Washington High’s School of Banking, Finance & Investment gets a nice deposit from BB&T

Washington High School of Banking, Finance and Investment received a $5,000 contribution from banking partner BB&T on Monday, April 12. The partnership was established by APS Associate Superintendent for High Schools Randolph Bynum, BB&T Vice President Derold McIver and Principal Charcia Nichols. The donation will fund workshops on financial literacy, a Wall Street field trip for students, and attendance and academic incentives.

Burgess-Peterson Academy hosts Pre-K and Kindergarten Roundup

This morning, more than 30 prospective pre-kindergarten and kindergarten parents and their children from the East Atlanta community attended Burgess-Peterson Academy’s first Pre-K and Kindergarten Roundup for the 2010-2011 school year. Principal Robin Robbins provided an overview of the school, followed by parent testimonials about Burgess-Peterson’s Pre-K program.  The parents were then led on a tour of the school, while the children spent time inside Pre-K and kindergarten classrooms.

Atlanta Public Schools Pre-K Coordinator Gina Glymph also provided information to the parents about the state-funded Pre-K program’s content standards, curriculum, and the upcoming Pre-K lottery registration dates which begin Saturday, April 17, at Mays and Carver high schools.  For more information, call the Pre-K registration helpline at 404-802-3638 or click here. Learn more about Burgess-Peterson Academy with this video.

APS helps show Atlanta how to ‘Be Water Wise’

 

UPDATE: Check out the photo gallery here.

Burgess-Peterson Academy served as the host school Wednesday to help launch a city-wide effort, Be Water Wise Atlanta, in a partnership with the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) and which helps celebrate National Environmental Education Week. Burgess-Peterson is one of 11 Atlanta Public Schools and 14 metro Atlanta schools to help raise consciousness about water usage and conservation.

Be Water Wise Atlanta is a collaborative public-private partnership which involves K-12 students in a comprehensive water conservation exercise, empowering students to improve conservation in their schools, homes and the community and to explore the connections between water and energy use. Burgess-Peterson was chosen as the host site thanks to its committed staff and its success in establishing and maintaining its schoolyard garden and integrating it into the curriculum, according to Jessica Culverhouse, program manager of National Environmental Education Week. Burgess-Peterson’s point people have been Principal Robin Robbins, physical education instructor Betty Jackson and custodian Kelvin Hester. Students will learn how to measure water usage, among other activities, but also will be able to apply several of these activities to their math, science and language arts curriculum.

“This project is another layer we’ve added on top of the other academic programs that provide real-life application of the things we study into the real world,” said Principal Robbins, noting that this is one of APS’ 26 Best Teaching Practices. “And that’s where we see our students achieve academically.”

Several officials were present at the event, including Diane Wood, NEEF president; Dr. Stan Meiburg, deputy regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency Region 4 (Southeast); Felicia McDade, K-12 regional education manager, Johnson Controls; Natalyn Mosby Archibong, member, Atlanta City Council; Robert Hunter, commissioner, Atlanta Department of Watershed Management; Dottie Whitlow, executive director, APS Math & Science Department; and Dr. Robin Hall, executive director, SRT-3.

“Over the past several years, improving water conservation has become increasingly critical for many U.S. cities,” Culverhouse said. “Widespread drought, conflicts over water rights and other water-related issues have gained media attention and a place on the agendas of public officials across the country. Atlanta in particular faces unique challenges in water management. Be Water Wise aims to engage students from urban schools in learning about water conservation and developing solutions.”

Other participating Atlanta Public Schools: E. Rivers Elementary, Towns Elementary, Bunche Middle, B.E.S.T. Academy, Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy, Inman Middle, Kennedy Middle, Carver School of Health Sciences & Research, Douglass High and Therrell High. The other three schools: Randolph Elementary School (Fulton County), Dunwoody Elementary School (DeKalb County) and South Paulding High School (Paulding County).

Parents as Partners Academic Center’s Father & Son Retreat reinforces a crucial family bond

Earlier we wrote about the Mother & Daughter Retreat, courtesy of the Parents as Partners Academic Center (housed at Kennedy Middle School). We also thought we’d share some images from the Father & Son Retreat, which sought to strengthen a key relationship for APS’ male students. Fathers and sons participated in a range of activities, including distinguishing the difference between a “citizen” dad and a “tourist” dad; a skin-care session courtesy of Kim Gilmore, JAFRA Cosmetics Consultant during the “Masculine Maintenance” session; and “He Ain’t Heavy,” a trust-building exercise; and the “Trust Walk,  in which fathers and sons took turns using blindfolds and guiding each other through hallways.