Following the merger of the Neighborhood Charter School and the Atlanta Charter Middle School last summer, the Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School (ANCS) was created as a single school with two campuses serving students in grades K-8.  The first few months as a merged school have indeed been exciting ones for ANCS.  

The benefits of merging are beginning to be realized, including shared teaching and administrative resources, a more efficient governing board, and stronger parental involvement with families now connected to the same school for up to nine years.  ANCS is being recognized locally and nationally for its work.  The school was selected as a site visit during the national charter schools conference in June, and conference attendees from around the country came to hear more about the school's approach to teaching and learning.  ANCS was named a Title I Distinguished School by the Georgia Department of Education based on student performance on the Georgia CRCT.  As well, ANCS was recently awarded a nearly $1 million "Innovation Grant" by Governor Nathan Deal to partner with the Georgia State University College of Education in the creation of a new teacher training and support program.

ANCS is gearing up to enroll new students for next school year.  Applications for new students are now available on the school's website and in the main office of both the elementary and middle campuses.  There will be a series of information sessions for prospective students and their families on Thursday, February 23 at 6:30 PM at both campuses  and on Saturday, March 10 at 9:30 AM at the elementary campus and at 10:30 AM at the middle campus.  For more details about the enrollment process and to learn more about the school, visit its website at atlncs.org. 

Come out and join the East Atlanta Community Association Friday, March 9th from 6PM to 9PM at Midway Pub for our Spring Membership Social.   In addition to signing up new EACA memberships ($10 per household), we have lots of surprises in store for the night.  Our committee chairs will be present to answer questions about their organization and involvement within our community. This will be your chance to sign up and volunteer for what interests you the most.  

Raffle tickets are available for advance purchase at Joe's and Midway Pub starting Sunday, February 19.  Tickets are $1, but buy $20 and get 5 free!  You must be present to win and prizes will be drawn throughout the night.  All proceeds will benefit EACA's general fund to better our community.  Prizes included local restaurant, tattoo, and retail gift certificates.   

Join us and become involved in your community!

It's never too early to start thinking about homegrown tomatoes and sweet basil. Why not let Burgess-Peterson Academy students grow seedlings for your spring garden? Order now for pickup or delivery the week of March 26. Each of the seven grades at BPA is planting a different variety of fruit or vegetable in 4-inch pots. Plants are $2 each. Supplies are limited so don't delay. Profits will support garden education at the school. Each student also will get to take a plant home. 

Click here for the order form or e-mail BPAgarden@gmail.com for more information. Also, don't forget to "like" the garden on Facebook!

Do you have an interest in seeing the Brownwood Park Recreation Center become an even better facility for the East Atlanta Community?  If you do below are two ways you can help.

A joint collaboration between EACA and the East Atlanta Kids Club, the Brownwood Recreation Center Community Committee seeks your participation in a community survey designed to help us better understand and improve the community's experience of the recreation center at Brownwood Park.  Please let us know what kinds of activities you'd like to see, how you feel about what's there now, and what you might be willing to do to make the rec center better serve community needs.  Contact Lisa Marie Welch, Brownwood Facility Manager, with any questions or comments, at 404-624-0747, and also keep up on the goings-on at the Rec center on Facebook.

Want to do even more? Come join this very worthwhile committee as it oversees the center while working to find fun, educational and entertaining ways for the community to take advantage of this wonderful facility.  If you have an interest in being part of this incredible success story that includes the unique City/Community relationship which allowed East Atlanta to reopen our Rec Center while others were closed, please email president@EACA.net.

To parents, friends, neighbors and supporters of Burgess-Peterson Academy:

The demographers working for Atlanta Public Schools have recently released their second round of options for redistricting within the system.  We encourage you to take the time to review them here (see options A and B, dated 1/27/12).  While in this current round of options BPA is not slated to close, please be aware that the School Board and Superintendent have stated that the final plan may be very different from either of these two current options.  Therefore, it is crucial that we continue to advocate for BPA.

As soon as you can please access this link and make your voice heard.  Share this information with as many of your fellow parents and neighbors as possible, and ask them to lend their support to our great school.

For more information about specific options and how to fill out the online form, please click here.  You will be provided comment space to discuss your answers for each set of options and for the plans as a whole.  Rather than have everyone give the same scripted answer, we ask that you identify the things that you most value in BPA and mention those.  For instance:

• BPA was never implicated in the CRCT cheating scandal; it is a CLEAN SCHOOL;
• BPA has won numerous grants and awards, including the 21st Century After-School Grant;
• BPA is a Title One School of Distinction and has made AYP for six years running;
• The school is a beautiful facility, relatively new, well-designed and with a lot of great amenities that many other schools don't have;
• BPA is in the middle of a vibrant and rapidly-growing neighborhood, as increases in enrollment show;
• The community is heavily involved in the school, with a gardening program staffed and run by volunteers, cooking demonstrations from the local farmers market, and grants from the local community association, among others;
• The need for a consistent cluster of schools that are all close-knit neighborhoods and which all feed into Coan/King MS and Jackson HS.  This reinforces the sense of community, and helps ensure great parental involvement on every level.

Most of all, we suggest that you keep it positive, keep it constructive and let them know how important our school is to all of us.  Do it today!

Thank you,

Dr. Elisabeth Burgess - Chair, Burgess-Peterson Academy Local School Council

Reid Tankersley - President, Burgess-Peterson Academy Parent-Teacher Association

Lewis Cartee - President, East Atlanta Community Association (EACA)

Dennis Madsen - Chair, EACA Education Committee; Treasurer, BPA PTA

EACA Needs Your Support!