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Superintendent’s Report – April 2017
Superintendent’s Report – April 2017
Posted on 04/11/2017
This is the image for the news article titled Superintendent’s Report – April 2017Superintendent’s Report
April 10, 2017


Madam Chair, Madam Vice Chair, members of the board and Clayton County community members. 

This week, more than 30,000 students in grades one through eight will participate in the annual state-mandated achievement testing program known as the Georgia Milestones Assessment System. The assessment, better known as GMAS, covers the content areas of Reading, English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science. The tests will begin on Thursday, April 13th, and will continue through Friday, April 21st. Our high school students will begin End of Grade testing on Monday, April 24th, and will continue through Thursday, May 4th.  We encourage all of our students to do their very best.

It is my honor to announce that the National Park Service and International World Peace Rose Gardens have selected the work of Trevor Hernandez, a sixth grade student at Riverdale Middle School, as a winning entry in the 2017 Inspirational Messages of Peace Contest! Trevor’s entry was selected from the more than 12,300 students who entered. This year’s entrants included students from China, India, and Mexico. Trevor will be recognized during the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Martin Luther King, Jr. ‘I Have a Dream’ World Peace Rose Garden at the King Historic Site in Atlanta on May 11th.  A formal Board recognition for Trevor and his teacher will take place at our May 1st meeting.
 

The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, requires that administrative reviews take place to evaluate program requirements for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. The district’s Nutrition Services Department underwent such an administrative review last month. Eleven auditors from the Georgia Department of Education visited eight school sites and the nutrition services office to assess a variety of program requirements. I am proud to say that our School Nutrition Program was found to be an exemplary operation. In addition to exceling in all areas, the auditors strongly recommended that several observed local procedures should be submitted to the USDA for best practice awards and to share with other school districts. I congratulate Audrey Hamilton, Director of School Nutrition Services and her outstanding staff, for this accomplishment. 

During the month of March, the district’s Transportation Department completed its annual State Department of Education School Bus Inspection. The State inspected 444 school buses and gave 98% of those inspected a passing mark. I commend our Director of Transportation, Harold Walker, and his Mechanics for a job well done.

The third annual exhibition of art by students from Clayton County Public Schools will open at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta on April 18th and will continue through May 21st. There will be a special reception highlighting the work of our students on Sunday, May 7th. The exhibition, which will include the works that earned ribbons in the recent All-County Art Competition, is part of our partnership with the High Museum. This partnership is considered the first between the museum and an entire school district. 

The Department of Social Studies is pleased to announce that eight student projects will represent Clayton County Public Schools at the state National History Day competition on Saturday, April 22nd at Mercer University.  Our students competed successfully at the regional level against students from Henry, Rockdale, Fayette and DeKalb counties as well as private educational entities.  Projects that compete successfully at the state level will have the opportunity to go on to represent our district at the National History Day national competition in Washington D.C. We wish them the best of luck

In robotics news, congratulations are in order for the North Clayton Middle School ROBO-TIGERS for placing first in the Georgia Drones for Good competition. North Clayton also receives the champion’s Award.  And … The Kendrick Middle School Robotics Team earned first place in the first LEGO League Regional Competition. This earned them a spot in the Super-regionals! I commend the students and their teachers on these accomplishments.

The Shuler Hensley Awards celebrate excellence in Georgia high school musical theater. We are proud to announce that Stillwell’s orchestra teacher, Matthew Baggarly, has received a nomination for his orchestration on the school’s production of “The Who’s Tommy. The 2017 Shuler Awards, will be presented at the Cobb Energy Center on Thursday, April 20th, at 7 p.m.

In athletics, I congratulate the following schools for earning county championships in their respective sports. The 2017 High School Track and Field champions are the Forest Park High School girls and the Riverdale High School Boys. The Middle School Track and Field titles were earned by the Jonesboro Middle School girls and the Kendrick Middle School boys. The district’s golf championships were won by the Morrow High School girls and the Mundy’s Mill High School boys. Top individual golf honors went to Nia Cole from Riverdale High and Reggie Brown from Mundy’s Mill. Once again, congratulations to our 2017 Clayton County Champions.