Blog
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…
→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…
→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…
→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…
→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…
→I am thrilled about an incredible new partnership for our district with Achieve Atlanta, an organization spearheaded by The Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation and The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. This initiative will dramatically increase the number of APS students graduating from high school and then entering and successfully graduating from colleges and technical schools. …
→We have so many talented students in our district, and I am proud to recognize this particular young lady for such a spectacular achievement. 11-year-old, Edith Stubbs “Speedy” McGruffin of Mary Lin Elementary School is publishing her first book “Amelia – The Crazy Jumping Hedgehog.” Edith says it was right before her 10th birthday and…
→Due to incorrect information circulating, there is a lot of confusion about the status of music and the arts in our schools. In fact, some are suggesting that Atlanta Public Schools simply eliminated all music and arts in one fell swoop. We have not. APS is one of the few districts in the state that…
→Graduation elicits a broad swath of emotions from the thrills of reaching the end of high school to the pride of a job well done to the sadness of leaving friends, families and classmates behind to go to the next step of college, career and life. For me, the graduation of Atlanta Public Schools’ Class…
→This is a week of reflection and celebration. As our high school students in grades 9-11 prepare to take final exams, our youngest students are cleaning out their desks and lockers – preparing to move on to the next grade and our seniors will graduate high school this weekend. Our mission here in Atlanta Public…
→