School Board Rolls Out Parent Academy Program

CANTON, GA -- The first meeting held Thursday, Aug. 17 in the new auditorium at the Dr. Frank R. Petruzielo Educational Services Facility was the prime opportunity for the Cherokee County School Board to introduce a program designed to expose parents to various aspects of the school district.

In collaboration with the Georgia School Boards Association, board members announced plans to offer a parent academy program in the fall.

“Today is a milestone for CCSD,” School Board member Patsy Jordan said in her inspiration moment remarks that open the meeting, and then connected the opening with CCSD’s 2017-18 theme of family. “This building is equipped to house part of our CCSD family.”

The Georgia School Boards Association’s parent academy program, VILLA, or Volunteer Instructional Leadership Learning Academy, will be piloted in the Cherokee County School District this fall.

School board members on Thursday night reviewed the program application, which is posted online. The deadline to return those applications to the district is Sept. 5 (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app).

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian V. Hightower said the free program likely will be offered each year, and the first class set for this fall will be open to 24 participants. Starting Oct. 9, the class will meet for six sessions; five meetings will be on Monday evenings, and one will be a Monday morning field trip to several schools.

Held in the same vain as local public safety academies that expose residents various aspects of law enforcement, VILLA will give participants a chance to learn more about the school district, including an overview of its governance model and the role of school board members, Major System Priorities and day-to-day operations. The program will include question-and-answer sessions with board members, Superintendent Dr. Brian Hightower and senior staff.

School Board Chair Kyla Cromer, who during her last campaign talked about the idea of creating such program, said Thursday she was glad to see this “citizen awareness opportunity” become a reality.

“This is an outstanding opportunity for our community to learn more about our award-winning school district,” Dr. Hightower noted, adding that community input is integral to the success of the system, especially it’s strategic planning and vision casting efforts.

Also on Thursday, board members took the first step in constructing additional classrooms at Mill Creek Middle School by sending a request to the state, as the project will be built using Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax and state construction funds. The project will add 16 regular classrooms, four science labs, a family consumer science classroom and a Global Learning Theatre. Construction is planned to begin next spring.

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