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61 schools make improvements necessary to exit Priority and Focus lists

MEDIA CONTACT: Meghan Frick, GaDOE Communications Office, (404) 463-4246, mfrick@doe.k12.ga.us

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December 5, 2017 – The Georgia Department of Education today announced that 61 schools have exited the Priority and Focus Schools lists, due to recent across-the-board CCRPI increases and Georgia’s rising graduation rate.

As part of Georgia’s ESEA waiver, which granted flexibility from some provisions of No Child Left Behind, the GaDOE was required to identify Priority and Focus Schools. Priority Schools represent the lowest-performing 5% of Title I schools based on achievement data, plus schools with a graduation rate below 60% for two consecutive years. Focus Schools represent the lowest-performing 10% of Title I schools based on achievement gap data. That data examines the gap between a school’s lowest performing 25% of students and the state average, and the progress those students are making.

“We continue to see that underperforming schools can improve and move the needle for their students, even when they face difficult odds,” Superintendent Woods said. “And we’ve seen once again that intensive, intentional partnerships between schools, districts, communities and our Department can equip schools with the resources they need to improve student achievement. These schools worked directly with our DOE staff and with Georgia RESAs, and their leaders and teachers deserve immense credit for the progress they’ve made. We view school improvement as a primary responsibility of our entire agency – not just the school improvement division – and with that focus guiding us, I’m confident we’ll continue to see schools making gains.”  

The following schools no longer meet the definition of a Priority or Focus school and have made the required improvements to meet the exit criteria:

System Name

School Name

Exit List

Appling County

Appling County Elementary School

Focus

Atlanta Public Schools

Centennial Academy

Focus

Atlanta Public Schools

Continental Colony Elementary School

Focus

Atlanta Public Schools

Dunbar Elementary School

Priority

Atlanta Public Schools

Humphries Elementary School

Focus

Atlanta Public Schools

Miles Intermediate School

Focus

Atlanta Public Schools

Slater Elementary School

Focus

Atlanta Public Schools

Therrell High School

Priority

Atlanta Public Schools

Towns Elementary School

Focus

Atlanta Public Schools

Tuskegee Airman Global Academy

Priority

Baldwin County

Creekside Elementary School

Focus

Baldwin County

Midway Elementary School

Focus

Bibb County

Lane Elementary School

Focus

Bibb County

Williams Elementary School

Priority

Bulloch County

Langston Chapel Elementary School

Focus

Bulloch County

Mattie Lively Elementary School

Focus

Chatham County

Butler Elementary School

Focus

Chatham County

Thunderbolt Elementary School

Focus

Chatham County

West Chatham Middle School

Focus

Clarke County

Gaines Elementary School

Focus

Clarke County

Howard B. Stroud Elementary School

Focus

Clarke County

Whit Davis Road Elementary School

Focus

Clayton County

Edmonds Elementary School

Focus

Clayton County

Forest Park High School

Priority

Cobb County

Clarkdale Elementary School

Focus

Coweta County

Ruth Hill Elementary School

Focus

Coweta County

Western Elementary School

Focus

DeKalb County

Barack H. Obama Elementary Magnet School of Technology

Focus

DeKalb County

Canby Lane Elementary School

Focus

DeKalb County

Clarkston High School

Priority

DeKalb County

Columbia High School

Priority

DeKalb County

Cross Keys High School

Priority

DeKalb County

Freedom Middle School

Focus

DeKalb County

Mary McLeod Bethune Middle School

Focus

DeKalb County

Smoke Rise Elementary School

Focus

Dodge County

Dodge County High School

Focus

Dougherty County

Monroe High School

Priority

Dublin City

Dublin Middle School

Focus

Dublin City

Susie Dasher Elementary

Focus

Fulton County

Banneker High School

Priority

Fulton County

Bethune Elementary School

Focus

Fulton County

Creekside High School

Priority

Fulton County

Hamilton E. Holmes Elementary

Focus

Fulton County

Hapeville Charter Career Academy

Priority

Fulton County

Hapeville Charter Middle School

Focus

Fulton County

Lee Elementary School

Focus

Fulton County

Tri-Cities High School

Priority

Gordon County

Swain Elementary School

Focus

Houston County

Huntington Middle School

Focus

Houston County

Pearl Stephens Elementary School

Focus

Jefferson County

Carver Elementary School

Focus

Jenkins County

Jenkins County Elementary School

Focus

Long County

Long County Middle School

Focus

Peach County

Fort Valley Middle School

Focus

Peach County

Peach County High School

Priority

Polk County

Youngs Grove Elementary School

Focus

Rockdale County

Hightower Trail Elementary School

Focus

Seminole County

Seminole County Middle/High School

Focus

Sumter County

Americus Sumter 9th Grade Academy

Priority

Sumter County

Americus Sumter High School

Priority

Tift County

Len Lastinger Primary School

Focus

 

As Georgia transitions to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), GaDOE will no longer identify Priority and Focus schools. Instead, GaDOE will be required to identify and support Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) and Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) schools beginning in 2018-19 (CSI) and 2019-20 (TSI).

The criteria for CSI and TSI schools are proposed in Georgia’s draft ESSA plan (pg. 39-40), which is currently awaiting approval from the U.S. Department of Education.

Click here for additional information about the Priority and Focus criteria.

Click here for information on rising CCRPI scores in Georgia.

Click here for information on Georgia’s rising graduation rate.​

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