Education - Reporter Newspapers

Fulton County Schools closes second high school due to positive COVID-19 tests

by Bob Pepalis | Oct 20, 2020 | Coronavirus, Education, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

The Fulton County School System has announced that Cambridge High School in Milton will be closed Oct. 20-22 due to COVID-19 cases among staff or students, the second such closure since in-person classes resumed on Oct. 14. Banneker High in College Park was closed Oct. 16 after at least three staff or students reported positive test results. FCS spokesperson Brian Noyes said after advice from the Fulton County Health Department, and because the school reached Level 2 on its closing matrix, school officials directed the school to be closed. The three days of the closure will be spent contact-tracing...

Fulton County Schools closes a school for COVID-19 cases two days after in-person return

by Bob Pepalis | Oct 16, 2020 | Coronavirus, Education, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

Two days after the Fulton County School System fully reopened for face-to-face instruction, one of its schools in College Park was shut down because of six positive COVID-19 cases. About 60% of FCS students returned to classrooms Oct. 14, with the rest sticking to remote learning, amid a return plan that drew some safety complaints from teachers, including at Sandy Springs’ Riverwood International Charter School. On Oct. 16, Benjamin Banneker High School in College Park announced a closure due to COVID-19 cases, with an expected reopening Oct. 19 after cleaning and disinfection. FCS reported its 105 other schools were...

Atlanta Public Schools delays return of in-person classes until January

by John Ruch | Oct 16, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Coronavirus, Education, Top Stories | 0

The Atlanta Public Schools return to in-person classes has been delayed until January. The decision, announced Oct. 16 by Superintendent Lisa Herring, came after more than 3,800 concerned parents, teachers and staff members signed a letter under the name “We Demand Safety APS.” “I have decided that Atlanta Public Schools … will postpone all reopening plans for in-person learning until January 2021,” Herring said in a post on her blog that detailed the new plan. “This decision comes after our continued monitoring and tracking of COVID-19 health data that is trending unfavorably, consultation with public health officials and healthcare...

60% of students resume face-to-face instruction in Fulton County Schools

by Bob Pepalis | Oct 15, 2020 | Coronavirus, Education, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

Approximately 60% of the students in the Fulton County School System were expected to be in classrooms starting Oct. 14 as face-to-face instruction resumed. The remaining students will stick with remote learning, the Fulton County Board of Education learned in its Oct. 13 work session. Superintendent Mike Looney said the latest COVID-19 diagnosis data he saw before giving face-to-face instruction the go-ahead showed the average incident rate was 94.5 cases per 100,000 residents. The threshold set for face-to-face instruction was 100 or fewer cases per 100,000 residents. Looney told the school board that a closure of all FCS facilities...

Brookhaven’s Marist School opens new technology center

by Erin Schilling | Oct 10, 2020 | Brookhaven Reporter, Education | 0

The Marist School’s new campus technology center in Brookhaven opened at the beginning of the school year. Construction on the Goizueta Center for Immersive Experience and Design began in the spring after the city loosened restrictions on zoning approvals to speed the project’s approval. The goal of the center is to help students learn empathy and make a positive impact through service, according to the school’s website. The center is part of the school’s “STEAM 2.0” program, which combines its Global and Humane Studies program with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics). Marist has a $2 million grant...

Sandy Springs to serve as ‘living laboratory’ for Kennesaw State researchers

by Bob Pepalis | Oct 8, 2020 | Education, Perimeter Business, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

The city of Sandy Springs will serve as a “living laboratory” for Kennesaw State University researchers in a partnership announced by Mayor Rusty Paul on Sept. 15. Mayor Rusty Paul said the city and KSU had been working on the collaboration for months, with the pandemic causing some delays. Paul said that the city is in Georgia State University territory for collaboration, but that university didn’t offer businesses classes in the community. KSU was approached and began teaching master of business administration courses and offered an MBA certificate program on the City Springs campus. “I had a brilliant idea…...

Atlanta school board joins call for Fulton authority to stop granting tax breaks within city

by John Ruch | Oct 6, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Education, Politics, Top Stories | 0

The Atlanta Board of Education has joined the call for the Development Authority of Fulton County to stop granting tax breaks to developers within city limits, citing the impacts on the Atlanta Public Schools budget. With its Oct. 5 resolution, the school board echoed a similar resolution issued last month by the Atlanta City Council. The resolutions are part of an ongoing controversy about where tax abatements are appropriate and what authority should cut bond-issuance deals that enable them. The school board resolution calls for such deals to be made only by Invest Atlanta, the city’s own development authority,...

Change in reopening plan confuses parents at marathon Atlanta Board of Education meeting

by Collin Kelley | Oct 5, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Coronavirus, Education, Top Stories | 0

Uncertainty and confusion reigned during a marathon Oct. 5 meeting of the Atlanta Board of Education as a change in the reopening plan for Atlanta Public Schools caught many parents by surprise. Some parents believed that the board would be voting on reopening dates and a plan during the meeting, but no vote was required as the reopening timeline is the purview of Superintendent Lisa Herring and her administration. APS officials released a new reopening plan late on Oct. 2, but it was obvious those listening in on the virtual meeting had not had time to wade through what...

Break in Fulton Schools calendar helped set Oct. 14 face-to-face return date

by Bob Pepalis | Oct 5, 2020 | Coronavirus, Education, Sandy Springs Reporter | 0

The Fulton County School System says it set an Oct. 14 return to in-person classes a bit sooner than a previously announced two-week review due to a break and a workday in the district’s calendar. FCS previously said its reopening phases would be based on two-week review of COVID-19 statistics, but the decision to return to face-to-face instruction came 11 days into that cycle. The return to face-to-face instruction five days a week is for students at all schools, though parents can still decide to have their children taught remotely. FCS entered that “phase IV” of its reopening schedule...

Fulton County Schools sets Oct. 14 date for full return to in-person classes

by Bob Pepalis | Oct 4, 2020 | Coronavirus, Education, Sandy Springs Reporter, Top Stories | 0

The Fulton County School System was on track in late September to enter phase IV of its reopening plan on Oct. 5, which brings students to schools for two days of in-person instruction, though parents can keep their children in universal remote learning for all five school days. “The current positivity rate for Fulton County affirms the reopening plan is on the right timeline,” said Cliff Jones, Fulton County Schools chief academic officer. The current timetable has students returning for face-to-face instruction five days per week on Oct. 14, nine days after the district entered Phase IV. Face masks...

Atlanta Public Schools parents must decide on in-person or virtual learning by Oct. 10

by Collin Kelley | Sep 30, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Coronavirus, Education, Top Stories | 0

Parents of Atlanta Public Schools students will have to decide by Oct. 10 if they plan to send their kids back to the classroom or continue with virtual learning for the remainder of the semester. Atlanta School Board Chairman Jason Esteves said during a virtual meeting of the North Atlanta Parents for Public Schools group on Sept. 30 that parents and guardians would have to make a choice and stick with it through December. “For scheduling purposes, we need a commitment from parents on whether their children will have in-person or virtual learning,” Esteves said. An “Intent to Return...

Atlanta Public Schools could resume some in-person learning Oct. 26

by Collin Kelley | Sep 24, 2020 | Buckhead Reporter, Coronavirus, Education, Top Stories | 0

Atlanta Public Schools could resume face-to-face learning Oct. 26 for students in kindergarten through second grade and for students with learning disabilities. Superintendent Lisa Herring said during a Facebook town hall session Sept. 24 that the Atlanta Board of Education will make a decision on the reopening plan at its Oct. 5 meeting, which begins virtually at 2:30 p.m. and can be watched at atlantapublicschools.us/apsboard. Herring said an in-person learning schedule for grades 3 through 12 would also likely be decided at the Oct. 5 meeting. Beginning Sept. 28, parents will receive a survey on whether they plan to...