POPLARROADELEMENTARY SCHOOL

2925 Poplar Road

Sharpsburg, Georgia 30277

770-254-2740 / Fax 770-304-5926

Lesley Goodwin, Principal

Bonita Flounnory, Assistant Principal

Title I School Distinctions

August 6, 2014

We are so pleased that Coweta County School District continues to have no schools identified under the new ESEA school distinctions of Priority, Focus, and Alert. We are required to notify parents of the changes that have taken place in Georgia regarding school distinctions which will also include Reward Schools. We do have a High Progress Reward School-Smokey Road Middle School!

Due to the approval of the Georgia Department of Education’s request for a waiver of the Elementary and Secondary Education ACT (ESEA), beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, Title 1 schools transitioned from Needs Improvement (NI) distinctions based on Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) to Priority, Focus, Alert and Reward Schools distinctions. Title I schools will implement specific programs and interventions based on the Reward, Priority, Focus, and Alert Schools status. In addition, the Flexibility Waiver outlines Georgia’s new Single Statewide Accountability System, the College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI). The CCRPI will serve as a comprehensive report card for all schools in Georgia.

Title 1 School Distinctions

Priority School* -5 percent of Title I Schools;

  • Lowest Achieving Schools based on achievement of ALL students, or
  • Title I-eligible high school with a graduation rate less than 60 percent over two years; or
  • Tier I or Tier II school under the School Improvement Grants (SIG);

Focus Schools*- 10 percent of Title I Schoolsthat have broad gaps in achievement;

These schools are Title I schools that either:

  • have the largest within-school gaps between the highest-achieving subgroup(s) and the lowest achieving subgroup(s), or
  • a high school that has the largest within-school gaps in graduation rates (within-school gaps Focus School) and
  • a high school with a graduation rate less than 60 percent over two years that is not identified as a Priority School (low-graduation-rate Focus School).

*Priority and Focus Schools will be identified every three years and the identified school will be served for 3 years through a Flexible Learning Program (FLP).

Alert Schools Based on 9 Subgroups-- (Does not include Priority Schools or Focus Schools)

Alert Schools will be identified annually. These schools are both Title I and non-Title I schools that fall into one of the three following categories using the disaggregated subgroups or subject performance on both statewide assessments and the graduation rate that will be either:

  • Graduation Alert
  • Subgroup Alert
  • Subject Alert

Reward Schools - will replace Distinguished Schools and Distinguished Districts designations. Reward Schools will be identified annually. There are two ways a Title I school may be identified as a Rewards School. A Title I school may be classified as either:

  • Highest-Performing schools
  • High Progress Schools

Smokey Road Middle School has been identified as a High Progress Reward School for 2013.

Detailed information is available at If you have additional questions or concerns please contact: Sherry Warren, Director of Title I,

770-254-2800, or email her at .

“COWETA COMMITTED TO STUDENT SUCCESS”