Fulton County Schools Gearing Up for New Year

“Centennial High School waived a physical education credit,” he said during a press conference Thursday. “Now, students who are athletes, whether they are in GHSA Athletic Club or marching band, they can waive a P.E. credit and take another high-interest elective or another math or science course.”

State officials also released student growth data Thursday. The tool measures students’ progress. Avossa touted Fulton’s results, which saw some of the highest growth in the state. He said the data will help guide instruction.

“We have information that allows us to see which schools are doing particularly well with certain subgroups of kids,” he said. “That way, we can look and see which best practices they’re using, share and leverage them across the district.”

The district has also implemented a stricter hiring process, which includes a 90-day trial period for teachers. Ron Wade, who heads the school system’s talent department, says putting more resources toward hiring pays off in the long run.

“We think if we do a better job hiring, much more informed, thoughtful hiring, engage our best teachers in the hiring process, then we feel that we’re going to hire more highly-potential people and we won’t have to deal with that 90-day probationary period,” Wade said.  

Fulton has hired about 700 new teachers. School starts August 11.