B.E.S.T. Academy High School students go for the bowtie look

The young men of B.E.S.T. Academy High School chose to wear a bowtie as a part of their school uniform. Principal Boris Hurst is convinced that “the bowtie fosters a new look of distinction among the high school students.” Students received their bowties at a formal ceremony where school partner 100 Black Men of Atlanta was on hand to assist with distribution of the ties.

B.E.S.T. Academy High School is a part of the latest phase in the Middle School Transformation Initiative that includes single-gender academies. B.E.S.T. and the all-female Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy (CSKYWLA) each opened high schools this year, starting with the freshman class that grew out of their respective middle schools, and will continue to grow until they feature all four high-school grades.

You’ve got mail: The Atlanta Educator!

There should be a nice little surprise in mailboxes throughout the Atlanta Public Schools community this week: the graduation issue of The Atlanta Educator. In this summer edition, we not only profile this year’s valedictorians but also hear from two valedictorians from the Class of 2009 as they share their thoughts on their first year of college. We also provide a look at some of our most comprehensive initiates, including the Effective Teacher in Every Classroom project as well as the Middle School Transformation initiative.

You’ll see how schools such as Centennial Place Elementary and Burgess-Peterson Academy are taking innovative approaches to educating our students. We profile new Atlanta Board of Education member Nancy Meister and Project GRAD-Atlanta Program Administrator Eric Rosser. We also hear from APS Superintendent Dr. Beverly L. Hall as she salutes our students’ progress on the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test, also known as the Nation’s Report Card.

So while we would never “mail in” an issue, we can say that we’re mailing out this issue. And thanks so much to our partner, the GE Foundation,  for their help on this. We think you’ll like what you see. Enjoy.