Last CINS Community Meeting of 2012 set for Wednesday

The Council of Intown Neighborhoods and Schools (CINS), the Atlanta nonprofit that advocates for the Grady schools cluster, will hold its on Wednesday at Springdale Park Elementary School. The program - “APS’ Human Resources – Hiring, Staffing, Leveling and Professional Development” - is scheduled to begin at noon.

Join CINS as APS provides an update on what changes have been made in the Human Resources Division and how these changes will impact and improve the delivery of human resource services to Grady cluster schools. Hear answers to questions such as: "How are schools staffed with teachers, principals and substitute teachers? What is leveling and when does it come into play? What is the Balanced Scorecard? How far has APS progressed in implementing its Effective Teacher in Every Classroom initiative?"

CINS’ community meetings are always free and open to the public. Please feel free to bring your own brown bag lunch and come and join others who are interested in the success of the Grady cluster. To become a member or add your name to the CINS’ eblast list, click here.

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Monday's marathon Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education meeting and the back and forth discussions among its members on how to extend Superintendent Erroll B. Davis Jr.'s contract seemed reminiscent of the old days when fighting seemed the norm.

But two board members, Cecily Harsch-Kinnane, whose district includes East Lake, East Atlanta, Kirkwood and Candler Park among other communities, and Courtney D. English, who is a citywide representative, say that's not the case.

What may have seemed like nitpicking was the board trying to reach consensus, and creating the framework for picking the next superintendent. East Atlanta Patch has video interviews with both board members here.

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The Inman Middle School Holiday Concert will take place on Thursday, Dec. 13 from 6-8 p.m. The concert, string and orchestra bands, along with the school chorus, will perform a number of holiday songs at this annual winter holiday celebration at Inman. See here for more information.

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The Grady High School Robotics Team (G3) has embarked on the ambitious task of helping to expand the elementary & middle school robotics programs in its feeder schools throughout the Atlanta Public Schools. The culmination of this series of events will be a tournament on Saturday, Dec. 15, where 30 teams (300-plus students) from around the metro Atlanta will present research projects and use LEGO robots to compete in a game.

Volunteers are needed to be judges, referees, and general helpers to help make this event a success. No experience with robotics is required for some jobs, but others require some technical knowledge. 

Needed are adults who can interact with elementary and middle school students and give them honest, kind feedback in a variety of areas. Training will be provided for judges., while many of the jobs such as registration, concessions, etc. don’t require any training at all.

Sign up to volunteer here and learn more about the FLL Tournament here. Questions? Contact Andrew Nichols, at phi.naught@gmail.com.

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With temperatures hovering around 60 degrees, last Saturday’s Frosty 5K wasn’t exactly frosty, but it was a big success as more than 520 registered runners helping support the teachers and staff at Inman Middle. 

The race started at the school, continued through Virginia-Highland and then along the Beltline from Piedmont Park to Old Fourth Ward Skate Park and back. For more info on race results, photos and videos, see here.

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With temperatures hovering around 60 degrees, last Saturday’s Frosty 5K wasn’t exactly frosty, but it was a big success as more than 520 registered runners hit the pavement to help support the teachers and staff at Inman Middle. 

The race started at the school, continued through Virginia-Highland and then along the Beltline from Piedmont Park to Old Fourth Ward Skate Park and back. For more info on race results, photos and videos, see here.