Cobb Graduations to Be Streamed Live

Walton High School's ceremony at the Kennesaw State University Convocation Center is one of them.

Graduations begin Thursday, and the Cobb County School District wants to make sure that family and friends who can't attend the ceremonies don't miss out. With the exception of McEachern in Powder Springs and Allatoona in Acworth, whose graduations will be held outdoors, most of the ceremonies will be streamed live. Walton High School's ceremony at the Kennesaw State University Convocation Center is one of them. View it here at 10 a.m. Friday. Here's the schedule for the rest of the county.

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Early Dismissals for Cobb Schools

Students will be released early at set times, depending on grade level, Wednesday and Thursday.

Students in the Cobb County School District will be released from classes earlier than usual on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, as the 2012-13 academic year comes to an end. The early dismissal schedules are as follows:

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2013 East Cobb Graduation Schedule

The big days at Kell, Lassiter, Pope, Sprayberry, Walton and Wheeler high schools start Thursday and end Saturday.

Library, Schools Join for Cobb Summer Reading Program

They have created incentive programs to encourage students to read during the summer break.

For the first time, the Cobb County School District is partnering with the Cobb County Public Library System to create a "unified" summer reading experience for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Not only have they developed suggested reading lists to represent both school and public library collections, they have created incentive programs to encourage students to read during the summer break. The last day of school in Cobb is this Thursday, May 23. "Research consistently indicates that summer reading programs help boost student achievement and bridge the 'summer gap' of retention and learning focus," said Janell McClure, the library media education supervisor for the Cobb County School District. "We’re excited to partner with…

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Retiring East Cobb Educators Honored

A partial list of teachers, principals and other staff who will be leaving at the end of the school year.

From Post 5 Cobb Board of Education member David Banks: It was a pleasure to participate in the Teacher Retirement ceremony this past Friday at Roswell Street Baptist Church. We should all honor their dedication of so many years to the students of Cobb County. Addison Elementary Blackwell Elementary Brumby Elementary Daniell Middle School Davis Elementary Dickerson Middle School Dodgen Middle School East Cobb Middle School East Side Elementary Eastvalley Elementary Hightower Trail Middle School Keheley Elementary Kell High School Kincaid Elementary Lassiter High School McCleskey Middle School Mt. Bethel Elementary Murdock Elementary Nichlson Elementary Pope High School Rocky Mount Elementary Sedalia Park Elementary Shallowford Falls …

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Cobb School Furlough Dates Proposed

The school board has received two possible options as it moves closer to adopting the fiscal year 2014 budget.

Cobb school superintendent Michael Hinojosa is recommending that the five furlough dates built into the tentatively adopted fiscal year 2014 budget take place in October and next February. At a work session on Wednesday, the Cobb Board of Education received two proposed options for the furlough dates, which are under consideration before a scheduled official budget vote on May 16. Hinojosa's recommendation would be for the furlough dates -- which apply to all Cobb County School District employees -- to be scheduled for Thursday and Friday, Oct. 3-4, Thursday and Friday, Feb. 13- 14 and Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014. Monday, Feb. 17, 2014, is a district holiday due to President's Day. That proposal would allow the 2013-14 academic year to begin on…

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East Cobb Schools Pace New Achievement Results

Hightower Trail, Mt. Bethel and Dickerson have the best Cobb scores in the College and Career Ready Performance Index, which replaces No Child Left Behind measures.

The first test of Georgia's alternative to No Child Left Behind has yielded fairly good marks for the Cobb County School District and excellent results for a number of schools in East Cobb. According to the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI), students at the elementary, middle and high school levels in the Cobb district surpassed the state average on a wide-ranging accountability spectrum. The index grades each school in the state on a 100-point scale, measuring achievement (70 points) and tracking progress points (15 points) and achievement gap points (15 points). Sixteen of the 19 schools in East Cobb (ZIP codes 30062, 30067, 30068) reached or surpassed a score of 80, and 14 schools had scores of 90 or better, led by …

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Elyse Glaser

7:59 am on Thursday, May 9, 2013

Don't be such a snob. My kids went all through the public schools of Cobb County, were then admitted to very competitive private colleges and graduate schools, received academic scholarships and are doing extremely well.   more ›

School Surveillance Camera Funds Restored

The Cobb Board of Education will spend $1 million complete installation of the devices in high schools.

The Cobb Board of Education voted Thursday to restore $1 million in current Cobb Education SPLOST III funds to complete the installation of surveillance cameras in high schools. The vote, which passed unanimously (7-0), came after the Cobb Facilities and Technology Committee, which conducts SPLOST oversight, urged the board to spend the contingency funding to improve security. Camera installation at the 16 high schools in the Cobb County School District was delayed when the funding was cut as part of across-the-board reductions in the SPLOST III program. The $1 million represents around 20 percent of SPLOST III money designated for surveillance cameras. The cuts did not affect installations at elementary and middle schools. When the …

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Cobb Schools Produce Budget Video

The district has created a portal with fiscal year 2014 budget information.

The Cobb County School District has created a special web page with fiscal year 2014 budget information, including an eight-minute video and links to downloadable financial details, including the forecast and this year's budget calendar. Readers also may make comments about the budget on that page. The district faces an $86.4 million deficit for FY 2014, and after a work session last week, the Cobb Board of Education urged officials to come up with altenatives to proposed cuts that some board members declared would affect the educational mission. Also on the page is information about the proposed "Strawman" concept for online learning, which could shift as many as 25 percent of all teaching positions in the county from the classroom by …

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Cobb School Board to Hold Budget Meeting

Wednesday's session will include more details on addressing an estimated $86.4 million deficit for fiscal year 2014.

The Cobb Board of Education will hold a special meeting on Wednesday devoted to the proposed fiscal year 2014 budget. The meeting begins at 1 p.m. in the board room at the Cobb County School District central office, 514 Glover Street, Marietta. The meeting also will be streamed live on the CCSD website. Last month the school board heard initial recommendations to balance a deficit projected at $86.4 million, including five days of teacher and staff furloughs, cutting nearly 300 professional positions, mostly teachers through attrition, canceling employee cost-of-living increases, reductions in transportation services and borrowing from reserve funds. District Chief Financial Officer Brad Johnson also unveiled a conceptual plan for for an …

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