Brian Vanderhoff's North Fulton Real Estate Blog

--- Brian and Jennifer Vanderhoff North Fulton County REALTORS Vanderhoff Real Estate (770) 331-1206 --- Milton, GA Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale North Fulton County, GA Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale Forsyth, GA Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale ---

Labels: Alpharetta, city of milton, fulton county schools, Johns Creek, milton

What’s 11 extra minutes a day in class equal? Five more days of summer, according to a recommendation that would cut Fulton County’s school calendar to 175 days.

Georgia’s standard school year is 180 days.

The proposal — the first from a major metro Atlanta system — comes as the economy keeps its viselike grip on schools and the state slashes its public funding.

It goes to Fulton’s school board next week, although a final decision will not come for another two months as officials seek public comment. The board will meet at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Dunwoody Springs Elementary School, 8100 Roberts Drive in Sandy Springs.

“Being taken into consideration [is] how we can deliver instruction in the best way possible but also find financial savings,” said Fulton spokeswoman Susan Hale, who is a member of the system’s calendar committee.

State lawmakers this year gave school systems the option to ditch the standard calendar as long as children spent the same amount of time in instruction for the year.

Among the first to embrace the change were two small systems outside the metro area, which over the summer turned to longer daily hours and shorter years.

The 4,000 students in middle Georgia’s Peach County now attend school four days a week, which system officials estimate saves more than $407,000 in operations and transportation costs.

In rural North Georgia, Murray County officials went to a 160-day school year that starts after Labor Day. In turn, elementary school students get another hour in class and middle and high school students another 30 minutes — for a savings of $124,000 this school year.

In Fulton, teachers would still work 190 days. Early release days for students would be eliminated, becoming full teacher training days. If approved, the calendar would start with the 2010-11 school year.

The proposal would give students a full week off at Thanksgiving. It also provides an option of starting the school year a week later in August.

Hale did not have a dollar figure but said the committee expected savings in areas such as transportation, since school buses would use a week’s less of fuel.

Labels: Alpharetta, city of milton, fulton county schools, fulton schools, milton, shorter year, summer

Fulton County


Schedule at a glance:

● Fall break — Oct. 9

● Thanksgiving break — Nov. 25-27

● Winter break — Dec. 21 - Jan. 4, students start back on Tuesday, Jan. 5.

● Presidents Day weekend break — Feb. 12-15

● Spring break — April 5-9

● Last day — May 21




Bus transportation hotline: 770-969-6091


Meal prices:

● Breakfast — Elementary, 80 cents; middle/high, 95 cents; reduced, 30 cents.

● Lunch — Elementary, $1.35; middle/high, $1.60; reduced, 40 cents.


What’s new: Five new schools and a new start-up charter school open. An expected increase of almost 2,000 students puts Georgia’s fourth largest system at about 90,000. The system also launches the Fulton Institute of Technology, a technical high school. For the first time, schools evaluate teachers on a “value-added” performance system, which measures student progress throughout the year rather than only on standardized tests given once a year.

Labels: Alpharetta, Fulton County, fulton county board of education, fulton county school board, fulton county school system, fulton county schools

Under a new law (HB 251) signed this year by Governor Perdue, parents of Fulton County Schools students have the option to enroll their child in any FCSS school that has available classroom space.

If you would like to request a transfer from your child's home school to an eligible transfer school for the 2009-10 school year, please visit www.fultonschools.org/dept/studentassignment for an application or call the Student Assignment Office at 404-763-6801. Applications will be accepted from July 15 - July 29, 2009

Placement will be determined by lottery drawing. Parents will be notified of transfer approval and enrollment guidelines. Bus transportation will not be provided.
Elementary Schools:
Mary M. Bethune, Medlock Bridge, Mount Olive, Mountain Park, Love T. Nolan and Roswell North

Middle Schools:
Haynes Bridge
Note: School availability subject to change based on enrollment capacity. High School transfer requests have already been fulfilled under the FCSS Open Enrollment Process.

More information about public school choice can be found on the school system's web site.

Labels: fulton county schools, governor sonny perdue, house bill 251

For a fourth year, a third of all Fulton County schools have been recognized for improving and promoting academic excellence, according to data released by the Georgia Department of Education and the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.

The Single Statewide Accountability System (SSAS) recognition program awarded 31 Fulton County schools in two categories:

Greatest gains. Schools that showed the greatest improvement in scores on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) or the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT)
Highest performance. Schools that demonstrated the highest achievement on the CRCT or GHSGT
In addition, Riverwood International Charter School was one of eight schools statewide to receive awards in both categories.

Greatest Gains Category:
Platinum: River Eves Elementary School
Silver: Bethune Elementary School, Riverwood International Charter School
Bronze: Renaissance Elementary School

Highest Performance Category:
Platinum: Shakerag Elementary School
Gold: Barnwell Elementary School, Crabapple Crossing Elementary School, Findley Oaks Elementary School, Medlock Bridge Elementary School, Mountain Park Elementary School
New Prospect Elementary School, Summit Hill Elementary School,Wilson Creek Elementary School,Chattahoochee High School,Northview High School.
Silver: Abbotts Hill Elementary School, Cogburn Woods Elementary School, Dolvin Elementary School,Lake Windward Elementary School,Northwood Elementary School,
State Bridge Crossing Elementary School,River Trail Middle School, Centennial High School,Milton High School,Riverwood International Charter School
Bronze: Alpharetta Elementary School, Creek View Elementary School,Ocee Elementary School,Sweet Apple Elementary School,Fulton Science Academy,Webb Bridge Middle School
Roswell High School

Labels: bethune, elementary schools, fulton county schools, middle schools, renaissance, river eves, riverwood, ssas awards, top high schools

Redistricting is often a hot button issue, but in Alpharetta residents of three neighborhoods have taken to the streets to voice their complaints.

Parents and students from Coventry, Gatewood and Rhodes Plantation staged a protest over a proposed redistricting plan which would separate their children and send some of them to Manning Oaks Elementary. According to Coventry resident Thomas Bose, about 100 people showed up for the symbolic walk along the half mile stretch of sidewalk from their neighborhoods to Cogburn Woods Elementary.

“We had a really big crowd — it was amazing,” said Bose. “With the protest we wanted to show our solidarity. There’s no good reason for any of our neighborhoods to leave the district, it doesn’t help anybody.”

With one more redistricting meeting left Dec. 10 for the new school on Birmingham Highway in Milton, Bose said more demonstrations may be in the works. Of the Fulton County Planning Department’s three alternative school district plans, Bose said Plan A is the “worst.”

The plan would split up the three neighborhoods and would send children from Coventry and Gatewood to Manning Oaks, a distance Bose said was about five miles away, leaving Rhodes Plantation at Cogburn Woods, which is about half a mile by sidewalk from all three neighborhoods.

“The plan would send kids on buses through three or four neighborhoods with four-way stops and use more fuel and cost more,” said Bose. “And it doesn’t even meet the county’s own criteria of geographic proximity, traffic, neighborhood groupings and numbers — mathematically it’s not an issue.”

Bose said he and the other residents of the three neighborhoods prefer Plan B, which would keep their children at Cogburn Woods and have the least disruption for students.

Susan Hale, Fulton County Schools spokeswoman, said reactions may be strong because the first parents just saw the first redistricting maps at the Nov. 13 meeting. She said 800 people attended the meeting and the planning department is still working through all the comments and are looking for common themes in order to make changes to the redistricted boundaries.

“We are still in the middle in the process and I encourage people to come to the Dec. 10 meeting and stay involved in the process and show support for their school,” said Ms. Hale. “In other counties when they do rezoning they only hear from two or three parents but we’re hearing from 800 because we have a different process here. It’s great that so many people are involved.”

Ms. Hale said the final redistricting plans would be presented to the Fulton County School Board in January and would be voted on in February. She said she would encourage parents to contact their school board members and voice their opinions.

The third redistricting meeting for the new elementary school on Birmingham Highway in Milton is Dec. 10 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Milton Center, 86 School Drive in Alpharetta.

Information: visit www.fultonschools.org/redistricting

Labels: Alpharetta, Fulton County, fulton county schools, Georgia, milton, Redistricting, Roswell

Don't forget Thursday night's (11/13/08) redistricting meeting - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Milton High School Milton Center.

Check out this website: http://www.fultonschools.org/redistricting/bham.htm . It gives information about the 1st school redistricting meeting (Round 1) and there is a video explaining the process.

Round Two - November 13th
Staff will present alternative proposals for new attendance zones.
Community members will offer comments on strengths and weaknesses of each plan in facilitated small-group discussions.
Prior to the next community forum, staff will condense the number of attendance zone alternatives based on public input.

Round Three - December 10th
Community members will review and provide input on revised attendance zone draft plans in facilitated small-group discussions.
Staff will use comments to develop a final attendance zone recommendation for Board consideration.

The Fulton County Board of Education will be reviewing the new attendance zone recommendations during their meetings. Final action is planned for February 2009. Changes in the attendance zones will go into effect in August 2009 with the opening of the new elementary school.

Labels: Crabapple Crossing Elementary, fulton county schools, Milton High School, northwestern middle, oxford lakes, Redistricting, roswell high school, summit hill elementary, sweet apple elementary, waterside

With a new school under construction on Birmingham Highway in Milton, redistricting to fill the school is an inevitable part of the growing pains.

The Fulton County school system will hold three rounds of meetings at Elkins Pointe Middle School in Roswell. The purpose of the meetings is to gather information from parents and community members to help the Fulton County School Board make decisions about redistricting lines.

New attendance zones will be voted on by the school board in February and they will go into effect next August, in time for the new school year.

According to Kirk Wilks, communications director for the Fulton County School system, the process cannot work without attendance and participation at the meetings.

Fulton County Schools Spokeswoman Susan Hale said the redistricting criteria is followed closely by the school system planning staff to ensure fairness for all school redistrictings.

“During the meetings, community members will review the school board’s redistricting criteria, primary and secondary, and can comment on residential development, traffic, previous redistricting, special programs and other issues,” said Ms. Hale.

Ms. Hale also said land has been bought for a new high school in Milton. The 64-acre site at the intersection of Bethany Bend and Cogburn Road in Milton is intended to relieve overcrowding and future enrollment west of Ga. 400. The new Milton High School is expected to open in 2012.

The Milton elementary school redistricting meetings will take place Oct. 23, Nov. 13 and Dec. 10 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Elkins Pointe Middle School, 11290 Elkins Road in Roswell.

Labels: Alpharetta, birmingham elementary, Birmingham Highway, city of milton, elkins point middle school, fulton county schools, milton elementary school, Redistricting

Eight Fulton County Schools administrators have been recognized as "High Performance Principals," by Governor Sonny Perdue and State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox.

A total of 112 principals statewide were acknowledged for overseeing dramatic improvement in student achievement in their schools last year.

To make the list, principals must be the catalyst for improvement at a low-performing school or take a high-performing school to an even higher level; have been at the school for three consecutive years and be recommended by their school system.

The High Performance program started in 2006 to identify excellence in school leadership. Since its inception 19 Fulton County principals have been recognized. Four of the eight 2008 honorees, Sonia Terry, Steven Curry, Elizabeth Fogartie and Ed Spurka, have been recognized each year since the program began.


2008 Georgia High Performance Principals

• Steven Curry — Findley Oaks Elementary School

• Susan Dorenkamp — Heards Ferry Elementary School

• Elizabeth Fogartie — Webb Bridge Middle School

• Trey Martin — State Bridge Crossing Elementary School

• Dawn Melin — River Trail Middle School

• Ed Spurka — Roswell High School

• Sonia Terry — Crabapple Crossing Elementary School

• Peter Zervakos — Northview High School

Labels: fulton county schools, governor sonny perdue, high performance principals, principals

A tentative budget and millage rate for the next fiscal year have been adopted by the Fulton County School Board.

The $857.3 million general fund budget provides funding for an anticipated 2,500 additional students and the teachers and support staff needed to accommodate the growth.

The budget also includes: a 5.3-percent raise for most employees; two major school construction projects; and student and staffing needs for the new Lake Forest Elementary School in Sandy Springs and the replacement Westlake High School opening in August in South Fulton County.

The capital construction and improvement projects, totaling $27 million, will require the board to enact less than a full rollback of the millage rate, and, effectively, raise property taxes.

An indirect tax increase can occur when the fair market value of property increases and assessed values rise, but the millage rate is not reduced.

The bond millage rate will be completely rolled back, but the maintenance and operations rate will not.

Fulton County millage consists of two combined millage rates, a Maintenance & Operations (M&O) rate and a debt service, or bond rate. Since a full rollback is not provided on both millage rates, three public hearings must be held.

Millage Rate Hearings

6 p.m., June 26

Fulton County Schools Administrative Center, 786 Cleveland Avenue SW, Atlanta

10 a.m., July 10

Fulton County Schools Administrative Center

6 p.m., July 10

Dunwoody Springs Charter Elementary School, 8100 Roberts Drive, Sandy Springs

The millage rates will be adopted following the July 10 public hearing at Dunwoody Springs Charter.

Labels: Budget, fulton county schools

While test results posted by Fulton County 11th graders have improved overall, the lowest scores seem to be on the science portion of the exam, according to results released to schools Tuesday.

The percentage of juniors who passed the science section of the state graduation test ranged from 97 percent at Northview High to 56 percent at McClarin High. The district average was 88 percent, but cannot be compared to last year's scores because the grading scale has changed.

Fulton County students exceeded the statewide average on all sections of the state graduation test, except math. Ninty-three percent of state and Fulton students passed the math portion. When compared to the state, 83 percent of students passed on their first try, a 5 percent increase over last year. Statewide, 79 percent of high school juniors passed on their first try.

Labels: 11th grade, fulton county schools, graduation tests

An unprecedented four maps have been drawn up showing proposed attendance lines for two high schools in North Fulton that will shift with the opening of the new high school in Johns Creek in August 2009.

In past redistricting, staff brought three proposals back to the community before settling on a final proposal. The complexity of setting zones in a densely populated area, along with many large subdivisions and neighborhood alliances, made a fourth map a necessity, noted school officials. This could make the process of getting down to one map a challenge for staff members

"We usually have three maps, but we wanted to get all the ideas and options out there [for community review]," noted Patrick Burke, chief facilities officer for Fulton Schools, during a community meeting last week.

At the May 5 meeting at Autrey Mill Middle School, more than 300 area residents turned out to see the first batch of proposed attendance lines for Chattahoochee, Northview and the new Johns Creek high school for the 2008-2009 school year.

The maps were drawn up following the comments received by residents at the first meeting in April. Burke said every comment and suggestion received was considered – taking up more than 11 pages of notes - although not every one was incorporated.

"We tried to use input we gathered, but as you can see we haven't met all the [suggestions]," said Burke, who has been the chief planner for Fulton Schools for a decade. "Staff has to balance all things."

During last week's meeting, residents again broke into small working groups to discuss the pros and cons of each of the four proposals.
Burke said the school system staff is now in the process of taking those new comments and suggestions as they work towards one map to be presented to the Fulton County Board of Education for final approval. The community will have a final chance to present comments to the staff at the third community meeting on May 20.

"After May 20, staff participation on the attendance lines will be done and [the map] will go to the school board for further action," explained Burke. "It's scheduled to be considered by the board in June, with final action in September."

That schedule gives the community the entire summer to lobby for further changes to the attendance lines, although historically, board members have made only minor modifications to the staff recommendations.

New attendance lines are only affecting Northview, Chattahoochee and the Johns Creek site in the current redistricting. The other high schools in North Fulton will undergo redistricting in three years when the high school on Freemanville Road in Milton opens in 2012.

"We are leaving some overcrowding in some area high schools in anticipation of 2012, when it will be addressed," said Burke, who said redistricting for the Freemanville high school will begin in the spring of 2011.

The new high school site in Johns Creek opens 2009 August on a 70-acre site at the corner of State Bridge Road and Medlock Bridge. Its location, just a few miles from Chattahoochee and Northview high schools, presents difficult decisions in setting the school boundaries.

In many instances school boundaries must be to the north and west of the school location to draw in students, as opposed to being at the center of the attendance zone.

In determining boundaries, staff works from a set of criteria established by the Fulton School Board. There are primary criteria for attendance lines, then secondary criteria if needed.

The main consideration is geographic proximity to the school. However, in the current circumstance, that would put fewer than 1,000 students at the new school, said Burke.

"We can't just send the closest kids to the [new high school]; we've got to go further north to make the numbers work."

So tough decisions must be made to maintain an attendance balance at the three schools.

For instance, sprawling St. Ives Country Club subdivision is zoned for the new school on two proposals, even though it borders Northview High along one entrance to the subdivision. This is the case at several neighborhoods, including subdivisions along Kimball Bridge Road and Parsons Road, meaning a vast number of kids may attend a high school that is actually further away from their closest high school.

The four proposed maps and the list of criteria are available at fultonschools.org/redistricting. Residents unable to attend either of the first two community meetings are encouraged to send their comments to Burke via e-mail.

Labels: fulton county schools, Johns Creek, New High School, Redistricting

New School Superintendent Cindy Loe's first foray into the ongoing "math wars" in North Fulton seemed to win over parents skeptical about Fulton Schools' math curriculum.

For nearly two hours, Loe spelled out the coming changes to math instruction for Fulton Schools in front of a packed house of parents who gathered April 21 at Milton High School to hear the new superintendent.

Judging by the few questions asked, and the round of applause at the end, parents went away pleased by the changes that will bring traditional math back into the classroom.

"From the comments I've received from parents, the consensus is the school board did a very good job [in selecting Loe]," said Alpharetta school board member Katie Reeves. "[During the math meeting] people were stunned that she could get up there, without notes, and talk about curriculum and answer questions so thoroughly,"

Loe was sworn in as superintendent for Fulton County just days prior to the math meeting at Milton High.

In contrast to a math meeting held at Milton several months ago, which quickly broke down into frustrated, angry parents and defensive administrators, the April event was a tea party.

"There is general agreement from principals to parents that Dr. Loe is the right person at the right time for Fulton County," Reeves said.
Loe explained the system's new "blended approach" for math beginning next year will return to a more traditional math instruction, yet still adhere to the principals of integrated math (see sidebar), which is currently the primary instruction.

Loe unveiled a progression chart that shows how a child will advance through math, from those on grade level to those working a year or more ahead. The complete chart is available at the Fulton Schools website, www.fultonschools.org.

Gone are the ambiguous Math 1 through Math 4 classes that were to replace math courses in high school next year under the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) – the new curriculum. In its place are amped up versions of the existing high school curriculum – from Integrated Algebra to Integrated Trigonometry – along with higher level math courses. The Integrated courses will still meet the state requirements, while aligning more with traditional math.

Students now in high school, and those taking ninth grade math in eighth grade this year, will continue under Georgia's former curriculum and not be affected by changes. Students in grade kindergarten through nine, will fall under GPS math.

Loe's grasp of curriculum issues is deep, as evidenced by her presentation at Milton, but it is to be expected. Until her selection to head Fulton Schools, Loe served as associate superintendent for Gwinnett Schools, where she was responsible for curriculum.

Loe has a doctorate in educational leadership from Georgia State University.

In addition, Loe is very familiar with the blended approach to math. Fulton's repackaging of its math curriculum is based on the model in place in Gwinnett schools.

The issue with Fulton's math curriculum came to a head early in the year after having been in place for two years. The revised curriculum, based on the new state standards, replaced traditional teaching with the integrated approach that relied heavily on inquiry, team approach and investigation.

Parents railed against an approach that did not focus on proven formulas, and its "touchy-feely" way of getting kids to think about math in a more Language Arts approach. But after three years of the new math, a dip in math test scores and angry parents, Fulton was forced to do an about face for the coming year.

Fulton Schools recently completed a math audit and incorporated many of those findings into the changes set to go into place in August.

Labels: Alpharetta, fulton county schools, math curriculum, Milton High School