Better Together

CCSD is pleased to announce Timothy Pritchett and Brian Smith, both of Barnett Shoals Elementary School, as its 2025-26 Teacher and Support Professional of the Year! Mr. Pritchett is a third-grade homeroom teacher at BSES, while Mr. Smith serves as the school’s behavior interventionist.

The winners were announced Thursday, Oct. 23, during the CCSD Teacher and Support Professional of the Year awards banquet at the Epting Events’ 1055 Barber venue. All of this year’s building-level winners submitted applications for the districtwide awards, and the Support Professional of the Year was chosen by a district committee based on those applications. The pool of Teacher of the Year applications was narrowed down to a field of three finalists — Mr. Pritchett, Stephanie Lewis of Cedar Shoals High School, and Adrienne White of Barrow Elementary School — who were then evaluated through classroom visits and scored by a panel of judges on a rubric developed by the district.

As Teacher of the Year, Mr. Pritchett will now represent CCSD in the statewide competition.

Read more about each of these winners here! And check out our Facebook page for more photos from the awards banquet!

The Clarke County School District encourages all students, staff, and families to participate in our "Pink Out" on Tuesday, Oct. 28, as we wear pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Visit the National Breast Cancer Foundation's website to learn more about how you can make a difference, raise awareness, and support those facing breast cancer.

Come experience the talents of our student chefs at the Athens Community Career Academy, as the Yellow Jacket Bistro hosts its monthly pop-up lunch on Thursday, Oct. 30!

The bistro is a student-led joint venture between ACCA's Culinary Arts, and Entertainment, Sports, and Event Management pathways. The public is invited in once a month to enjoy a themed lunch menu.

The theme for this month's menu is "Oktoberfest." Our students will be putting their own spin on authentic German-inspired dishes and can't wait to serve you! The lunch is $15 per person, and seating will begin at 12:45 p.m. at ACCA, 440-1 Dearing Ext.

Reserve your table here and prepay here!

The 2025 CCSD Elementary Basketball League season through the Athens Youth Development Initiative tipped off this week! Click here to see more photos from opening day action between the girls' and boys' teams from Burks and Holston elementary schools and find the full regular-season schedule here!

The work of CCSD's Athens Youth Development Initiative (YDI) goes beyond our elementary school student-athletes simply competing on the court and field. Through a critical partnership between the YDI and the University of Georgia's Office of Service-Learning, the Coaching4Success after-school program combines sports, academic, and life skills that serve students well on and off the field of play.

Through weekly 30-minute sessions at eight elementary schools this fall semester, UGA students are leading fourth- and fifth-grade CCSD students who compete on the YDI teams through a social-emotional learning curriculum with topics centering around focus, growth mindset, determination, resilience, teamwork, and communication. The lessons are designed to equip students with skills that will serve them well in competition, in the classroom, and throughout the rest of their lives.

CCSD is pleased to have many thriving community partnerships with companies and organizations that support our students, families, and staff and make Athens-Clarke County "Better Together!"

Here are just a couple of the many shining examples:

• ABB's Athens plant once again donated its winnings from the company's district Plant of the Year award ($10,000) to our Advanced Manufacturing and Welding career pathway for CCSD high school students at the Athens Community Career Academy! ABB has long been a major supporter of CTAE education in Clarke County and was instrumental in the buildout of ACCA's advanced manufacturing/welding lab and instructional space. Over the past seven years, more than 100 students have enrolled in the pathway at ACCA. More than two dozen have done apprenticeships with ABB, and three former students who are currently employed there are pursuing electrical engineering degrees while earning their full-time, competitive salaries! Previous Plant of the Year proceeds from ABB have also helped fund the ACCA Robotics Team and its travel to competitions, as the team has won on the regional and state levels and competed on the international level!
• Last week, MedLink Georgia staff visited our district office gym to perform sports physicals for our students competing in the CCSD Special Olympics, as well as Clarke Central and Cedar Shoals high schools to administer MCV4 vaccines to over two dozen students across both schools. Medlink is one of our key community health partners, as they operate the Classic City and Coile school-based health centers.

CCSD has joined in observing Oct. 20-24 as National School Bus Safety Week, and members of our district transportation team have been on it with their always fun and entertaining bus safety skit! Enjoy these scenes from our transportation heroes' visit to Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary earlier this week. And remember that every one of us can play a part in getting our kids to and from school to their homes safely: from students being safe and responsible riders and always following the drivers' and monitors' directions; to drivers obeying all traffic laws, slowing down in school zones or near bus stops, and avoiding distracted driving; to parents and guardians reinforcing bus safety rules with their children; to community members spreading the word about school bus safety.

We are accepting nominations for the CCSD November Employee of the Month award through Friday, Oct. 31! Anyone in the community may nominate any full-time CCSD employee with at least one full year of service for the award at bit.ly/CCEmployeeAward or by completing the form embedded directly below! The winner will be surprised at their school or building and recognized at the November Board of Education meeting.

Come check out the work of some of our talented student performers as the Cedar Shoals High School Theatre Program will present its fall one-act play competition production of "Antigone" to the public Oct. 29-30.

The show will begin at 7 p.m. both nights in the Cedar Shoals Performing Arts Center on the school campus, 1300 Cedar Shoals Dr. Tickets are available for purchase through GoFan. Student tickets are $4 and can be purchased here, while adult tickets are $8 and can be purchased here.

Teen students and families: CCSD is pleased to partner with First American Bank & Trust on an amazing opportunity for students ages 13-18! Students are encouraged to enter the local portion of the American Bankers Association's national "Lights! Camera! Save!" contest. FABT will sponsor the local winner, give them a $500 checking account in their name, and submit their entry to the national contest for a chance to win $10,000!

To enter the local contest, go to bit.ly/SavingVideoSubmission, complete the entry form, and submit a video (30 seconds or shorter) on a topic related to personal finance! Find all contest details and information at bit.ly/SavingVideo.

The deadline to enter is Nov. 30! Questions? Email communications@clarke.k12.ga.us.

GLISI (Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement) has launched its sixth year of Hidden Heroes, a crowdsourcing campaign to illuminate the difference-makers in education across the state. CCSD would like to encourage families, staff, and students to nominate and celebrate the educational professionals who serve our community in a variety of ways – from bus drivers, nutritionists, custodians, nurses, counselors, school resource officers, and other support staff, to teachers, principals, coaches, and administrators.

Nominate today at hiddenheroes.glisi.org/2025. Nominations are open through Oct. 31 at 5 p.m., and voting will run Nov. 3-21.

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, November 13, 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.

All teens grades 8-12 are invited to attend the Boys and Girls Club of Athens "A Nightmare on Fourth Street: Hallowteen Party" on Friday, Oct. 31! The *FREE* event will be held at the Joel E. Smilow Boys and Girls Club, 705 Fourth St., Athens, from 7-9:30 p.m. and will be packed with food, candy, live music from a DJ, PS5 gaming battles, and a costume competition you won’t want to miss! Tickets are free but required for entry. Go to bit.ly/hallowteenbgc to secure tickets!

The community is invited to the annual "Wild Rumpus" Halloween-themed festival in downtown Athens on Saturday, Oct. 25. Come dressed in your costume and participate in the parade and other family-friendly activities!

Go to wildrumpus.org for more information.

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.