At last week’s political forum there was some concern raised about housing our middle school and our high school students on the same campus.  This was a concern the board talked about when we made the decision to go the 6-12 route and the benefits seem to outweigh the concerns.

First of all, it is important to understand that the building will be designed to keep the 6-8 population separate from the 9-12 population  This decision was integral before we could move forward. With the exception of on the bus, the “middle school” aged student should not even see the “high school” aged students.  Secondly, this configuration will allow the schools to share teachers. We are currently teaching two high school level classes at the middle school and the teachers are having to drive back and forth and the timing is sometimes a problem.  Having the students and the teacher on the same campus will minimize the lag time. Thirdly, the continuous expectations will lessen the transition from middle school to high school. Across the state, 9th grade is where drop out or “fall behind” rate increases.  In this combination school the transition to 9th from 8th will be almost seamless. The students will be in a different wing of the school but will have the same administrators and some of the same “shared teachers”.

By building a 6-12 building we will maximize state dollars, which will lessen the burden on County tax payers.  In order to truly benefit from being Low Wealth Project Specific we need to be able to build as many instruction units (IUs) as the state will allow.  By making the existing Crawford County Elementary School the Crawford County Primary School and letting it house Pre-K-2nd grade,making the existing Crawford County Middle School the Crawford County Elementary School and letting it house 3rd-5th Grade, and building a new 6-12 middle/high, Crawford County Schools will make the most of state dollars while maintaining the integrity of a safe, secure, learning focused environment.

In addition to all this, in August of 2018, across the state, there will be 45 schools that will have either a 6-12, a K-12, or a 7-12 (there is only one) grade configuration.  Several of the top performing schools that are similar to our size are on that list, including Schley County, Union County, and Trion City. I currently have 4th grade triplets that will attend this school as “middle school” aged students and there is no way I would suggest this if I didn’t feel 100% comfortable with the plan.

Attached is a link to the Ga Post Review from March 12th where I discussed the plan. GA Post Review March 12

What a couple of weeks!

Good Friday afternoon, I hope everyone has had a good week and are looking forward to a great weekend.

I want tot take a minute to say something to the adults and caregivers to our students:

First of all, the graffiti at CCHS turned out to be nothing more than a random writing on the bathroom wall.

On February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida. Seventeen people were killed and fourteen more were taken to hospitals, making it one of the world's deadliest school massacres.  This was a terrible and sad event and I keep all the people in Parkland, Florida in my thoughts and prayers.  The event in Florida has sparked a frenzy of incidents across our area, as well as the nation, where students are making comments about shooting up schools, being shooters, or wanting to blow up schools.  In most of the incidents, either nothing was found or the person making these comments have said they were “just joking around.”  Every incident has to be taken completely serious, and time and effort is exhausted each time, and will continue to be exhausted in the future.  I am pleading with you to please have a conversation with your child and let him/her know that this is no joking matter.  If we find even a shred of truth to any accusation against a school, we are going to prosecute to the highest degree possible.  I am not saying this as a threat, I am simply trying to give fair warning.  I do not want to see a child’s life ruined because of a comment made in jest, but I am not going to let the other 1600 plus students fear coming to Crawford County Schools.  Please talk to your kids and let them know making threats against the schools is not acceptable.  Please talk to your kids and if they are troubled help them.  Please monitor your kids social media presence.  They are kids and they yearn for discipline.  

We will continue to take every threat seriously and we will continue to work tirelessly to keep your children safe.  Please help us at home with some critical conversations.

I thank you for your help and support.