In The News - Four Schools Earn "Distinguished" Award

Written by: Amanda Latson, Public Relations and Communications

The Georgia Department of Education has honored four schools in the Clarke County School District for improving their students' academic achievement.

Alps Road Elementary, Gaines Elementary, Whitehead Road Elementary and Winterville Elementary have been named Title I Distinguished Schools after making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for four consecutive years. Title I is a federal program which provides funding to schools with a high percentage of students from low-income families. Each school will receive an award of $1,182.

"This is a tremendous honor for the four schools and the Clarke County School District as a whole," said Superintendent Lewis Holloway. "I want thank the teachers, staff, parents and students at each school for their continued dedication to academic achievement."

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) measures student achievement on year-to-year state assessments. In Georgia, the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) are the main academic measures which determine which elementary schools achieve AYP. In each school, 95% of the students must participate in the CRCT in Reading, Language Arts and Math and no more than 15% of the students can miss more than 15 days of school a year.

MEDIA CONTACT: Mike Wooten, Director of Public Relations and Communications, 706.546.7721 ext. 18248