Physical Education Program

All K-5 schools in the State of Georgia are required to provide at least ninety hours of Health and Physical Education instruction per school year. Although the annual requirement is ninety hours, many teachers view physical activity for all children as a critical part of the instructional day, and therefore, ensure that students receive more than the required time. All middle (6-8) school students are scheduled into physical education as part of the connections classes. On the high school level, one semester of physical education, in the form of Personal Fitness, is required for graduation. The State Department of Education has established minimum standards for all levels and courses in physical education through the written Georgia Performance Standards Framework. These minimum standards are embedded within our curriculum.

Clayton County Public Schools has thirty seven Elementary schools and forty two physical education specialists are employed to provide quality instruction to all of our students. Clayton County is committed to provide physical education to every child. Our program includes annual instruction in fitness, locomotor and non-locomotor skills, equipment manipulation, body management, rhythms and social skills. Recently, Clayton County Public Schools has teamed up with the State of Georgia to assess our students' fitness levels utilizing FitnessGram. Classroom teachers often incorporate movement in their classrooms using such tools as, but not limited to, "Power Up for 30", Energizers, and CATCH kits to get students up and moving inside the classroom. We are proud of our instructional program and the materials and equipment available to both classroom teachers and highly qualified physical education instructors.

The Middle school curriculum introduces middle school students to a wide range of fitness activities, team and lifetime sports, recreational games and track and field. Included in the fitness activities is an emphasis on personal fitness to help combat increasing levels of childhood obesity. The FitnessGram student fitness assessment is also administered to students enrolled in all Middle School Physical Education classes.

High School Physical Education programs focus on personal fitness with opportunities to explore a variety of individual and team sports. The Personal Fitness course is usually scheduled in the ninth grade year and is required for graduation.  Other physical education courses offered include team and lifetime sports, track and field and weight training. We believe that as part of the total educational process secondary physical education should be universal in opportunity and individualized in application, therefore students can achieve the highest level of health related fitness and improve lifetime team skills and abilities.

Health Education Program

In the state of Georgia, Health and Physical Education is required a minimum of ninety hours per school year in grades kindergarten through five. As this is a minimum requirement and because teachers view the area of health education in the elementary grades as a critical and integral part of their instructional program, many include more than the required number of hours. Middle School students in Clayton County receive health instruction as part of their connections classes. It is our belief that the middle school students are at a critical point in their social and emotional development and that the issues facing them are more complex, therefore every effort is made for students in grade 6-8 to receive nine weeks of health instruction annually. Health is required for high school and must be successfully completed prior to graduation. Georgia Performance Standards are established by the State Department of Education in health. These minimum standards are embedded in the curriculum.

Elementary (K-5) health education in Clayton County Schools is comprehensive and includes activities in the areas of nutrition, mental health, safety, disease prevention, human life cycle, violence prevention, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Our curriculum has been designed and selected by classroom teachers for classroom teachers. The kindergarten through fifth grade students have the textbook Health and Wellness by McGraw-Hill.

Instruction in health in the middle grades (6-8) is also comprehensive and includes a wide variety of topics. The adopted textbooks for grade 6-8 are Teen Health (Course 1 6^th Grade; Course 2 7^th Grade; and Course 3 8^th Grade) by Glencoe/McGraw Hill and Choosing the BEST.  Local and Georgia Performance Standards address the areas of safety, nutrition, mental health, disease prevention, human life cycle, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, and decision making through critical thinking strategies and literacy are a focus across the curriculum.

The High School (9-12) Health class is a requirement for graduation in the State of Georgia. Local and Georgia Performance Standards address the areas of safety, nutrition, mental health, disease prevention, human life cycle, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs as well as the Alcohol and Drug Awareness Program (ADAP). This program is mandated by the state and supported by the Georgia Department of Driver's Services. The course is required of all persons under the age of 18 who wish to acquire a driver's license. The course is four hours in length and culminates with a written test. In order to receive a Georgia Driver's License the student must attend all four hours of the course and successfully pass the written exam. Additionally, all High School Health classes provide Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation instruction. Although this instruction does not have to lead to student certification in CPR, it does require that all students receive training in the psychomotor skills associated with performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Textbooks used in addition to the ADAP materials are Choosing the BEST and Pearson’s Health 2014.