GaDOE: 61 Schools Make Improvements Necessary to Exit Priority and Focus Lists
Wednesday, December 6th, 2017
The Georgia Department of Education 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, GaDOE will no longer identify Priority and Focus schools. Instead, GaDOE will be required to identify and support Comprehensive Support and Improvement and Targeted Support and Improvement schools beginning in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
