A monthly publication highlighting work session and regular monthly meetings of the Board of Education
Board Briefs
October 2019
The Barrow County Board of Education is composed of nine members. Board members serve a four-year term, with three districts elected at-large and six elected by district. The Board is the official governing body of the Barrow County School System.
Highlights of Presentation and Discussion Items
Special Congratulations
Superintendent Dr. McMichael started the Work Session by congratulating school leadership for the increased graduation rate of 87.6% that was posted for the class of 2019. He compared this to graduation rate 15 years ago when it was only 59%.

A special commendation was given to Jennifer Martin and Apalachee High School for crossing the milestone of 90% graduation rate.
Naming of the New High School
Dr. Dale Simpson recommended a final name for the new high school, based on survey data and community input.

The Board of Education voted to approve the name: Barrow Arts and Sciences Academy.

This specific name was listed 17 times on the survey and those four words were the most common words recommended to describe the school.

Joe Perno shared that the construction is still on time and under budget.
Teaching & Learning: 2018-19 Milestones Summary
At the Work Session, Jennie Persinger presented the final Milestones Assessment results from last year.

Results of the 2018-2019 Milestones End of Grade (EOG) and End of Course (EOC) tests for Barrow County
students surpassed the state average in the majority of areas assessed. Georgia Milestones assessments attempt to measure the degree that students have learned and mastered standards in tested subject areas.

Overall, Barrow students had higher performance at the developing or higher level than the state in all of the tested grade/subjects at the elementary and middle school level (shown below), and three of the eight tested subjects at the high school level. High school EOC performance showed growth in five of the eight assessed subjects from the previous school year.

Click to download the entire presentation and results ( PDF).
Business Services Report
Consolidated Funds

Starting this year, select Federal Title Funds and the district's general fund will be combined into a Consolidated Fund. This restructuring allows schools to spend their allocated funds more easily with less red tape to navigate.

Taking a closer look, the Business Services and Federal Programs departments partnered to consolidate a portion of federal funds from Title I, Title II, Title III, and Title IV with selected general funds to provide schools with more flexibility in how these funds can be expended. Once federal funds are consolidated with local general funds, they are no longer subject to restrictive federal guidelines.

The major purpose in consolidating funds was to shift the conversation from “Is it allowable to spend federal funds in the manner desired” to “How can we use consolidated funds to best meet the needs of our students”. This approach to expending funds has allowed leaders to determine how funds can best help schools accomplish their improvement goals.
Superintendent's Recognitions

Presentation of Colors

Cadets from the JROTC Program at Apalachee High School presented the colors (not listed in photo order):
  • Cadet Private Alexis Hammers, 9th grade
  • Cadet Private Catherien Vue, 9th grade
  • Cadet Private Angel Romero Ayala, 9th grade
  • Cadet Private Reannon Stonerock, 10th grade

The Cadets - only two months into the JROTC program - did a great job!
WBHS Awarded UGA Director's Cup

Each year the University of Georgia Office of Admissions presents the UGA Director’s Cup, an award to acknowledge the high school whose students have earned the highest cumulative GPA at the completion of their first year.
 
Winder-Barrow High School is the 2018-2019 recipient of the UGA Director’s Cup. The 10 students from Winder-Barrow High School that enrolled as first-year students at UGA in Fall 2018 semester achieved a 3.804 first-year cumulative GPA, higher than any other high school with 10 or more students from the 2018 entering class.
State Superintendent's Student Advisory Council

Three of State School Superintendent Richard Woods' Student Advisory Council members are BCSS students. Out of the 1,000 who applied, 130 Georgia students were selected. Throughout the school year, these middle and high school students will meet with Superintendent Woods to discuss education issues and the impact of state policies in the classroom. They will also participate in service projects to benefit schools.

Congratulations to the following students: 
  • Bradyn Bramlett, Russell Middle School, Grade 7
  • Jason Argueta, Winder-Barrow High School, Grade 11
  • Tyler Bryant, Russell Middle School, Grade 7
District Leadership Award

ArtsNow provides professional learning opportunities, workshops and resources on arts and arts integration. Their team of outstanding, nationally recognized artists and educators provide instruction and coaching to educators about integrating the arts into their daily lessons.

ArtsNow awarded BCSS with the District Leadership Award to celebrate our partnership of over 10 years. President and CEO Pamela Walker said this partnership gives the opportunity to take the creative and innovative ways we are positively impacting teaching and learning here in Barrow County to a national level.

TSA National 1st Place Winner

Jason Argueta earned 1st Place in the Technical Student Association (TSA) Transportation Modeling Competition in July. Under engineering teacher Kimberly Garren, he built a Maglev (aka monorail) where he used magnets to levitate the train.

Teacher Recognition

BCSS District Teacher of the Year David Kendrick from Bear Creek Middle School was recognized for participating in the George Washington Teacher Institute, a competitive professional learning opportunity.

September Attendance
Award Winners

Student
ES – Bramlett Elementary
MS/HS – Bear Creek Middle

Staff
ES – County Line Elementary
MS/HS – Westside Middle
Program – Arts & Innovation Magnet Program (AIM)

Transportation
Kennedy Elementary School

School Food & Nutrition
Kennedy, Statham, and Sims all with perfect attendance. Statham won the tiebreaker.
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The regular business meetings of the Barrow County Board of Education take place on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. in the boardroom of the Professional Development Center (PDC) located at 179 W. Athens St., Winder, GA 30680.


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