Letter from APS Superintendent Dr. Beverly Hall

From APS Superintendent Dr. Beverly L. Hall:

I’m asking for your help on a significant collaboration between our school district and Public Broadcasting Atlanta in order to increase public awareness and prevent the prostitution of children in Atlanta. Please tune in Sunday, January 30, 2011, at 8 p.m. or 10 p.m., for the PBA30 TV broadcast, “How To Stop The Candy Shop,” a one-hour presentation about the sexual exploitation of children.

This topic aligns with the ongoing “Darkness To Light” sexual abuse training that’s offered through the Office of Student Programs and Services. Our school counselors and social workers will discuss this child safety issue in upcoming staff and PTA meetings, as well as provide additional resources to students and parents.

Thank you for supporting such an important issue and for your commitment to protecting our students. For more information, please see the attached press release. (After the break)

Beverly L. Hall, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Atlanta Public Schools

APS’ award-winning Homework Hotline answers students’ questions

We took some time to watch the award-winning tutors of Atlanta Public Schools’ Homework Hotline as they took calls from students. A unique partnership between Atlanta metro school districts and Public Broadcasting Atlanta’s (PBA) E-Learning/Cyber Center, the Homework Hotline is served by diverse mix of retired and active APS educators, as well as Georgia Tech students. These talented tutors take on all comers, addressing topics such as math and science, foreign language, English/language arts, history/social studies — you name it. They’ve also become an asset as students prepare for the upcoming CRCTs.

We interviewed two seasoned veterans — retired APS teachers Willie Mae McLeod and Glenn Randall — and Georgia Tech senior Steve Iarocci as they walked us through the process of staffing the hotline. Download this flyer to keep at hand for easy reference. You can read our Atlanta Educator article about the Homework Hotline, which last year was honored with a My Source Community Impact Award for Education by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The staff also includes APS teachers Julio Blanco (foreign language), Marcia Jackson (English/language arts) and Kevin Wright (social studies).

More information about the Homework Hotline after the jump …

Maynard H. Jackson High School kicks off ‘The Big Read’

From L-R (front): Juniors Amber Messia, Dexter Andrews and Mariam Thompson. In back: Dexter Weldon, Instructional Coach for Language Arts and Social Studies

This year APS high school students will read the classic Zora Neale Hurston novel Their Eyes Were Watching God as part of the annual “The Big Read,” an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to revitalize the role of literary reading in American popular culture. In partnership with Public Broadcasting Atlanta, the Atlanta History Center provided free copies of the book to participating APS high schools. The students received free posters, bookmarks, audio guides, and will engage in various hands-on activities and discussions.

Homework Hotline heats up for APS students

Atlanta Public Schools students once again will get some much-appreciated help with their school work tonight when the award-winning Homework Hotline reopens its phone lines. The Hotline phone number, 678-553-3029, normally can be reached Mondays through Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. You can also visit the Web site: www.myhomeworkhotline.org.

A joint venture between Atlanta Public Schools and Public Broadcasting Atlanta, the Homework Hotline a staff of current and retired APS educators who field calls from students stuck on a range of academic subjects, whether it’s a complicated algebra equation or conjugating verbs properly. The core staff includes three fulltime APS teachers and two retired teachers, including Glenn Randall. That’s the gentleman, a 38-year APS teacher, who graces the poster you see in the 2009-10 APS Guidebook!

Randall says he gets calls from across the nation, a testament to the popularity of the hotline. “I’d get a call from a  young woman in Boca Raton, three to four times a week,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve had kids from APS who call all four years of high school, and when they go to college locally, they’ll keep calling.

“When they call, you have to reach back to those primary aspects of the early years of math education,” Randall explained. “You’ve got to go with them step by step. I’ll write out the problem, and then I’ll go over it with them. At first, half of them won’t understand any of it, and the other half, once you hear the problem and explain it, they’ll figure it out right away. Sometimes, if I won’t know an answer right away, I’ll take their name and phone number and call them back — if it’s a local call!”