Good luck to our CCSD teams competing in the State Basketball Tournament Sweet 16 round this week! Tonight: CHS Lady Warriors host Pebblebrook; SHS Lady Chiefs at Lanier; CVHS Lady Grizzlies at Langston Hughes. Thursday night: CHS Warriors at McEachern; EHS Eagles host Pebblebrook; SHS Chiefs host Douglas County.#CCSDfam

Our teachers are amazing, which is why we share the story of a school’s Teacher of the Year every week... please help us celebrate Creekview High School 2019 Teacher of the Year Liana Howard!

Creekview High School teacher Liana Howard has a quote from “To Kill a Mockingbird” on her English classroom wall: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.”

The Cherokee County School Board on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019 recognized retiring Principals and the School District’s retiring police chief and approved appointments to fill several leadership vacancies for next school year. 

The monthly personnel recommendations made more news than usual due to the announcement of retirements of several longtime leaders and the naming of two Office of Curriculum & Instruction directors and a coordinator for 2019-20 operations.

Creekview High School’s media specialist can add another accolade to her growing list: Cherokee County School District 2019 Media Specialist of the Year!

Anne Thiers, who has won her Innovation Zone’s title for the last two years and co-sponsored and coached the school’s reigning State Champion Reading Bowl team to multiple region and state championships, was surprised with the honor Wednesday morning before an auditorium of her colleagues and family. 

Five Cherokee County School District high school seniors have been named 2019 National Merit Scholarship Finalists!

Anne Greer of Cherokee High School, Kieran Black of Etowah High School, Mia McMahill of River Ridge High School, and Natasha Ambriz-Villela and Jordan Vaughn of Sequoyah High School now are in the running for possible scholarships.  

New York Times best-selling author Laura Schroff visited Sequoyah HS Tuesday, speaking to students and reinforcing the message from her book "An Invisible Thread," which is used in literature classes.

Nine CCSD basketball teams are in the hunt for a state title after the close of region tournaments last week. Cherokee HS Girls team and the Etowah Eagles Boys team each earned Region Champion titles, while seven additional teams earned playoff berths.

The Cherokee County School District next month will present its first-ever Support Staff Employee of the Year Awards!

The celebration on March 5 will honor one Support Staff Employee of the Year from each of CCSD’s schools, centers and central office divisions.  Each honoree will be recognized by the Superintendent of Schools and School Board members, receive a plaque and gifts of appreciation, and enjoy a reception with their family and Principal. 

Cherokee HS sophomore Rebekah Seng was presented the Congressional Award, Silver Medal today at the school by Georgia Congressman Barry Loudermilk's office.  State and Local Government Relations Director Mack Parnell from Congressman Loudermilk's staff presented the medal to Rebekah, who is a member of the JROTC program at Cherokee HS, in a small ceremony in the JROTC classroom with her parents and special guests.

Our teachers are amazing, which is why we share the story of a school’s Teacher of the Year every week... please help us celebrate Creekland Middle School 2019 Teacher of the Year Laura Brown!

Creekland Middle School special education teacher Laura Brown’s eighth-graders complete a project each year called “The Power of One.”  They study the positive impact a prominent person in history, such as Malala Yousafzai or Jesse Owens, has made in the lives of others.

More than 650 female athletes from Cherokee County's six high schools participated in the county's annual celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD), held Wednesday, February 6, at Woodstock High School. NGWSD recognizes the contributions female athletes have made in their sports, acknowledges the challenges they have overcome, and celebrates the positive influence of sports participation for girls and women everywhere, as well as the impact of Title IX legislation that guarantees equal access to athletics for females. 

Cherokee County School District’s high schools all have earned State recognition for outstanding Advanced Placement (AP) programs!

Each of CCSD’s six traditional high schools has earned recognition from the State as a 2019 AP Honor School for commendable student performance and participation on AP exams.  CCSD’s high schools all have been named to the State’s AP Honor List each of the last nine years.  As a district, CCSD ranks fifth overall in Georgia for AP exam pass rates.

Congratulations to the Cherokee County School District’s 2019 STAR Students and Teachers!

The STAR, or Student Teacher Achievement Recognition, Student honor is awarded to the high school senior from each Georgia public and private high school with the highest score on any single test date of the SAT (taken through the November test date of senior year), who also in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of his or her class based on grade point average. Each honored student is invited to select his or her favorite teacher to be named that school’s STAR Teacher.

CCSD employs 90 counselors across 39 schools and centers to provide support and guidance to our students. Thank you to all our counselors for their daily efforts to help students and families!  In recognition of National School Counseling Week, we asked our Innovation Zone Counselors of the Year to share some thoughts about being a school counselor-- what they enjoy most about their job and how parents can best help their children.  Parents are encouraged to reach out to their child's counselor if they have concerns, questions or need information or resources.  They are here to help! 

Congratulations to the winners of the annual CCSD Reading Bowl!  They are… for elementary school: Avery Elementary School, first place; R.M. Moore Elementary School STEM Academy, second; and Little River Elementary School, third; middle school: Freedom Middle School, first place, and Dean Rusk Middle School, second; and high school: Creekview High School, first place, and River Ridge High School, second. #CCSDfam

CCSD recognized 58 high school seniors today who have signed scholarship letters of intent to play their sport at the college level.  The Signing Day event at the Northside Hospital Cherokee Conference Center in Canton recognized students who will be playing football, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, softball, basketball, swimming, tumbling, volleyball, golf and track. 

CCSD high school and middle school basketball teams ended their regular seasons last week and begin tournament play tonight, lasting through the week.  All six of CCSD's high schools will have both their boys' and girls' teams involved in regional tournaments to determine seeding/eligibility for the state tournament, which kicks off February 15.  CCSD middle schools will begin the county tournament schedule tonight to determine the county champion for boys and girls teams, 7th and 8th grade.  Schedules/brackets can be found here. 

The latest issue of our CCSD Connections parent newsletter is online now: https://www.cherokeek12.net/Content2/newsletter Thanks to Credit Union of Georgia for its sponsorship! #CCSDfam

Parents who wish to utilize general reassignment as a school choice option within the Cherokee County School District next school year can make those requests during the next month.

The Superintendent of Schools has determined the February Break will be a full week-long break for students.

Due to a mild winter so far, resulting in the need to close schools for only one full day, coupled with positive long-range forecasts, all CCSD schools will be closed Monday, Feb. 18, through Friday, Feb. 22, for the student holiday.  CCSD central offices will remain open as previously scheduled.       

A Cherokee County School District teacher is a finalist for a national education award!

Cherokee High School English, speech and forensics teacher Jamie Wills is a finalist for the National Speech and Debate Association’s National Educator of the Year Award.

n Etowah High School Junior ROTC Cadet is one of only 150 students nationwide and one of only six in Georgia awarded an Air Force JROTC Flight Academy scholarship to earn his private pilot’s license and college credits this summer!  

Kyle Raffety won the $23,000 competitive scholarship based on strong evidence of his commitment to the Air Force core values of integrity, service to others, and excellence.  

Freedom Middle School eighth-grader Braden Flournoy correctly spelled “rapacious” and then “affidavit” to claim the title as the county’s top speller at the 2019 Cherokee County School District Spelling Bee Thursday night at Cherokee High School. 

Our teachers are amazing, which is why we share the story of a school’s Teacher of the Year every week... please help us celebrate Clark Creek Elementary School STEM Academy 2019 Teacher of the Year Jama McCartney!

As an art teacher at Clark Creek Elementary School STEM Academy, Jama McCartney teaches children to shape clay into pottery.  Her colleagues say she’s just as gifted at shaping students into better people and her school into a better place.

The Cherokee County School District continues to earn high marks from the State for its financial efficiency, tying for the best rating among metro Atlanta counties!   

The State’s Financial Efficiency Star Ratings measure school districts’ spending per student in relation to those students’ academic performance according to the College and Career Ready Performance Index.  Ratings range from a half-star to the highest rating of five stars.

Our teachers are amazing, which is why we share the story of a school’s Teacher of the Year every week... please help us celebrate Cherokee High School 2019 Teacher of the Year Ben Sosebee!
Ben Sosebee is such a popular educator at Cherokee High School that students want to be in any and every class he’s teaching.
 

The Cherokee County School District will host its annual job fair on March 2 for hiring new teachers, bus drivers and school nutrition workers!

The fair is from 9 a.m. to noon at River Ridge High School in Woodstock, and offers job candidates the opportunity to meet CCSD and school leaders.  Candidates not only will have the opportunity to introduce themselves, but also the chance to ask questions.

The Cherokee County School District will offer a variety of summer school learning opportunities from June 5-25 for high school students including rising ninth-graders.

In addition to offering a wide selection of courses for students who need to retake classes not passed during the regular school year, Personal Fitness and Health courses will be offered for initial high school credit.  

The Cherokee County School District presents an annual Agency Information Fair for parents, grandparents, teachers and caregivers to learn more about services in the community for children with special needs. This year's free event is on March 21. Please see the flier posted online here for more info, as well as this list of participating organizations.

Open enrollment for the Cherokee County School District’s Georgia Lottery Pre-K Classes program begins in February for an earlier start to the annual process.
 
The earlier start, which has been moved up from the spring, will provide parents more time to seek other preschool options should their 4-year-old not win a spot in the lottery drawing for the program’s limited seats.

The Cherokee County School Board on Friday, Dec. 14, presented its 2019 Legislative Partnership Priorities to members of the county’s Legislative Delegation, including pleas for continued local control of educational decisions and increased State funding for school safety and security.

The annual breakfast meeting hosted by the School Board included a review by School Board Chair Kyla Cromer of those Priorities, as well as time for the legislators to share what issues they plan to advocate for during the session.