Appling County High School (ACHS) Principal Dr. Gene Starr submitted the following letter to The News-Banner on Monday with regard Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the school. ACHS has not met AYP for the second year in a row for the economically disadvantaged subgroup in reading and math and therefore must inform parents/guardians of their rights.
Dear Parent(s) or Guardian(s):
The Elementary and Secondary Education Assistance Act of 1965 (ESEA), requires that parents/guardians who have children attending schools identified as needing improvement to be notified of the school’s academic achievement. This letter is intended to provide additional information concerning the options available to your child under ESEA.
Adequate yearly progress (AYP) is one of the cornerstones of the ESEA Act. It is a measure of year-to-year student achievement on statewide tests. Title I and non Title I high schools that do not meet the state standard for AYP in the same subject for two or more consecutive years are placed in Needs Improvement (NI).
In compliance with the requirements of ESEA, all students enrolled in a school that is in year one of NI has the opportunity to enroll in a school not designated as NI. This transfer option is known as public school choice (PSC). However, at this time your child cannot be transferred to another school to receive public school choice for the following reasons:
- The Appling County School District has only one high school and that is the school your child is currently attending.
- The Appling County School District has attempted to enter into a Cooperative Agreement with the following districts: Wayne and Jeff Davis however, at this time these districts are unable to accept students as transfers.
- The Appling County High School may offer free tutoring to students due to the inability to offer public school choice (PSC).
In spite of the progress made by our students, Appling County High School has been included on a list of schools in Georgia identified as not making adequate yearly progress (AYP). Appling County High School is identified as a needs improvement year one (NI 1) school under ESEA. As a result, the school is developing a plan for continuation that will focus on the academic achievement of all students, and in accordance with ESEA, specifically addressing the reason why the school is identified as NI. An important part of the success plan for Appling County High School is parent participation and support in developing activities to improve student achievement. We hope that as a parent, you will become more involved in our school improvement initiatives as we continue to monitor student achievement and set high expectations. If you are interested in participating in developing our school improvement initiatives, contact Mr. David Williams at 912-367-8610.
Thank you for all that you do to support your child’s education.
Sincerely,
Gene A. Starr, Jr. Ed. D.