Summer is coming to an end for thousands of Fulton County students and their families. The new school year begins on Monday, Aug. 10.

At a Glance

The Fulton County School System continues to be the fourth largest school district in Georgia with a projected 2009-10 enrollment of approximately 90,000 students – an expected increase of nearly 2,000 students from the previous school year. The system includes 99 schools – 58 elementary schools, 19 middle schools, 16 high schools and six start-up charter schools.

New Programs and School Improvement Initiatives

Fulton Institute of Technology. The Fulton County School System is launching a new initiative aimed at integrating science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Opening in two locations this fall, the Fulton Institute of Technology – or FIT (pronounced like MIT, as in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) – is a technical high school program that fuses practical and virtual learning opportunities to create a technology-rich learning environment.

The first program offered through FIT is the Cisco Networking Academy, an education initiative that delivers information and communication technology (ICT) skills to improve career and economic opportunities around the world. The academy provides online courses, interactive tools and lab activities to prepare individuals for ICT and networking careers in virtually every type of industry.

By the end of the four-year phase-in, FIT will be a four-year high school. Future programs may include Food Science and Restaurant Management, Energy Systems, Advanced Transportation Technology, Flight Operations, Radiology, Digital Design, Fire Science, Manufacturing Technology, Biotechnology and Advanced Communications.
 
The program will be offered in South Fulton at the Instructional Technology Center (former Westlake High School) and in North Fulton at the Milton Center (former Milton High School). The Cisco networking course is open to juniors and seniors in the evenings between 4:30-6:30 p.m. 

Federal Grant for Emergency Management. The school system’s Safety and Security Department was one of two school systems in Georgia to receive $606,000 in federal funds from the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) discretionary grant program of the U.S. Department of Education.

In addition to the following, the REMS grant will help fund H1N1 flu “tabletop” planning exercises for school administrators. Tabletop exercises are scenarios, on paper, that allow administrators to work together as a group on how they would manage a potential situation and address issues that may arise.

Other details about how the grant money will be used in Fulton County:
 

·         More than $100,000 allocated to emergency preparedness training for all staff members

·         Funding to facilitate school safety information to every school in Fulton County

·         GIS mapping of each school that identifies primary and secondary evacuation sites, family reunification centers and emergency transportation routes

·         Virtual tours of each high school with 360 degree photography of critical areas, which complement the school system’s existing web-based security camera technology

·         New digital hybrid radios for school police officers to allow them to instantly communicate with every law enforcement agency in Fulton County

·         Tabletop exercise templates for each school, including H1N1 flu preparedness

·         A full-scale practice emergency exercise

·         Creation of a Safety and Security Department web site that enables students, parents and staff to learn about the measures taken to ensure school safety

Value-Added Performance System. A new accountability system – called the Value-Added Performance System – is being introduced this year to Fulton County teachers. Value-Added methodologies will help teachers measure the actual progress a student has made throughout the year rather than only looking at the results of a standardized test given once a year. It helps teachers make sure they are challenging each student to reach their full potential while filtering out the factors that educators have no control over, such as poverty, transience/mobility or limited English proficiency. 

Early Release Days. The 2009-10 school calendar includes five early release days that dismiss students approximately three hours earlier from their regular dismissal time. Teachers and school staff will use the remainder of the day to participate in schoolwide trainings and professional development workshops.

Early release dates are:

·         Sept. 16, 2009

·         Oct.14, 2009

·         Nov. 18, 2009

·         Feb. 24, 2010

·         March 24, 2010                      

Parents were notified of the early release dates last school year so they could be prepared to find additional childcare or use the extra time to schedule routine medical appointments for their children (rather than having to check out the student during a regular school day). Schools will still offer their after-school programs on these days.

New School Openings/Additions and Construction

Birmingham Falls Elementary School (14865 Birmingham Highway, Milton). Birmingham Falls Elementary School is the first new public school to open in Milton since the area became its own city. The 116,284-square-foot facility was designed by the architectural firm of Collins Cooper Carusi. The school has 54 classrooms and is built to hold 850 students. It serves kindergarten through fifth grade and is the northernmost elementary school in Fulton County.

Cliftondale Elementary School (3340 West Stubbs Road, College Park). Similar in design to Birmingham Falls, the 109,312-square-foot Cliftondale Elementary School also was designed by Collins Cooper Carusi. The school has 54 classrooms to house up to 850 students in grades prekindergarten through five.

Ison Springs Elementary School (8261 Ison Road, Sandy Springs). Ison Springs Elementary School is the second new public school to open in Sandy Springs since the area became its own city. The 126,320-square-foot facility was designed by Collins Cooper Carusi and features a three-story design similar to Lake Forest Elementary School, also in Sandy Springs. The school has 54 classrooms and is built to hold 850 students. It serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.

Langston Hughes High School (7510 Hall Road, Fairburn). Langston Hughes High School features a design similar to that of the new Westlake High School. The 340,817-square-foot school was designed by the firm of Gardner Spencer Smith Tench & Jarbeau and has 99 classrooms to house up to 1,900 students in grades nine through 12. The building is organized in five, campus-like academic and administrative wings so that similar departments are housed closer together. It is located beside Renaissance Elementary School and down the street from Renaissance Middle School, one of the few areas in Fulton County to accommodate an elementary, middle and high school campus in close proximity.

Johns Creek High School (5575 State Bridge Road, Johns Creek). Johns Creek High School, located across the street from State Bridge Crossing Elementary School, is the first high school to open since the city was formed. The 320,855-square-foot school was designed by the architectural firm of Chapman Griffin Lanier Sussenbach. Like Langston Hughes High, the school will house up to 1,900 ninth through twelfth grade students in 99 classrooms.

Hapeville Charter Career Academy (6045 Buffington Road, Union City). Fulton County’s newest start-up charter school will offer opportunities that are different from that of a standard high school or college setting. In addition to a traditional academic curriculum, students will focus on career-building skills and will graduate with the necessary credits to attend college, complete a vocational certificate or go directly into the workforce. Funded through a $3.2 million grant from the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education, the school is partnering with Atlanta Technical College to offer dual enrollment opportunities. Business partners also will provide internship and employment opportunities.  

Other Construction Projects. Several major school construction projects were completed over the summer, including a new performing arts building at Tri-Cities High School and classroom additions and renovations at Bethune Elementary, Love T. Nolan Elementary and Mountain Park Elementary. Ridgeview Charter School also will debut a completely renovated building and addition – the most extensive renovation project opening this fall.

Brookview Elementary and Findley Oaks Elementary School received new roofs and 77 schools are getting new digital security cameras to replace older video systems. Fire alarm upgrades also are being completed at six schools and seven schools are receiving upgrades to the canopies that keep students dry when boarding or leaving the school bus.

Personnel Changes

New Principals. As new schools are built and veteran principals retire, it’s inevitable that school leaders will shift in Fulton County. The following schools have new principals this year.

Barnwell Elementary School................................................................. Elyse Halverson Arnett

Birmingham Falls Elementary School.................................................... Ronald “Tracy” Trussell

Crabapple Crossing Elementary School........................................................ George Freiberger

Creek View Elementary School............................................................................ Matt Rogers

Ison Springs Elementary School............................................................................ Sara Glynn

Parklane Elementary School.................................................................. (acting) Eleanor West

Randolph Elementary School...................................................................... Christopher Askew

Evoline C. West Elementary School................................................................ Catherine Smith

Johns Creek High School................................................................................... Buck Greene

Langston Hughes High School..................................................................... Michael Robinson

Northview High School......................................................................................... Pam Spalla

Affidavit of Residence

Affidavit of Residence. Each year, parents are required to submit a notarized Affidavit of Residence form for each child. These forms, which are available on the school system’s web site as well as at every school, do not need to be accompanied by documents proving Fulton County residency unless they are:

1. New enrollees in a Fulton County school
2. Current students entering sixth or ninth grade, or
3. Students who have moved since submitting their last affidavit

In addition, students in their senior year of high school do not have to provide a form or proof of residence. Each school will have a notary available to notarize the form at no charge.

The purpose of the Affidavit of Residence is to make sure that only students who reside in Fulton County attend Fulton schools. This means that Fulton taxpayers’ money stays in Fulton County to pay for the education of those who live there – instead of students from other counties who attend under false pretenses.

Immunization Compliance

Immunization Compliance. Georgia law requires students to be immunized against measles, mumps, polio, rubella, whooping cough, tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis A and B, haemophilus influenza and varicella. Changes in state law in 2007 now require pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and students entering sixth grade to receive additional doses of some vaccines in order to be enrolled. Students without a current immunization certificate showing that all required doses were administered will not be allowed to officially register for school and will be withdrawn.