Three Cherokee Schools Make State Reward List

Three Cherokee County School District institutions have been named to the Georgia Department of Education's list of Reward Schools.

Woodstock and Boston Elementary schools in Woodstock have been deemed a Highest Performing school and Teasley Middle School in Canton has been named a High Progress School.

The list, part of the state’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) flexibility waiver, is for schools that have the highest performance or biggest academic gains by its students in the last three years.

The High Progress School label is for Title I schools that have made the most progress in improving the performance of the "all student" category over a three-year period on statewide exams. A school can't be classified in this category if there are significant achievement gaps across subgroups that aren't closing.  

A Highest Performing School label is reserved for Title I schools that have the highest "absolute performance over three years for the all students group on statewide assessments." Schools in this category must have made Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, for the all students group and all subgroups in 2011. 

A school can't achieve this label if there are significant achievement gaps across subgroups in the school. 

Title I schools are schools that have a higher percentage of student who receive free or reduced lunch. 

“These schools are shining examples of what we can achieve in public education in Georgia,” said State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge. “I want to take what’s working at our Reward Schools and replicate that in every school in the state. These are the schools making education work for all Georgians.”