Better Together

The 2024-25 school year got off to a fantastic start Thursday, Aug. 1, with smiling faces all across the district. View our full first-day photo gallery here and be sure to follow our schools on social media as well for more photos!

We were honored to be joined on the first two days of school by dozens of community members from local churches, government agencies, and other organizations and individuals who showed up bright and early to welcome our students and staff and cheer them on. Thank you to our community for your continued support of our students and of public education in Clarke County!

The brand-new Clarke Middle School officially opened its doors to students this week following a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, July 30. Thank you to the teams at Grahl Construction, LLC and Lindsay Pope Brayfield & Associates, Inc. along with all the people who worked tirelessly on the school over the past year to get it ready for this week. And thank you to the community for not only turning out in tremendous numbers for the ceremony but for supporting this voter-approved, predominately taxpayer-funded, $55 million E-SPLOST project! We look forward to this building being a bright place of learning for many years to come.

There has recently been encouraging news for CCSD students on the testing front.

• Students showed growth in English Language Arts proficiency that exceeded state averages for grades 3-8 and had several other highlights in Milestones testing results released by the Georgia Department of Education last week.
• Also, CCSD high school students performed strongly on the spring 2024 Advanced Placement (AP) exams with higher pass rates than 2023 and continued a positive trend over recent years.
  

CCSD's mission is creating educational journeys that empower all students to fulfill their potential. While there is much work to be done in the coming school year and beyond, we are seeing the hard work of our students pay off and evidence that the efforts by our teachers and school leaders to provide a more rigorous and equitable learning environment are leading to positive gains in student achievement across the district.

After winning Georgia School of the Year and National Junior Level School of the Year status for their 2023-24 school year project, the Clarke Middle School Science, Energy, and Adventure Team (SEAT) attended the 44th annual NEED Youth Energy Conference and Awards in Washington, D.C. this summer and won two additional awards – Best Presentation and Most Energy-efficient Design for their conference challenge work.

Audrey Hughes' and Javan Winston's CMS students spent much of last school year engaged in learning and educating community members about environmental science and local conservation best practices. Their project, "Action and Advocacy for Energy Education and Sustainability," was awarded the top state and national statuses by the NEED Project review panel, marking the fourth consecutive year the school won those honors.

More than a dozen CCSD teachers and staff members were surprised at their schools on Friday, July 26, as the Foundation for Excellence in Public Education in Clarke County (FFE) announced the winners of its 2024 Teaching and Staff Awards. View more photos and a list of winners here.

The FFE is a non-profit organization whose mission is to recognize and award excellence in CCSD through various awards and classroom grants. This spring, the FFE received more than 300 nominations for 237 different CCSD teachers and staff members and received and reviewed 125 completed applications. Thank you to all in the community who nominated these great teachers and staff members, and thank you to the FFE for your continued support of public education in our community.

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins will host his 2024 Service Academy Day on Saturday, Aug. 10, at Prince Avenue Christian School, 2201 Ruth Jackson Rd., Bogart. Designed to familiarize students with the application and nomination process for the nation’s five military service academies, the event will take place from 10 a.m. to noon. and feature representatives from the United States Military, Naval, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, and Air Force academies.

Students and their families may register by emailing your name, phone number, school, and grade to GA10Noms@mail.house.gov. Please provide names (note relationship) for each person attending with you.

Clarke Central High School Spanish teacher Dr. Lynne Sparks will be leading a Spring Break trip in April to Spain, the British territory of Gibraltar, and Morocco. The trip is open to middle and high school students throughout CCSD.

There will be Google Meets at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 7, and Wednesday, Aug. 14, to discuss the trip. View more information about the trip here and email Dr. Sparks at sparksl@clarke.k12.ga.us with questions.

Parents and guardians: Have you filled out your student's health form for the new school year? If not, please scan the QR code in the flyer above or go to qrco.de/CCSDStudentHealth. For questions, contact your school nurse.

CCSD is implementing updated cell phone guidelines for the 2024-25 school year to improve student engagement, decrease distractions, and improve the overall educational experience in our classrooms.

As a reminder, middle school students will be asked to leave phones in their lockers during instructional time, while high school students will be asked to either keep their phones in their backpacks or place them in pouches inside their classrooms.

As the school year began this week, families of CCSD bus riders may have noticed some changes in our bus stop procedures following a new state law that took effect July 1 and introduced new safety regulations for student transportation.

Under "Addy's Law," students are prohibited from crossing a roadway to board or unload from a school bus on streets with a posted speed limit of 40 miles per hour or higher. This measure is designed to enhance the safety of our students by minimizing the risk of accidents during bus boarding and unloading.

To accommodate these changes and comply with the law, CCSD drivers will make adjustments to some of their routes, which may include passing by the original stop and turning around to safely release students on the correct side of the street. We appreciate your patience as we implement these changed to improve the safety of our students.

The Clarke County Board of Education will hold its next meeting on Thursday, Aug. 8, in the Vernon Payne Meeting Hall at the CCSD District Office, 595 Prince Avenue. The board will hold its work session at 5 p.m., followed by the voting session at 7 p.m.

Find the complete work session agenda and supporting documents here. The voting session agenda will be set by the board during the work session. To sign up for the public comment period, which will be held during the voting session, please call Lisa Palmer, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent and Board Manager, at 706-546-7721, Ext. 79201. The deadline to sign up for public comment is 4 p.m. the day of the meeting.

The Clarke County Board of Education welcomes community feedback. Here are ways you can share your voice:

• Contact BOE Members: Click here to view a list of the BOE members and their contact information.
• Attend a Meeting: The board's next scheduled meeting is Thursday, Aug. 8, with the work session beginning at 5 p.m., followed by the regular meeting at 7 p.m. All meetings are held in the Vernon Payne Meeting Hall at the CCSD administrative offices building, located at 595 Prince Ave. in Athens. The public is invited to attend meetings in person. Meetings are also streamed live and are available for on-demand viewing on the CCSD YouTube channel. Click here for the board meeting schedule.
• Agendas: Click here to access board meeting agendas.
• Board Briefs: Click to read the "Board Briefs" overview from meetings.
  
• Public Comments: Click here for information on how to sign-up to speak at a BOE meeting.
• Review Policies for Review: View and comment on district policies pending public review.

Fill out the short Google form below or here, and a CCSD Human Resources representative will follow up with you.

The Boys and Girls Club of Athens has opened registration for its after-school programs, featuring academic support, enrichment activities, life skill development, and healthy snacks. The programs are open to students in grades 1-12 and are held weekdays from 2:45-6:30 p.m. at the Joel E. Smilow and H.T. Edwards clubs and the Nellie B., Rocksprings, Parkview, and Broad Acres community centers.

Visit www.GreatFuturesAthens.com/after-school to register. Call 706-546-5910 for more information.

Athens-based Sirius Athletics has opened registration for its fall cross country season, open to runners ages 6-15, and the first practice is set for Aug. 14. Visit siriusathletics.org for more information and to register. Financial aid options are available.

Teens ages 13-18 are invited to the Georgia Museum of Art, 90 Carlton St., Athens, from 5:30-8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22, for this studio-based workshop led by local artist and educator Kristen Bach. Explore the galleries and make your own work of art inspired by the exhibition, “A Perfect Model: Prints after Anthony van Dyck’s Portraits.”

The program is free and includes a pizza dinner from DePalma’s Italian Cafe. Seats are limited; email gmoa-tours@uga.edu to register.

The Museum of Art holds free, monthly Saturday Family Day events from 10 a.m. to noon where children can come view and make their own art. Check out the schedule for the next six months below and go to georgiamuseum.org for more information. You can also become a Friend of the Museum for free and get weekly updates at jointhemuseum.com.

Athens nonprofit Casa de Amistad has the following upcoming events:

• A 12-week Spanish-language course for English speakers, every Wednesday from Aug. 21 through Nov. 14
• Fall ESL courses for adults
• Fall GED courses for adults.

See the flyers below for details about each event and QR codes that will take you to the registration link. For additional information, go to athensamistad.com.