Better Together

Another fun and exciting week at CCSD included special guest visitors (and surprise presentations), excellence from our students in JROTC and band competitions, more interactive instructional activities, and good times with friends and family! Be sure to follow us (@ClarkeCoSchools) and our schools on social media for many more photos!

Did you know that, according to a national survey from the University of Chicago, students with an attendance rate of 95% or higher are more likely to earn grades of A or B? The survey also found that students with lower attendance are at greater risk of falling behind academically.

At CCSD, we create educational journeys that empower all students to fulfill their potential, but that journey to success starts with students being there! "Every Day Counts" toward building Thriving Students, and we invite our families and community to join us in modeling, encouraging, and supporting outstanding attendance habits for all of our students.

Be Present. Be Active. Be Thriving. Be Better Together. All Year Long.

Congratulations to Clarke Central High School seniors Olivia Bergman and Noah Kilpatrick, who have been named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists! Olivia and Noah scored in the top percentile of the PSAT/NMSQT in Georgia and now have an opportunity to advance in the National Merit Scholarship Program to become finalists and potentially win scholarships.

CCSD, in partnership with Voices for Georgia's Children, will hold the second annual "Free Your Feels" Youth Mental Health Summit for students ages 12-18 on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Athens Community Career Academy, 440-1 Dearing Ext., Athens.

This *FREE* event will include peer-to-peer interaction opportunities to students, information about mental health resources available to them in their school and in the community, food, yoga, and more fun activities.

Please register at this link or by scanning the code in the flyer above.

Attention, high school seniors and senior parents/guardians! The 2026-27 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) window is scheduled to open on October 1, 2025. Completing the FAFSA form allows you to be considered for federal student aid. In addition, states and colleges use FAFSA information to award their own grants, scholarships, and loans. But, since some aid is limited, you have to meet the deadlines!

Federal Deadlines

The FAFSA form must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Central time (CT) on June 30, 2027. Any corrections or updates must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. CT on Sept. 12, 2027. Please note the 2025-26 window has already opened.

College and Career/Trade School Deadlines

Each college and career/trade school may have its own deadline. Check with the school you’re interested in attending. You may also want to ask about the school’s definition of an application deadline. For example, the deadline could be the date your FAFSA form is processed or the date the school receives your processed FAFSA data. Students in Georgia are encouraged to begin applying on Oct. 1.

Please check in with the college and career advisor at your high school or see your school counselor for more information. You can also click here for more information about FAFSA.

The Athens Community Career Academy's Yellow Jacket Bistro, run by students in the culinary arts pathway, will hold their first pop-up lunch of the year Thursday, Sept. 25, with a menu featuring burgers!

The public is invited to come taste what our students have been working on with the team from Baddies Burger House in Five Points in Athens. Seating is limited and will start at 12:45 p.m. Click here to register!

Clarke Central High School's Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) Department will host a CTAE Night event for current eighth-grade students at Central's feeder middle schools (Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle and Clarke Middle) from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2.

The event is designed to provide students and families more information about CTAE course offerings at Clarke Central before students select their ninth-grade classes later this school year.

Click here for more information about CTAE course offerings across CCSD. You can also check out the CTAE highlight video below and click the button below to read our CTAE Career Planner Guidebook!

Did you know that all Georgia taxpayers are eligible to receive a dollar-for-dollar state income tax credit in exchange for a contribution to the Georgia Foundation for Public Education? The 2025 PEACH Tax Credit application is now open. This tax credit offers individuals and businesses an opportunity to advance public education by directing their tax dollars directly to projects and initiatives in their communities – at no additional cost to you or your corporation.

Approved contribution funds in Clarke County will go toward supporting programming at the Athens Community Career Academy, a future dental clinic at the Clarke Middle Health Center, and CCSD's Culture of Literacy campaign.

The PEACH Education tax credit is capped at $15 million and is approved on a first-come, first-served basis, so don't hesitate to apply for yourself or your corporation before the cap is met! Click here for more information or on the button below to go directly to the application!

There are a couple of upcoming opportunities for the community to see some of our many talented student musicians perform!

• Clarke Central High School guitar students will perform at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, in Mell Auditorium at CCHS.
• The Cedar Shoals High School Orchestra program will have its Fall Concert at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, in the auditorium.

Both events are free and open to the public, so come out and support our Thriving Students!

We are pleased to share with our families the monthly "Parents Make the Difference" newsletter through The Parent Institute!

The four-page newsletter, available in English and Spanish with early childhood, elementary, middle, and high school versions, is intended to:

• help families effectively support their children's education at home
• provide practical, proven information families can act on right away
• offer guidance on a comprehensive array of school success topics
• reinforce the importance of the school-home partnership.

Click on the buttons below to read each September version!

Need to get in touch with your school's family engagement specialist? Click here for the full directory!

High school students who are interested in taking classes at the Athens Community Career Academy (ACCA) are invited to a Future Student Fair from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, at the ACCA building, 440-1 Dearing Ext.

ACCA is open to CCSD high school students in grades 10-12 and offers courses in more than a dozen high school and college level career pathways as part of CCSD's Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) program. The Future Student Fair is designed to introduce students to these pathways and allow them to tour the building and learning spaces.

Students interested in applying for ACCA for the 2026-27 school year can apply now at bit.ly/accainterest.

High school seniors are invited to apply for the 2025-26 Athens Area Human Relations Council scholarship by Friday, Sept. 26. A completed application will consist of the following items:

• the completed scholarship application form (attached below).
• an essay
• two (2) recommendations
• Copy of high school transcript.

A detailed description of requirements can be found on the application itself. For more information, email scholarships@humanrelationscouncil.org.

The Athens Youth Development Initiative is excited to announce Volleyball Open Gym sessions this fall, free for girls enrolled in the Clarke County School District in grades 2-7! These sessions are focused on fundamentals and intended to help girls of all skill levels improve their volleyball skills. Sessions will be held on the following Sundays at the CCSD District Office gymnasium, 595 Prince Ave., Athens, from 1:30-2:30 p.m. for grades 2-5 and 2:30-3:30 p.m. for grades 6-7:

• Sept. 21
• Sept. 28
• Oct. 5
• Oct. 19
• Oct. 26
• Nov. 2
• Nov. 9
• Nov. 16.

If you own or work for a company or organization that is interested in becoming a vendor or bidding on contracts with CCSD, mark your calendars and make plans to attend a pair of informative events coming up in October!

• CCSD will be joining the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government and the University of Georgia for a three-part series about how to do business with those agencies. CCSD's session will be Wednesday, Oct. 22, from 9:30-11 a.m. at the Athens-Clarke County Library, 2025 Baxter St., Athens. Find more information and register at accgov.com/doingbusiness. Space is limited. For more information, call 762-772-8090.
• CCSD's Business Services Division will also host its second annual Prime Time with Purchasing Event on Thursday, Oct. 23, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the District Office, 595 Prince Ave., Athens! Join us to explore ways in which you can do business with CCSD. The event will feature representatives from multiple departments who will be on hand to provide information about vendor opportunities. Attendees will also be able to receive assistance in completing the district vendor packet forms. For more information, call Veronica Jackson, CCSD Purchasing Supervisor, at 706-546-7721, Ext. 79711 or email jacksonv@clarke.k12.ga.us.

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.
• Find Your Board Member: Use Athens-Clarke County's online voter information tool at www.accgov.com/voterinfo to enter your address and find your BOE member and your other elected representatives.
• Attend a Meeting: The board's next scheduled meeting is Thursday, October 9, 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.

CCSD is now hiring bus drivers and invites all interested candidates to our transportation job fair on Wednesday, Sept. 24, from 10 a.m. to noon at our Transportation Office, 165 Paradise Blvd.

No CDL license? No problem! We will provide *free* training to help you earn your CDL within 4-6 weeks!

Be a part of our team and *DRIVE* our students to success!

The 16th annual LatinxFest will be held Saturday, Sept. 20, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Washington Street between Lumpkin and Pulaski streets in downtown Athens. Come out and enjoy live music, food, dancing, children's activities, and more!

The Athens-Clarke County community is invited to the Child Safety and Health Festival on Tuesday, Sept. 23, from 4-6 p.m. at Georgia Square Mall, 3700 Atlanta Hwy., Athens. The event will include information about educational and other community resources, children's activities, and giveaways and prizes. For more information, call 706-410-6074.

Registration will open Oct. 6 for the Athens YMCA's winter youth programs, which run November through mid-February, and special holiday camps.

Winter youth programming options will include:

• basketball (grades K-10)
• basketball cheerleading (grades K-5)
• swim lessons (ages 6-12)
• ballet and tap dancing (ages 5-7)
• indoor soccer (grades 2-9)
• Y-Quest (grades K-8).

Holiday activity camps will also be held Nov. 24-25 and Dec. 22-23 and 29-30.

For more information, click here and see the attached flyers below!

Registration is open for the 2025–2026 Northeast Georgia Youth Ice Hockey season. Boys and girls ages 4–18 are welcome. No ice skating experience needed, and loaner equipment and scholarships are available. The association offers a two-week trial period before committing. Sign up today and see the full schedule at www.negahockey.org.

"Spread the Love" in September and support the peanut butter and jelly food drive sponsored by the Beechwood/Alps Road branch of Synovus Bank in Athens – running Sept. 2-30! All proceeds will benefit the Athens Community Council on Aging and the support it provides to older adults living in the community.

Throughout the month, you can donate and drop off jars of peanut butter and jelly at the bank, located at 310 Alps Rd., during business hours (9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m. - noon Saturday).

Anyone in the community may sign up for email and/or text notifications from the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government in a wide variety of categories with more than 100 different options. Visit accgov.com/notifyme and select the list you'd like to sign up for.