Local & State Headlines

Teachers get ready

• The Dougherty County School System gets ready to ring in a new academic year on Tuesday.

Barbara Rivera Holmes

ALBANY — Back to school isn’t all about new pens and pencils. Preparing for a fresh academic year encompasses everything from curriculum to transportation to security.

In Dougherty County, those three areas will likely be the most noticeable changes for students returning to school Tuesday.

Educators, however, were back at school last week prepping their classrooms for a new year.

On Thursday, Dougherty County School System employees filled half the Albany Civic Center during a morning pep rally in which officials encouraged educators to lead the way for students and draw the similarities between school lessons and life.

“What has made America great and what will keep America great is the spirit of curiosity and imagination,” said Peggy Nielsen, 2nd Congressional District representative of the Georgia Board of Education.

“You only have to say to words to link what they (students) are learning to the real world.”

TRANSPORTATION

While students were out for the summer, the Dougherty County Board of Education adopted a mobility policy aimed at reducing classroom interruptions by curbing the number of times students change schools during the year.

Of the system’s 16,000 students, as many as 3,400 of them move schools one to six times during an academic year, DCSS data shows. This, officials say, affects not just the student who moves, but causes disruptions in classrooms, which affect educators and other students.

With the new rule, students will start and end the year at the same school even if they move and change school zones.

Anticipating some logistical problems for some students and families, the system will provide transportation for those students who may have changed zones midyear and need rides to school. To meet that demand, the DCSS fiscal year 2008 budget allocated $150,000 more for fuel than in FY 07.

INSTRUCTION

Public school students will see a greater emphasis on mathematics education as the state rolls out its new Georgia Performance Standards math curriculum.

Last year, the emphasis was on science education, a focus whose positive results were evident in the scores of end-of- year standardized tests.

At the high school level, the Centers of Excellence at Albany High School and Westover Comprehensive High School are scheduled to open.

Albany High School’s 12,000- square-foot High-Achieving Magnet and Multimedia Arts and Communication Center of Excellence will include television and radio broadcasting and production; stage and set design; computer graphics and animation; and commercial arts.

An 11,000-square-foot Allied Health and Science Center of Excellence will be housed at Westover, where there will be two health occupations labs and two advanced science labs.

Last year, the system rolled out the first center, Monroe Comprehensive High School’s Pre-Engineering, Mathematics and Technology Magnet Center of Excellence, which at the end of 2006-07 had an enrollment of more than 1,000 students

Already addressing one at- risk group, the ninth-graders, DCSS tackles the second one — fifth- and sixth-graders.

Students in Dougherty County’s fifth- and sixth-grade academies will attend the special programs at their regular schools. Middle school coaches also are new for 2007-08.

Dianne Daniels, executive director of curriculum and instruction, has said that the fifth- and sixth-grade transition “has been extremely challenging” for students.

One highly-anticipated change in Dougherty County is the debut of Live Oak Elementary School, the latest addition to the district’s school roster.

The 89,298-square-foot facility — a modern, angular design nestled against a traditional background of Spanish moss-laced oak trees — will accommodate about 725 students, helping to ease crowding at four or more of the system’s other schools.

Teachers at Live Oak were busy last week putting the final touches on their freshly- painted classrooms.

Like other elementary schools, Live Oak’s classrooms are equipped with the latest in educational technology. Classrooms have about six computers each and a SmartBoard, similar to the Promethian Boards found in other schools within the system.

“The technology is going to be a big part (education),” said Live Oak kindergarten teacher Patricia Littleton.

SECURITY

The Dougherty County School System Police Department will begin its second full year in operation.

Expanding a security measure put in place in the spring at the high school level, DCSS students will wear identification badges this year.

More Headlines>>