The Monroe County Board of Education will meet for its regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 13 at 6:30 p.m.  The meeting will be held in the Central Office Board Room.  The Board of Education will begin the meeting, and then they will proceed to executive session. The regular business portion of the meeting is expected to begin at 7:00 p.m.

On Saturday, January 24 starting at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 3:30 p.m., the Board of Education will meet for its annual training and work session.  This meeting will be held in the Central Office Conference Room.  Board of Education meeting agendas can be found at the eBoard Solutions website.

The start of 2015 will bring a flurry of activity and excitement to the Central Office campus of Monroe County Schools on Brooklyn Avenue. Site work in preparation of the new Fine Arts Center is slated to get underway early in the new year with construction of the 1,200-seat facility following shortly after.

 

A major milestone on the Fine Arts Center planning was reached Thursday, Dec. 18, when general obligation revenue bonds were issued by the school system. Funding of $8.1 million was produced by the sale of the bonds with all funds dedicated toward the new construction.

 

Monroe County voters approved the issuance of the bonds in the 2013 referendum to approve the extension of the Education Special Purpose Local Options Sales Tax - a 1-cent sales tax dedicated to capital projects within the school system.   Sales tax collections will pay debt service on the bonds over a 5-year period.

 

In November, Board of Education members learned that these bonds were being purchased by two regional banking entities - United Bank and State Bank. Board members were pleased to learn that these two organizations would be partnering with the school system in providing the financial resources to build the Fine Arts Center.

 

The new facility is being planned by Architect Bob Day and construction will be managed by MEJA Construction. MEJA officials expect to begin advertising construction bid documents in mid-January. After a four-week advertisement period, contracts for the various aspects of construction will be issued and construction work will begin soon after. Construction of the Fine Arts Center is expected to take 16-18 months.

 

Once construction is complete, the Fine Arts Center will provide the school system and the community a state-of-the-arts performance venue for student drama, instrumental and choral performances. It also will have space to display student art work.   

Christmas will be very special for 95 of Monroe County Schools' students in need thanks to a generous donation from the Freeman Funeral Home. Ninety-five bikes were delivered last week, and these will be provided to families this season.  

Thank you to the SCMW 448th from Robins Air Force Base and the River's Edge Church donated stockings to some TGScott Elementary students.

Thank you to River's Edge Church for donating stuffed stockings to Monroe County Achievement Center students. Pictured are church members and Monroe County Schools' staff.

Thank you to Monroe County Achievement Center students who helped stuff stockings for Head Start Program children.   Pictured below are River's Edge Church members delivering stuffed stockings to Hubbard Elementary School for distribution to students.  Members of The River's Edge Church and a division of Warner Robins Air Force Base partnered to stuff and deliver Christmas stockings for over 40 SHES students.  During this season of giving, we are most appreciative of their time, energy and consideration.  The children will be simply delighted to receive such precious gifts.

Monroe County Board of Education is proud to announce the achievement and status of the Georgia School Boards Association's (GSBA) 2014 Distinguished School Board recognition. The recognition program was designed to showcase best practices in school governance and leadership.  GSBA recognizes good school board governance to foster educational community cultures in order to advance student learning and achievement.  Board members and leadership recently attended the annual GSBA Conference where the honor was bestowed.  Pictured are (l-r):  Assistant Superintendent Dr. Mike Hickman, MCBOE Member Nolan Howard, MCBOE Chairman Dr. J. Ray Grant, Jr., BOE Member Eva Bilderback, Assistant Superintendent Angie Dillon, BOE Member Judy Pettigrew, and Assistant Superintendent Jackson Daniel.

The Georgia Department of Education recently released the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI), based on data from the 2013-2014 school year.  Our school scores are:  Samuel E. Hubbard Elementary School, 81.2; TGScott Elementary School, 82.4; KBSutton Elementary School, 91.6; Monroe County Middle School, 85.6; Mary Persons High School, 73.  All of the schools in Monroe County scored higher than the state average for their grade band.

 

2014 CCRPI Reports  http://ccrpi.gadoe.org/2014/ccrpi2014.aspx  

2013 CCRPI Reports  http://ccrpi.gadoe.org/2013/ccrpi2013.aspx  

2012 CCRPI Reports  http://ccrpi.gadoe.org/2012/ccrpi2012.aspx  

 

Statewide, Georgia's elementary schools saw a one-year decrease in scores from  77.8 to 72.6 (-5.2), middle schools saw a one-year decrease in scores from 74.6 to 73.2 (-1.4) and high schools saw a one-year decrease in scores from 71.8  to 68.4 (-3.4).  

 

The CCRPI is Georgia's statewide accountability system, implemented in 2012 to replace the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) measurement, after the U.S. Department of Education granted Georgia's waiver from NCLB on Feb. 9, 2012. It measures schools and school districts on an easy-to-understand 100-point scale, helping parents and the public better understand how schools are performing in a more comprehensive manner than the pass/fail system previously in place under AYP.  Since the first "study year" of CCRPI implementation in 2012, the State has received valuable feedback from education partners and the public, and has revised and refined the CCRPI to make a more meaningful report.The 2013 data was calculated for the first time reflecting the new calculation, and the 2012 scores were recalculated applying the new calculation methodology. For more information, see http://www.gadoe.org.  

Superintendent Anthony Pack recently visited schools to honor employees for their years of service.  Pictured above are Hubbard Elementary Principal Jay Johnston and Superintendent Pack with Heather Smith for five years of service and Lesia Atwater for twenty years of service.  At Monroe County Achievement Center, Superintendent Pack and MCAC Director Grady Caldwell recognized Vanessa Jones for five years of service.

KBSutton Elementary fourth grade students of Mrs. Charlotte Copeland recently presented Superintendent Anthony Pack with clay ornaments on behalf of K. B. Sutton Elementary School as a gesture of gratitude for the support he has shown to their fine arts program. Their art teacher, Mrs. Skelton says that making the ornaments for Mr. Pack was an idea generated by the students, beginning with Lily McBride, who asked if she could send him the ornament that she had made for herself. Gratitude was K. B. Sutton's character word for the month of November, and this class has truly demonstrated this trait with their gift.  During his visit, Mr. Pack was also greeted by a group of caroling preschoolers.

Monroe County Schools' students recently participated in the Hour of Code.  This is a series of activities to expose students to computer science education.  You can learn more about the hour of code at http://www.hourofcode.org  and http://www.code.org. Pictured above are students in the computer lab at KBSutton Elementary School under the direction of Mrs. Donna Burris.  The KBSutton Computer Lab website is located at http://teaching4fun.weebly.com/ . Monroe County Middle School Technology Lab students participated in the Hour of Code activities in December.

Holiday spirit is expressed in many forms, and Hubbard Elementary School teachers proved this on the Friday before the break.  Pictured are (l-r) HES Instructional Coach Rebecca Pack, HES Media Center Clerk Britt Thomason, HES Teacher Amber Ridley, HES Teacher Melanie Cargill, Superintendent Anthony Pack, HES Teacher Dr. Kimberlie Harris, HES Teacher Betsy Davis, HES Principal Jay Johnston, and HES Assistant Principal Dr. Mequanta McCord. These teachers were recognized for their holiday dress.  Mr. Raymond Cameron, who dressed his beard for the holidays, and his class are pictured below with Superintendent Pack.

Mary Persons High School FBLA members made special coloring books for TGScott Elementary PreKindergarten students.

he Georgia Department of Education collects parent survey responses as part of the calculations for the School Climate Star Rating, a component of the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI).  CCRPI is a comprehensive school improvement, accountability, and communication platform for all educational stakeholders that will promote college and career readiness for all Georgia public school students.The survey consists of 24 questions.  Survey responses are anonymous and will be submitted directly to the Georgia Department of Education for analysis. http://apps.gadoe.org/schoolclimate/parents.nsf/Survey.xsp.

Monroe County Achievement Center student Landon Bryant is one of several MCAC students who participate in the 12 for Life.  He was recently recognized by the Monroe County Board of Education for this unique work-school commitment.  He is pictured at center with MCAC Director Grady Caldwell and Superintendent Anthony Pack.

Hubbard first grade students performed during PTA on December 16th. They entertained the crowd with a variety of Christmas songs. They were led by music teacher, Mrs. Emily Rusgrove.

Thank you to students, families, friends, and community members who supported our Barnes and Noble Book Fairs at the Shoppes at Rivers Crossings.  Our schools made over $3000 to use toward the purchase of student supplies, books, and technology.

TGScott Elementary students, under the direction of Mrs. Sheila Kendrick, recently performed holiday favorites for family and friends.

Clubs, organizations, and individual students gave musical performances, time, energy, money, and gifts to others as the school celebrated the joy of giving throughout December.