Archive for 2015
APS ‘Gears Up’ for 2015-2106 School Year
This week APS teachers are back in school and preparing their classrooms, we have all principals hired at the helm of every school, our school buses are tuned up and running practice routes and the district is launching its first Sixth Grade Academy. We are getting ready for the first day of school! I had…
Read MoreAre You Day One Ready?
When you throw a Back-to-School bash for the first time, you worry about many things. Do you have enough activities? Do you have the right supplies and information? Are all of your volunteers prepared and ready for the Bash in our effort to make every APS student Day One ready? But most of all, you…
Read MoreAPS Kicks off 2015-16 School Year with Inaugural Back-to-School Bash
We at Atlanta Public Schools are doing everything we can to get our students prepared for the new school year, so this is a reminder about our first district-wide APS Back-to-School Bash from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, at the Atlanta Metropolitan State College Easley Conference Center. This free event for…
Read MoreCongratulations, Summer Graduates!
Every graduation is a wonderful and special occasion, but I hold a particular pride and sense of respect for the more than 60 young men and women who walked the stage at the Georgia World Congress Center last night to get their high school diplomas. These newly inducted graduates had many and varied reasons for…
Read MoreGrade Changing Review – Midpoint Status Check
A few weeks ago, I updated the community about eight investigations we completed this past school year involving inappropriate grade changes (four from the 2013-2014 school year and four from the 2014-2015 school year). As we strive to uncover those remnants of unethical behavior that may still exist within our district, I committed to completing…
Read MoreOne Year Strong with APS
It wasn’t until late last Monday evening that it was brought to my attention that today is my official one year anniversary. I was totally unprepared. I feel like I’m still closing out the last school year – this milestone anniversary, it snuck up on me! So of course I hardly got any sleep last night…
Read MoreGetting Stronger for the Peachtree Road Race and Next School Year
After graduation, and for the umpteenth late night in a row, I was buried in APS school-year closeout, sitting in my office cranking out emails again, when Board Member Matt Westmoreland stopped by. As a native Atlantan and Grady High School grad who loves this city – as do all my Board members – and…
Read MoreJROTC cadets are put to the test during Summer Leadership Challenge
Lt. Col. Rooker, who leads our Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) program here at APS, is spent a week earlier this month with high school cadets during their annual summer camp at at Fort Benning! The JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge is held near Columbus, GA at the Fort Benning Army base and gives our high school…
Read MoreE. Rivers Earns Project Achievement Award!
Earlier this spring I blogged about what a great time I had at our ribbon cutting for the newly renovated E. Rivers Elementary School. Mr. Jere Smith, director of Capital Improvements for the district, has informed me that Rivers has earned a “Project Achievement” award and recognition from the South Atlantic Chapter of the Construction…
Read MoreAPS Reviews Grade-Changing Issues across District
When I became superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools a year ago, I knew that many parts of the school district were broken, some even before the CRCT cheating of 2009. I knew that we had a lot of work to do to change the culture of APS and restore its integrity and public image. A…
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