Fulton Expects More Students For 2014-15 School Year

Staff Report

The 2014-15 school year starts on Monday, August 11, for thousands of children in the Fulton County School System. 

The system continues to be the fourth largest school district in Georgia with a projected 2014-15 enrollment of approximately 96,300 students — an expected increase of about 1,200 students from the previous school year. 

The system includes 101 schools — 58 elementary schools, 19 middle schools, 17 high schools and seven start-up charter schools.

Along with the increase in students, the district has also made a slew of changes and introduce new initiatives for the upcoming school year.

By the summer’s end, Fulton County Schools will have welcomed nearly 700 new teachers for 2014-15. This will bring the district’s total teaching force to about 6,800. The district used partnerships with Georgia Teaching Fellows, Teach For America, and Georgia Tech’s Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning to place more than 60 STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics) teachers and hard-to-staff content area teachers. 

• Rachel Williams, Crabapple Crossing Elementary School
• Racquel Harris, Feldwood Elementary School
• Laurie Woodruff, Hembree Springs Elementary School
• Ariane Holcombe, Mimosa Elementary School
• Mari Early, Mount Olive Elementary School
• Mary Robson, New Prospect Elementary School
• Adrienne Grainger-Smith, Oak Knoll Elementary School
• Latrina Coxton, Oakley Elementary School
• Kedra Fairweather, Parklane Elementary School
• Lynn Johnson, Spalding Drive Charter Elementary School
• Andy Allison, Sweet Apple Elementary School
• Lori Bolds, Harriet Tubman Elementary School
• Anthony Newbold,  Bear Creek Middle School
• Rako Morrissey, Crabapple Middle School
• Christopher Shearer,  Holcomb Bridge Middle School
• Luqman Abdur-Rahman, McNair Middle School
• Jason Stamper, Woodland Middle School
• DeMarcos Holland, Banneker High School
• Gail Johnson, Johns Creek High School
• Nathan Buhl, Milton High School
• Brian Downey, Northview High School
• Alexandra Bates (interim), Westlake High School
• Chad Webb, Chattahoochee Hills Charter School

New Programs and Curriculum Offerings

Teach to One: Math. Camp Creek Middle School and Northwestern Middle School are introducing an instructional delivery model for math that redesigns the physical classroom to create several learning stations that teachers and students move between throughout a single class period. Students receive a targeted, individualized learning experience, at the right academic level, using the most appropriate instructional format. 

Over a single session, students may work on one of several instructional approaches, including live teacher-led instruction, student collaboration, software, or virtual instructors. Students are assessed daily to determine whether they have mastered a skill or need more time on that skill. Such daily assessments determine what each student will work on the following class day. The Teach to One program will serve as the primary delivery model for mathematics instruction for all students at Camp Creek Middle School and as a secondary support model for a select group of students at Northwestern Middle School.

Charter System – Requests For Flexibility. Last winter, the Fulton school board reviewed Requests for Flexibility from schools that wanted to use the district’s charter system status to exercise flexibility options supporting their school strategic plans. As examples of the 18 approved requests that go into effect this year, Centennial High School can now allow a waiver to grant physical education credit to students who participate in GHSA athletics, school-sponsored club sports, or marching band. Mountain Park Elementary School also can implement a new TAG (Talented and Gifted) model to allow more students to be exposed to TAG strategies and Northview High School can apply a class size waiver to offer a few larger Advanced Placement courses so that more students can have the opportunity to take AP courses.

Charter System – Cohort 3. In 2012, Fulton County Schools became Georgia’s largest charter system. The charter strengthens the district’s ability to provide flexibility in its operations with the result of increased student achievement.  

The first two years of the five-year charter focused on developing School Governance Councils for 57 schools (called “Cohort 1” and “Cohort 2”) and the Request for Flexibility process. These schools became a model for others to observe as they elected students, parents, teachers and staff, and community members to serve on their governance councils. Now in the third year of charter implementation, all remaining Fulton County schools (“Cohort 3”) will focus on developing their councils and electing members. Elections for will be held in late fall and training for members will occur in the winter.

Seed Fund Grants. Nineteen Fulton County schools are stepping outside of the box with innovative classroom projects thanks to $2.6 million in “Seed Fund” grants. The Seed Fund was created earlier last year through a $7.8 million total allocation from the Georgia General Assembly to aid Fulton County Schools in its transition to become the state’s largest charter system. Managed by the Fulton Education Foundation, the Seed Fund is designed to help schools get great ideas off of the drawing board and into the classroom.

Examples of Seed Fund sponsored projects are the expansion of Westlake High School’s SAT prep course. Unlike expensive private programs, Westlake’s SAT prep is a regular elective course taught during the school day with Applerouth SAT tutors as instructors. Centennial High School also is unveiling a newly redesigned media center that encourages technology savvy and personalized learning, and Heards Ferry Elementary School now has funds to apply to become an International Baccalaureate Primary Years School so it can feed into the IB curriculum already in its feeder middle and high schools. 

Student Learning Objectives. Student Learning Objectives (SLOs), a component of the Teacher Keys Effectiveness System, measure student growth and academic achievement. Introduced this fall in all Fulton County schools as mandated by the Georgia Department of Education, the purpose of SLOs is to improve student achievement at the classroom level. 

District-determined SLOs are content-specific, grade-level learning objectives that are measureable, focused on growth in student learning, and aligned to curriculum standards. For teachers of tested subjects, this component consists of a Student Growth Percentile measure. Tested subjects include reading, English/language arts, mathematics, science and social studies for grades 4-8 and all high school courses for which there is an End-of-Course Test (EOCT).

For teachers of non-tested subjects, this component consists of the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) approved Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) that use district-identified achievement growth measures. 

Data from the assessments will help educators plan for student success by ensuring that every minute of instruction is moving students, teachers, and schools toward the common vision of exemplary instruction and high levels of student academic growth. In addition, as a measure of teachers’ impact on student learning, SLOs give educators, school systems, and state leaders an additional means by which to understand, value, and recognize success in the classroom. SLOs will provide evidence of each teacher’s instructional impact on student learning. 

Georgia Milestones. This year Fulton County Schools will begin using the Georgia Department of Education’s new testing system, the Georgia Milestones Assessment System (Georgia Milestones). Georgia Milestones will replace the CRCT and the EOCT.

Services for Exceptional Children Advisory Board. The Services for Exceptional Children Department has formed an advisory board. The board is comprised of parents and district staff with the purpose of addressing topics and issues related to the education of students with disabilities in Fulton County Schools.  The department held an open invitation to be a part of this important group last spring.  Members were selected over the summer and the board will meet regularly throughout the school year.

New Charter School. Chattahoochee Hills Charter School will open at 9670 Rivertown Road in Fairburn to students in kindergarten through fifth grade during its first year. As students advance, another grade will be added to the school until it reaches its capacity of 450 students in grades K-8. The school will feature a curricular focus on the environment and the arts as foundational platforms for learning. As a public charter school, there is no tuition or entrance exam, but enrollment is by application and students must reside in Fulton County. The lower grades are filled and have established wait lists; however, limited seats are open in the fifth grade. A grand opening celebration is planned for August 27. 

Renovations, Maintenance and New Technology Funded through eSPLOST

Construction and Maintenance Projects. Thanks to eSPLOST, the one-penny sales tax approved by the taxpayers of Fulton County, the summer months have been extremely busy. Construction and maintenance crews are putting the finishing touches on more than 23 school renovation projects throughout the county and one new elementary school is preparing to open. In addition, school playgrounds were replaced at 37 elementary schools and new lighting was installed in five high school gyms.

In South Fulton, Mount Olive Elementary School has been temporarily relocated to College Park while a replacement facility is built on its current site. Next August, when construction is complete, the school will move back to its former location. 

Technology Enhancements. A primary emphasis of the SPLOST program is an investment of technology in schools. In order to be successful in the future, students must participate in engaging instruction that allows them to gather, analyze and present information easily, share work with teachers, collaborate with other students, and use current technology to create and display their work. Teachers and parents must have access to timely information on their students’ performance. Teachers must also use current technology in their classrooms so that student learning can be engaging and focused on student’s specific needs and interests.

This year, approximately 500 laptops are being provided to new teachers and 3,400 teacher laptops are being replaced throughout the county. About 350 aging printers also are being refreshed, and 400 network printers/copiers are being replaced in schools and offices. Schools’ bandwidth also has been doubled and a “digital repository” – a cloud-like resource that allows the distribution and sharing of digital resources to students and teachers – is being rolled out. The district also will finish its installation of digital projectors that act as interactive whiteboards in classrooms this year.

Bus Transportation 

School buses are an icon of the back-to-school season, and their return to the streets signals the start of school. Routes and bus stops will finalized by August 1, and mechanics have finished inspections and repairs to be sure the fleet is ready. Nearly 100 new bus drivers have been hired and trained, and all 800+ drivers are being certified in CPR, Emergency First Aid Response, and Green Cross Defensive Driving. Sixty-six new buses, funded by eSPLOST, are replacing older vehicles.

Safety, Security and Health Initiatives

Access Control and Visitor Identification Systems. Last school year, installation began on new entry access control systems in each school. The buzzer systems allow staff to view visitors on a monitor and speak with them before granting access into the school. A systemwide visitor identification system also is being implemented, which will allow staff to scan a visitor’s ID and check it against the sex offender database. 

School Police Reorganization. Like many school systems, Fulton County Schools has an internal police force that helps provide a safer learning environment for students and staff. In addition to the school resource officers already in place at middle and high schools, campus security associates are being added to some locations this year. 

Campus security associates are trained security professionals that support a school’s existing safety operations by monitoring activities and proactively patrolling the campus as well as assisting students, administrators, school resource officers and other staff members with safety procedures. Also, security and support was increased in each of the district’s four learning communities by assigning a lieutenant and investigator. They are located at an elementary school in their learning community and provide centralized support to the schools in that area.  

Changes to Immunization Requirements. Changes in Georgia’s immunization requirements now call for seventh-grade students  (who were born on or after January 1, 2002) and new entrants/students in grades 8-12 (who are entering into a Georgia school for the first time or re-entering after having been absent from a Georgia school for more than 12 months) to have one dose of Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) and one dose of MCV (meningococcal conjugate) vaccines.

School-Based Health Center. Lake Forest Elementary School will continue to operate the district’s first school-based health center through its partnership with Family Health Centers of Georgia. The grant-funded center, which serves Lake Forest students and their younger siblings, has shown success in increasing student access to healthcare and lowering absenteeism. The health center is staffed by four medical personnel and provides primary care services.

Student Vision Partnerships. The Office of Student Health Services will continue to partner with Sight Savers America and Project 20/20 to expand and offer vision screenings to 15 elementary schools. These services are funded by grants. Last year, Sight Savers and Project 20/20 assisted with screening more than 2,500 students.

School Nutrition Program

Meal Price Increase. To continue compliance with the USDA federal regulation, “Equity in School Lunch Pricing,” the school board approved a 5-cent increase to the student lunch meal price and a 10-cent increase to the adult lunch meal price. Breakfast meal prices remain the same. Elementary schools charge $1.05 for breakfast and $2.25 for lunch while middle and high schools charge $1.20 for breakfast and $2.50 for lunch. Reduced price meals for eligible students will cost $0.30 for breakfast and $0.40 for lunch. 

Fryers Removed from Cafeteria Kitchens. While elementary schools have not sold fried foods in their cafeterias since 2008, beginning this year middle and high school cafeterias will no longer fry any foods. In addition, fryers previously in elementary schools have been removed.    

Healthier Meals. School menus will reflect new nutrition regulations. One hundred percent of grains offered will be whole grain-rich, students will be required to select a fruit as part of the breakfast meal, and lower sodium targets will be met. Also, all foods and beverages sold to students during the school day must meet new federal nutrition regulations for calories, fat, sugar, and sodium.  

USDA’s Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program. Eleven elementary schools are participating in the USDA’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. The program introduces school children to a variety of free produce that they otherwise might not have had the opportunity to sample while also providing a nourishing snack to help fuel the students’ brain and growing body during the school day.  The schools include Brookview, Campbell, Conley Hills, Hamilton E. Holmes, Hapeville, Lake Forest, Liberty Point, Mimosa, Love T. Nolan, Oak Knoll, and Oakley elementary schools. 

Free Meals to Heritage and Parklane Elementary Students. All students attending Heritage Elementary and Parklane Elementary will be offered free breakfast and free lunch meals as part of the new Community Eligibility Provision of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.