Barbara Jacoby

BY BARBARA P. JACOBY

While our students, teachers and school support staff enjoy a well-deserved break this summer, Cherokee County School District’s (CCSD) central office is busy preparing for the new school year.

On Monday, Aug. 2, we’ll welcome back 42,000 students for a year of learning, with new programs to participate in, new teachers and staff to learn from and new friends to make.

In addition to offering traditional in-person classes, CCSD will continue to offer digital learning for the first semester. You can find school supply lists and other basic back-to-school info on your child’s school website. We’ll send the next CCSD Connections parent newsletter to all parents in mid-July with the latest back-to-school updates.

While CCSD Digital Learning is a temporary program, student interest in a permanent digital option led the district to create i-Grad Virtual Academy, which will serve students in grades 9-12 beginning in August. The initial i-Grad enrollment is 200 high school students, but the program may be expanded to more students and additional grade levels in the future.

A kindergarten student at Liberty Elementary School.

Although a full-time virtual school, i-Grad still follows the traditional school calendar. It’s housed on the ACTIVE Academies campus in Canton, which also includes ACE Academy daytime alternative high school, CCSD Transition Academy for older special-needs students and the new Cherokee College and Career Academy (C3 Academy). Students enrolled in i-Grad complete classwork online at home, but come to the campus for specific tests, and can attend optional in-person instructional sessions as offered. Andy Hall, who most recently served as an assistant principal at River Ridge High School, is the lead administrator. If you think i-Grad may be a good fit for your child in the future, more information is online at http://bit.ly/CCSDigrad.

C3 Academy opens in August with its initial career pathway course offerings in cyber security. Enrollment is open to students from all Cherokee County high schools, with plans to expand to offer other unique career programs. You can find out more about C3 Academy by contacting your child’s school counselor. All county high schools already offer a variety of career pathway classes through the Career, Technical & Agricultural Education (CTAE) program, ranging from agriculture to computer science, to healthcare science to transportation. More information about CTAE programs can be found at http://bit.ly/CCSDctae.

Every new school year, CCSD welcomes new teachers and staff, following the retirement of longtime employees. In addition to the usual hiring needs, CCSD hired 125 additional

teachers. These new teachers will help lower class size and provide individualized instruction to ensure any learning opportunity losses due to the pandemic are bridged as quickly as possible. Funding for school nurses, psychologists and social workers also has increased to better serve students’ needs. More information can be found in CCSD’s Financial Facts budget overview at https://bit.ly/CCSDff21.

Four Cherokee County schools will welcome new principals. Dr. Carolyn Daugherty, who has led Macedonia Elementary as its principal since 2016, has been tapped as Bascomb Elementary’s next principal. Christy Rich, who most recently served as an assistant principal at Hasty Elementary Fine Arts Academy, will serve as Macedonia’s next principal. After successfully leading Mountain Road Elementary for the last five years, Principal Melinda Roulier will take over the post at Ball Ground Elementary STEM Academy. Erica Morrie, who has served as an assistant principal at Carmel Elementary since 2018, will serve as the new principal for Mountain Road.

We look forward to seeing you soon as we celebrate the start of a new school year!

Barbara P. Jacoby serves as chief communications officer for the Cherokee County School District, and is a CCSD parent with four children.