanta.
Transition and bonding events are taking place throughout APS to welcome new families redistricted recently following the 2011-2012 Demographic and Capacity Study. Particular attention was given recently by the parents and staff at Fred Armon Toomer Elementary to new students from East Lake and Whitefoord Elementary.
Ebony Henry, mother of Braelen Dory, rising 2nd grader from East Lake said, “Happiness is about loving what you have and three communities coming together will result in an awesome school.” The Open House and Family Fun Day on May 17th hosted by Toomer Elementary for new families from East Lake and Whitefoord was well organized and exciting for all. Toomer’s principal, Dr. Nicole Evans Jones and East Lake’s interim principal, Mary Benton, began the Open House welcoming the children and their families. Toomer’s teachers guided the famileis on a school tour, followed by visiting the classroom of their upcoming grade level.
Ellen Buettner, mother of Sophia Buettner, rising Toomer 3rd grader said, “The open house was so well organized. I think the students liked being able to go off to visit the classrooms by themselves. They were a little shy at first with the teachers, but most warmed up pretty quickly. It’s going to be a great school year at Toomer with all these great families!”
Engaging, hands-on activities facilitated by Toomer’s teachers allowed the children to get a sneak peek into the grade level curriculum of their upcoming school year. Make-and-take projects were created to provide the children with souvenirs from their inaugural visit to Toomer Elementary.
Highlighting the conclusion of the event was a tree planting ceremony to commemorate the new family of Toomer Elementary, which combines Toomer Elementary, East Lake, and a portion of Whitefoord Elemetary school families. Trees Atlanta donated an elm tree planted on the playground by the children and Toomer’s principal. “It will grow to over 30 feet tall and provide shade as kids play and learn, which symbolizes the growing family we are beginning,” said Jones. The children were so enthusiastic to help Toomer’s principal plant the tree and play in the dirt!
Via Smith, mother of Kelvin Simmons, rising 4th grader from East Lake Elementary said, “Transition is defined as the process of changing from one state to another. After tonight, I feel the transition from East Lake to Toomer will be a smooth one.”
To further the bond and strengthen the new school community of Toomer Elementary School, the open house was followed by two weekend events. The students and families from all schools were invited on Saturday to attend the annual Kirkwood Spring Fling, sponsored by the Kirkwood Neighborhood Organization, and on Sunday, the East Lake Schools Coalition hosted an ice cream social at the East Lake Community Learning Garden.
New to Toomer Elementary? Returning student?
View the 2012-2013 School Supply List posted on the school’s website.
Your school wants to plan an open house for prospective parents to visit their neighborhood school.
HERE’S HOW YOU DO IT:
Step 1: Identify students, parents, faculty, staff, and school partners to serve as members on the “Open House Planning Committee.”
Step 2:Â As a committee, select a date and time in which you can attract a large number of parents and community members to your open house. This can possibly be a recurring monthly event.
Step 3: Publicize the open house with colorful signs in the lobby, send a student-created invitation home, send an email invitation, write a short article for your community newspaper, post the date on your school website, attend a community meeting, and invite your school partners and local businesses to spread the word.
Step 4: Create an agenda that includes ample time for a school tour. Consider student and parent ambassadors to assist.
Step 5: Decide what items you would like to go in a Parent Information Packet that each parent can take home. This may include; Top 10 Points of Pride, Fast Facts, Faculty/Staff Bios, Curriculum Overview, After-School/Extracurricular Offerings, School Partners, and copies of The Atlanta Educator.
Step 6: Send a personal Thank You note to each person that attended.
MATERIALS YOU MAY FIND USEFUL:
·         Decorations that welcome parents and the community
·         Welcome table with sign-in sheet to record names and contact information
·         PowerPoint presentation that includes photos of students engaged in hands-on learning activities
·         Light refreshments
If you need assistance, your communications liaison should be the main point of contact:
SRT-1: Kimberly Willis Green, kwgreen@atlanta.k12.ga.us x2836
SRT-2: Morieka V. Johnson, mvjohnson@atlanta.k12.ga.us x2849
SRT-3: Luana Slaughter, lslaughter@atlanta.k12.ga.us 678-686-0310
SRT-4: David Lee Simmons, dsimmons@atlanta.k12.ga.us x2849
Office of High Schools: Stephen Alford, salford@atlanta.k12.ga.us x2835