Canton, Hasty Recognized For Academic Improvement

CANTON, GA -- The Georgia Department of Education has recognized two Cherokee County elementary schools for making notable academic strides.

Canton Elementary School STEM Academy and Hasty Elementary School Fine Arts Academy today were removed from the state’s “Focus” list of Title I schools requiring additional support in order to improve student performance.

Title I schools enroll a large percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Both Canton and Hasty enroll the district's highest percentages of those students, as well as those who come from a household where English is a second language.

No other district schools are on the list.

The two schools have increased their rates for successfully closing the Achievement Gap on the Career and College Ready Performance Index, which factors in Georgia Milestones test results. This achievement in ensuring more students are mastering performance standards resulted in their exit from the “Focus” list they joined in 2015.

Both schools also recently were named to the GaDOE’s 2016 Beating the Odds list of schools earning CCRPI scores that exceeded expectations for student performance taking into account such factors as socio-economic challenges faced by students.

As it has in other instances of student performance concerns, the system sent a team of district leaders to both of these campuses in 2015 for a review of instructional and operational practices and resources. Following the visit, recommended changes were made to improve teaching and learning with continuing support from the CCSD team.

“We have made it a standard operating practice to focus greater support and resources on schools when we identify student performance issues in order to improve teaching and learning,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Hightower said, noting the team also has been dispatched to other schools not flagged by the state. “We believe it takes unequal resources to meet unequal needs, and I’m very pleased and proud to see our attention to these schools and their unique challenges has paid off with better performance. Kudos to the teachers, staff, parents, volunteers and partners who have worked diligently to ensure all of these children receive the best education possible.”

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