Save the Date: ‘Making the Connection’ at B.E.S.T. Academy, May 8

B.E.S.T. Academy will host “Making the Connection” on May 8. This is a conference in observance of the 2010 National Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Asthma and Stroke Awareness Month to educate and empower families and communities to utilize all resources to promote, protect and assure the health and well-being of the people of Fulton County. The conference, sponsored by the Fulton County Department of Heath and Wellness, will be held from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

Bolton Academy Spanish teacher wins international educator award from VIF

Visiting International Faculty (VIF) Program has an International Educator of the Year recognition program for its teachers, and was thrilled to announce that Ingrid Arriagada (pictured, above right), a Spanish teacher at Bolton Academy, has been selected as one of its five International Educators of the Year.  Not every one of the states in which VIF places teachers had a winner, so this is a particularly special honor for Arriagada.  According to a representative from VIF, the selection committee highly regarded her presentation submission and strong letter of support. Arriagada was selected because her presentation showed a high level of curriculum integration, student involvement, and high cultural contributions to her class, school and community.

Arriagada will be honored at Bolton Academy during next month’s Teacher Appreciation Week. If her name sounds familiar, Arriagada also was featured in the Spring issue of The Atlanta Educator. (Read the feature here.) And if VIF sounds familiar, that’s because now-former Slater Elementary teacher Maria Beatriz Chopite Gonzales was Georgia’s International Educator of the Year. (Read press release here.)

Carver students reach their ‘GivingPoint’ with partnership through Project GRAD

 

We’re excited to learn about a wonderful partnership between Project GRAD Atlanta and The New Schools at Carver and GivingPoint, a nonprofit based in nearby Roswell. The fine folks at GivingPoint shared this illuminating video clip (above) showing Carver students making a difference in their community.

According to representative Ansley Colby, GivingPoint is a youth-development initiative designed to inspire teens to find their passion, become actively engaged in their local communities, and develop into life-long contributors to society. “One of our top transformational priorities is to become a vehicle for nonprofits and schools to understand, engage, motivate and inspire young people to serve their community so that they can reach their full potential and succeed in life,” Colby said.

Another reason to follow CSKYWLA (and APS!) on Twitter

We’re still making a push to encourage our APS community to set up their own Twitter accounts and follow one another on Twitter. (APS is @apsupdate). The biggest reason is you learn ALL KINDS of cool information as it’s disseminated practically in real time. Take, for instance, one of our fave APS nouveau tweeters at the Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy (@CSKYWLA). Whoever is handling their tweeting sure knows what she’s doing. Lots of good news going on over there. Including this nugget …

Congratulations to Taylor Morrs – 8th grade student at CSKYWLA. She has been awarded a scholarship sponsored by AT&T, in conjunction with Girls INC., for her essay answering the question, “Why is it important for girls and women to advocate for issues affecting their families and communities?” She will receive her award at the Girl’s Summit at Georgia Tech! We are so proud of you Taylor!

Oh, and we forgot, here’s ANOTHER reason to follow CSKYWLA (regarding this weekend’s Dogwood Festival) …

Come one, Come All: CSKYWLA’s Show Choir will perform at the #DogwoodFestival on Saturday, April 17, 2010 at 10:45 am. Please come out and support the SHOW CHOIR. SPOILER – they are SHOW STOPPERS in the making……oh, I better not spoil the surprise – you have to come and see it for yourself!!

Count us as intrigued!

APS announces dates, details of 2010-11 pre-kindergarten lottery

APS announced the details of its pre-kindergarten lottery that will determine the allocation of state-funded Pre-K positions in Atlanta Public Schools. Registration for the APS Pre-kindergarten Lottery will be held from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday, April 17, at Mays High School, 3450 Benjamin E. Mays Dr., SW, and The New Schools at Carver, 55 McDonough Blvd., SE. Weeknight registrations will be held from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 20, and Thursday, April 22, at Samuel Martin Inman Middle School, 774 Virginia Ave., NE.  Another registration session will be held the following weekend from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday, April 24, at Maynard H. Jackson High School, 801 Glenwood Ave., SE.

The lottery drawing is scheduled for Friday, April 30, and will be managed by Data Systems and Games, Inc. A certified public accounting firm will validate the results, which will be posted at each pre-kindergarten site by May 7. All parents and guardians who registered for the lottery will be notified by mail.

Eligibility is for one year. To participate in the Pre-K program, a child must be 4 years of age on or before Sept. 1, 2010, and must live in an APS attendance zone or be the child of an APS employee. Transportation will be provided for children who live more than a mile from the nearest practical route from his or her zoned school.

To begin the lottery registration process, a parent or guardian must appear in person at one of the four registration sites on the dates specified, and must provide one of the following forms of identification: