Grady among APS schools restored to full accreditation

Earlier this week, the high schools within the Atlanta Public Schools system, including Grady High, were restored to full accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

The schools were placed on probation in early 2010 in the wake of the 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests cheating scandal involving APS educators. Infighting amongst the school board and issues with the “governance” within the district resulted in SACS placing the APS high schools on probation.

In 2011, the district was moved to “accreditation with advisement” status. See here for more about what the full accreditation status means for the district.

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Make plans to join the Grady community for a dine-out at Cameli's Pizza on Tuesday, Nov. 13.  Enjoy northern style gourmet pizza and more, and Cameli's will donate 20 percent of all proceeds from the Grady community to the Grady PTSA. Just be sure to say you are a Grady parent, teacher or student.

Cameli's has two locations at 699 Ponce De Leon Ave. and at 337 Moreland Ave. Go to www.camelis.com for more information.

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The Morningside “Town Hall” meeting regarding Special Education with John O' Connor, assistant superintendent for student services and 
Vickie Cleveland, executive director for special education, is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 14 and open to all families in the Grady Cluster. It is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. in the Grady Media Center.

Your are invited to come and learn about the Office of Student Programs and Services which provides comprehensive, collaborative and coordinated services to students, staff, parents and communities. OSPS ensures that all efforts focus on student success and the goals central to APS’ strategic plan. Additionally, OSPS supports acquisition of the skills essential to academic achievement, career and educational decision-making, and personal/social development. These programs are fundamental to providing wrap-around services.

Furthermore, the Office of Student Programs and Services develops and coordinates early intervention strategies to ensure that curriculum, instruction and behavioral practices best meet the educational needs of all students; provides parenting education opportunities; enhances family-school partnerships; develops community outreach; and establishes partnerships with businesses and human services agencies.

Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to the Special Education Committee Chairs, Michelle Constantinides or Kim Martin.

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An Inman Middle School to Grady transition informational meeting is set for Thursday, Nov. 29 beginning at 8 a.m. in the Inman Middle School auditorium. Inman will host for parents the first of three "Grady 101" presentations - "Program of Study."

In addition, forms relevant to the presentation and a frequently asked questions list will be distributed. The second presentation, "Student Support," is scheduled to take place in January, and the third, focusing on clubs, teams and other aspects of student life at Grady, will be held in March.

While there will not be a formal Q&A session as part of the presentation, questions can be submitted to: Grady101series@gmail.com. A response to all emails will be sent.

The presentation will be recorded and posted on both Grady's and Inman's websites. In addition, the forms distributed, including the FAQ, will be posted on both websites. Finally, a list of Grady parents willing to discuss their experience(s) at Grady will be distributed.

In addition to this series of presentations for parents, Inman students will be introduced to Grady through presentations and tours. More information on those presentations will follow at a later date. Questions regarding the parent presentations? Contact Jennifer Roorbach, Transition Out, Inman Middle School, at jenniferroorbach@comcast.net.

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Congratulations to Grady Drama Club members who participated in the Region 6-AAAA One-Act competition and finished in second place. Grady received scores of 96, 93 and 93 out of a possible 100 - superior scores - from the three judges. That's a first for Grady.
 
In addition, Carter Guensler received the award for Best Actor in the region and Preston Choi was selected as a member of the all-region cast

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In its Student Spotlight of the Week, APS this week is highlighting Springdale Park Elementary 4th grade student, Nikhel Krishna.

How many 4th graders know how to create a website? Krishna not only knows how, but is an International award-winner for his talent. His website submission passed the APS Student Media Festival, went onto the Georgia Student Media Festival, and won at the International Student Media Festival (ISMF) for Excellence in Media Production and Judges’ Favorite. The site was originally created for his Composer project in Music class, where he chose to focus on Reinhold Gliere, because his teacher said it would be a challenge. Read more here:

Click to view Krishna’s website and see here for more on him from the APS spotlight.