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Richard Woods, Georgia's School Superintendent

74 Schools removed from Priority and Focus lists

MEDIA CONTACT: Matt Cardoza, GaDOE Communications Office, (404) 651-7358, mcardoza@gadoe.org

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April 11, 2017 – The Georgia Department of Education today announced that 74 out of 243 schools have exited the Priority and Focus Schools lists.

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 extent to which that gap is closing.

“Every school that made the necessary improvements to exit Priority or Focus School status deserves to be commended,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “The ongoing work of these schools, coupled with supports from GaDOE staff and RESAs, continues to move the needle and prove that underperforming schools can improve, even when they face difficult odds.”

The following schools were removed from the Priority and Focus lists because they no longer meet the definition of a Priority or Focus school and have made the required improvements to exit:

System Name	School name	Exit List
Atlanta Public Schools	Benteen Elementary School	Exit Focus
Atlanta Public Schools	Brown Middle School	Exit Focus
Atlanta Public Schools	Cleveland Elementary School	Exit Focus
Atlanta Public Schools	Dobbs Elementary School	Exit Focus
Atlanta Public Schools	Fickett Elementary School	Exit Focus
Atlanta Public Schools	Maynard H. Jackson, Jr. High School	Exit Priority
Atlanta Public Schools	Parkside Elementary School	Exit Focus
Atlanta Public Schools	South Atlanta School of Health and Medical Science	Exit Priority
Atlanta Public Schools	The John Hope-Charles Walter Hill Elementary Schools	Exit Focus
Barrow County	Kennedy Elementary School	Exit Focus
Carroll County	Bowdon Middle School	Exit Focus
Chatham County	Windsor Forest Elementary School	Exit Focus
Cherokee County	Canton Elementary	Exit Focus
Cherokee County	William G. Hasty, Sr. Elementary School	Exit Focus
Cobb County	Birney Elementary School	Exit Focus
Cobb County	Milford Elementary School	Exit Focus
Cobb County	Osborne High School	Exit Priority
Colquitt County	Odom Elementary School	Exit Focus
Colquitt County	Okapilco Elementary School	Exit Focus
Colquitt County	Sunset Elementary School	Exit Focus
Coweta County	Eastside Elementary School	Exit Focus
DeKalb County	Allgood Elementary School	Exit Focus
DeKalb County	Bob Mathis Elementary School	Exit Focus
DeKalb County	Columbia Middle School	Exit Focus
DeKalb County	Kelley Lake Elementary School	Exit Focus
DeKalb County	Redan High School	Exit Priority
Dodge County	Dodge County Middle School	Exit Focus
Dougherty County	Radium Springs Elementary School	Exit Focus
Dublin City	Moore Street School	Exit Priority
Fulton County	Asa Hilliard Elementary School	Exit Focus
Fulton County	Gullatt Elementary School	Exit Focus
Fulton County	High Point Elementary School	Exit Focus
Fulton County	Jackson Elementary School	Exit Focus
Fulton County	Lake Forest Elementary	Exit Focus
Gainesville City	Centennial Arts Academy	Exit Focus
Greene County	Greene County High School	Exit Priority
Greene County	Greensboro Elementary	Exit Focus
Gwinnett County	Berkmar High School	Exit Priority
Gwinnett County	Meadowcreek High School	Exit Priority
Gwinnett County	Rockbridge Elementary School	Exit Focus
Hall County	Lyman Hall Elementary School	Exit Focus
Hall County	White Sulphur Elementary School	Exit Focus
Hancock County	Hancock Central Middle School	Exit Focus
Houston County	Miller Elementary School	Exit Focus
Jasper County	Washington Park Elementary School	Exit Focus
Jeff Davis County	Jeff Davis Elementary School	Exit Focus
Jefferson County	Louisville Academy	Exit Focus
Johnson County	Johnson County High School	Exit Priority
Jones County	Mattie Wells Elementary School	Exit Focus
Lanier County	Lanier County Elementary School	Exit Focus
Macon County	Macon County Middle School	Exit Focus
Marietta City	Marietta High School	Exit Focus
Meriwether County	Greenville Middle - High School	Exit Priority
Mitchell County	North Mitchell County Elementary School	Exit Focus
Montgomery County	Montgomery County Elementary School	Exit Focus
Montgomery County	Montgomery County Middle School	Exit Focus
Muscogee County	Jordan Vocational High School	Exit Priority
Muscogee County	Rigdon Road Elementary School	Exit Focus
Newton County	Flint Hill Elementary	Exit Focus
Pelham City	Pelham Elementary School	Exit Focus
Polk County	Westside Elementary School	Exit Focus
Randolph County	Randolph County Elementary School	Exit Focus
Richmond County	Bayvale Elementary School	Exit Focus
Richmond County	Copeland Elementary School	Exit Focus
Rockdale County	Sims Elementary School	Exit Focus
Taliaferro County	Taliaferro County School	Exit Priority
Thomaston-Upson County	Upson-Lee High School	Exit Focus
Tift County	Annie Belle Clark Primary School	Exit Focus
Vidalia City	J. R. Trippe Middle School	Exit Focus
Walker County	Rossville Elementary School	Exit Focus
Wayne County	Bacon Elementary School	Exit Focus
Whitfield County	Beaverdale Elementary School	Exit Focus
Wilcox County	Wilcox County High School	Exit Priority
Wilkinson County	Wilkinson County Elementary School	Exit 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. The criteria for CSI and TSI schools are currently being developed in consultation with Georgia’s ESSA working committees. A draft of the criteria will be available for public comment this summer, prior to Georgia’s submission of its ESSA plan to the U.S. Department of Education in September.

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