Friday, July 15, 2005

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Five schools are left behind in Coweta

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com

Coweta parents have just under two weeks left if they want to transfer their students from five under-achieving schools to another school.

Last week, The Georgia Department of Education released the statewide list of schools which have successfully met Adequate Yearly Progress under the No Child Left Behind act

In Coweta County, five schools were listed in Needs Improvement status, said Public Information Officer Dean Jackson and will offer transfer to schools making Adequate Yearly Progress on a space-available basis. Parents interested in the transfers should call Kristy Childers at 770-254-2810 before July 26 at 5 p.m. to be placed on a waiting list for transfers. Priority will be given to lowest-achieving students.

Jackson said that all Coweta County schools achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on academic measures within their overall school populations. 

But five schools had at least one specific subgroup within the school identified as not meeting AYP, he added. The five schools are Willis Road Elementary School, Arnall Middle School, East Coweta Middle School, Evans Middle School and Smokey Road Middle School.

Newnan High and East Coweta High both made AYP in all areas this year. But schools in Needs Improvement status must make AYP for two consecutive years in order to be removed from Needs Improvement status.

The two schools that students can transfer to Madras Middle School and Northgate High School. There are 15 spaces available at Madras and 26 spaces at Northgate. Jackson said Northgate is offering fewer spaces this year, because the overall student population is on the rise.

But Jackson doesn’t expect that to be a problem.

“We’ve never really reached the maximum number of transfers in the years that we’ve had to do this,” he said.

Coweta Schools continue to work to address the needs of all students under the criteria of No Child Left Behind. In adjacent Fayette County, all the schools met adequate yearly progress, so school leaders do not have to offer a transfer option.