System Charter

Overview

The Calhoun City School System (CCS) is a part of the Calhoun, Gordon County community and has a tradition of excellence and history that extends over a century of service. Through a two year planning process designed around continuous improvement, stakeholder involvement, various affiliations and partnerships, we came to realize that in order to maintain the long-standing tradition of excellence in the face of an ever-changing world; we must have the flexibility that a System Charter provides to meet the demands of these changes. On July 1, 2011 the State Board of Education granted the Charter to Local Board of Education to operate a “Charter System” for a five year term, which expires on June 30, 2016. The CCS charter system includes: Calhoun Primary School, Calhoun Elementary School, Calhoun Middle School and Calhoun High School.

In our vision, the Charter System supports the district’s priorities and long-term goals in four major ways:

  1. School Governance Teams will hold decision-making authority in the areas of specified school level personnel, finance, resource allocation, curriculum and instruction, establishing and monitoring the achievement of school improvement goals, and school operations that align directly to system improvement goals and creating a culture of academic excellence.
  2. Students and staff will be empowered to have a say in daily operational decisions.
  3. A greater emphasis will be placed on business partnerships and Partners in Education.
  4. Preparing students for post secondary options with a strong focus on positive behaviors and strong work ethic will be a priority.

Innovations

Calhoun City believes in building for the future through professional development. We empower staff and leaders to strive to meet our mission and vision. In these efforts, we realize the enormous ability of leadership existing within our schools and community. Through the continuous improvement process, we constantly seek stakeholder input to implement frameworks that support school level innovation rather than district driven initiatives. Data based decision-making drives all instructional processes. Current academic innovations include but are not limited to: differentiated instruction, learning focused schools framework, vertical writing alignment, common assessment rubrics, standards-based instruction, math and reader’s workshop models, co-teaching, working-on-the-work framework and high school redesign initiatives, extended learning time, flex grouping/intervention time, autism academy, teacher academies, positive behavioral interventions and supports, student math and reading tutorials, SMART program- elementary and student portfolios. Such efforts support the continuous improvement planning process at both the system and school levels. Through the implementation of the system charter CCS School Governance Teams (SGT) and the System School Governance Committee (SSGC) have been charged with and empowered to assist in creating an organizational culture and environment where the exchange of ideas, innovation, learning and the pursuit of excellence are pervasive. Additionally, these entities will also explore and develop academic and organizational innovations that would be difficult to implement and fund without the full flexibility of the charter. Such innovations include but are not limited to: individual learning portfolios, class size variances, modified and/or alternative calendars, alternative education tracks, modified/enhanced program requirements, distance learning labs, and the development of college and career pathway academies to address unique learning needs. Through the governance team data driven research such proposed pathway academies might include: Teaching as a Profession, Culinary Arts, Public Safety, Agricultural Sciences, Community & Leadership, Fine Arts, Literacy, Physical Education, Talent and Gifted Experiences, Business and Manufacturing, Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM), Emerging Career Pathways, Middle School Construction Connections, Middle School Agricultural Sciences, Middle School Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM), Middle School Family and Consumer Science, Foundational Reading Skills Learning Communities (K-2), ESOL Alternative Instructional Co-teaching models.

School Governance Team layout

Achievement Goals – Charter System 2020
Vision The overarching achievement goal and vision of the CCS charter system is that “all” students will exceed state standards by the year 2020.

Additionally our Charter contract adopts the following performance goals:

Goal 1 – Provide a quality educational experience that enhances student achievement.
Objective: Increase achievement levels for Calhoun City Schools to insure their international competitiveness and adaptability to an ever-changing technological society.

Annual Measurable Goals:

  • All students will not only meet state standards by 2014 as prescribed by NCLB, all students will exceed standards in all areas and in all subgroups by 2020.
  • All students will meet or exceed state standards by 2014-2015, as established by the Single Statewide Accountability system.
  • The achievement gap for economically disadvantaged students will be reduced by 9% by 2014- 2015. (2009/2010 gap = 9.3%)
  • The percentage of students who “Exceed” standards in math and English/language arts, will increase by at least 10% by 2014-2015. (2009/10 exceeds rate =Math – 51.6%, ELA – 47.9%)
  • The high school graduation rate will reach 100% by 2014-2015. (2009/10 graduation rate = 90.7%)
  • No more than 10% of students missing 15 or more days during a school year.
  • Annually and continuously monitor performance goals for each school within the Charter System. (See individual school performance goals below)

Performance goals for each System Charter School:

CCS Goal 1 – Provide a quality educational experience that enhances student achievement.

Calhoun Primary School
Annual Measurable Goals

1. Increase incrementally the number of 1st and 2nd grade students who exceed in reading, ELA and math by 2% annually.

2. Decrease the DNM percentage incrementally in 1st and 2nd grade in reading and math to meet the NCLB Annual Measurable Objective.

Calhoun Primary School CRCT Goals for Exceeds and Did Not Meet (DNM)

Calhoun Elementary School

Annual Measurable Goals

1. Increase the percentage of students who exceed on the CRCT in each subject by 2 points each year until 40% are exceeding, and then by 1 point each year until 50 % are exceeding, and then by 0.5 point each year thereafter. (see table below)

2. Decrease the percentage of students who do not meet on the CRCT in each subject incrementally to be 0% by 2014. Calhoun Elementary School CRCT Goals for Exceeds and Did Not Meet (DNM)