A group of Georgia’s top policy makers visited Chase Street Elementary School in Athens on Wednesday, October 23 to see first-hand how the partnership between University of Georgia, Clarke County Schools and the Athens-Clarke County community is changing the face of education.

     About 120 of the state’s top leaders in business, education and politics are participating in the 10th annual Bus Trip Across Georgia sponsored by the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education (GPEE). The five-day “Journey to Excellence” tour will visit 13 schools selected because of their efforts to educate all students at high levels.

    The tour’s visit to Chase Street was scheduled from 8-10 a.m. Local officials that attended include: Athens-Clarke Mayor Doc Eldridge, Mayor-Elect Heidi Davison, State Representatives Louise McBee and Keith Heard, State Senator Doug Haines, members of the Clarke County School Board, UGA Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Hank Huckaby, Dean of Education Louis Castenell and Dean of Arts and Sciences Wyatt Anderson.

    Chase Street, along with Gaines Elementary, are the first two “partnership schools” in a five-year collaboration unveiled in February 2001 aimed at improving student achievement.

    The two schools re-opened as “community learning centers” in Fall 2002 with an 11-month calendar that adds 15 days to the school year and scatters breaks throughout the year. The new schedule allows more increased blocks of time dedicated to reading and mathematics lessons.

    During the two-week breaks, parents can enroll their children in intersession activities led by UGA faculty and students, and Athens-Clarke Leisure Services. The first intersession this October has included field trips to UGA’s Georgia Museum of Art and the Ramsey Student Physical Activities Center.

    With more resources allocated to the schools through UGA and the Athens-Clarke community, the schools hope to create an all-inclusive resource center, where families can get help from outside agencies, like the Athens-Clarke Health Department and the Division of Family and Children Services, in one place.

    This was the tour’s first stop at a Clarke County school since 1997 when it visited Cedar Shoals High School to hear about UGA-NETS (Georgia Network of English Teachers and Students), a partnership between the UGA College of Education and local schools to better prepare English teachers for the classroom through teacher mentoring.

    The GPEE was founded in 1990 by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Economic Developers Association, and consists of business, education, community and government leaders who share a vision of improved education. Working to be Georgia's foremost change agent in education, the non-profit, non-partisan organization takes lead roles in efforts to shape policy and reform education.

    Stan Williams, president of the Atlanta Committee for Public Education, is chairing this year's bus trip.

    In addition to Chase Street, the Journey to Excellence tour will also visit: Georgia School for the Deaf, Buford Language Academy, Gordon Street Center, Maxwell High School, Arkwright Elementary, Camden County High School, East Broad Street Elementary, Youth Challenge Academy, Dickerson Primary, Appling County Middle School and Ben Hill Elementary.

For more information on the Partnership for Community Learning Centers please visit:
http://www.arches.uga.edu/~minchi/CCSD

Athens Banner-Herald coverage

Friday, October 18, 2002

CONTACTS:
Mike Wooten, 706/546-7721, Ext. 248; wootenm@clarke.k12.ga.us
Michael Childs, 706/542-5889, mchilds@coe.uga.edu
Dr. Robert Bluett, 706/543-1081, bluettr@clarke.k12.ga.us