Monday is the first day of class for most metro Atlanta schools. As we try to catch our breath for another school year, here’s a crib sheet of school schedules, meal costs and school bus hotlines for all major local systems.
Atlanta
Schedule at a glance:
● Fall break — Oct. 12-13
● Thanksgiving break — Nov. 25-27
● Winter break — Dec. 21 - Jan. 5; students start back on Wednesday, Jan. 6.
● Presidents Day weekend break— Feb. 15-16
● Spring break — April 5-9
● Last day — May 25
Bus transportation hotline: 404-802-5500
Meal prices:
● Breakfast — 75 cents; reduced, 30 cents.
● Lunch — Elementary, $1.75; middle/high, $2; reduced, 40 cents. (Parents can also pay for student meals online at www.mealpayplus.com .)
What's new: Springdale Park Elementary opens on Ponce de Leon Avenue, serving 350 students as the system's first LEED-certified facility. (it meets standards set by the quasi-governmental U.S. Green Building Council.) Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass high schools open with "small learning communities." Coretta Scott King, Inman, Kennedy and Price middle schools are in a pilot program for sixth-graders in which they spend more time with the same teachers.
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Cobb County
Schedule at a glance:
● Thanksgiving break — Nov. 23-27
● Winter break — Dec. 21 - Jan. 4, students start back on Tuesday, Jan. 5.
● Presidents Day weekend break — Feb. 15
● Spring break — April 5-9
● Last day — May 21
Bus transportation hotline: 678-594-8000
Meal prices:
● Breakfast — $1; reduced, 30 cents.
● Lunch — Elementary, $1.60; middle, $1.75; and high, $1.85; reduced, 40 cents. (Parents can also pay for student meals online at www.mealpayplus.com.)
What's new: The system opens no new schools and is planning no major initiatives, although, like other systems, it continues to face a sour economy and caused a stir this summer when it cut 8,500 of the district's 50,000 bus stops to save money.
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DeKalb County
Schedule at a glance:
● Fall break — Oct. 9-12
● Thanksgiving break — Nov. 25-27
● Winter break — Dec. 21 - Jan. 4, students start back on Tuesday, Jan. 5.
● Presidents Day weekend break — Feb. 12-15
● Spring break — April 5-9
● Last day — May 21
Bus transportation hotline: 678-676-1305. However, the system operates offices throughout the county. You may find more specific contact information by logging on to www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/~transportation/ and clicking on "transportation district manager" to get the direct number for your area supervisor.
Meal prices:
● Breakfast — Elementary, $1.10; middle/high, $1.20; reduced, 30 cents.
● Lunch — Elementary, $1.75; middle, $1.90; high, $2; reduced, 40 cents. (Parents can also pay for student meals online at www.mylunchmoney.com.)
What's new: Arabia Mountain High School in Lithonia and Dunwoody Elementary School for fourth- and fifth-graders open. Elizabeth Andrews High, formerly Open Campus, moves to Stone Mountain. America's Choice, a supplemental academic program, will target students including ninth-graders who are in danger of falling behind. A revamped school dress code is posted on the system's Web site at www.dekalb.k12.ga.us .
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Fulton County
Schedule at a glance:
● Fall break — Oct. 9
● Thanksgiving break — Nov. 25-27
● Winter break — Dec. 21 - Jan. 4, students start back on Tuesday, Jan. 5.
● Presidents Day weekend break — Feb. 12-15
● Spring break — April 5-9
● Last day — May 21
Bus transportation hotline: 770-969-6091
Meal prices:
● Breakfast — Elementary, 80 cents; middle/high, 95 cents; reduced, 30 cents.
● Lunch — Elementary, $1.35; middle/high, $1.60; reduced, 40 cents.
What's new: Five new schools and a new start-up charter school open. An expected increase of almost 2,000 students puts Georgia's fourth largest system at about 90,000. The system also launches the Fulton Institute of Technology, a technical high school. For the first time, schools evaluate teachers on a "value-added" performance system, which measures student progress throughout the year rather than only on standardized tests given once a year.
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Gwinnett County
Schedule at a glance:
● Fall break — Oct. 9-12
● Thanksgiving break — Nov. 25-27
● Winter break — Dec. 21 - Jan. 4, students start back on Tuesday, Jan. 5.
● Presidents Day weekend — Feb. 12-15
● Mid-March break — March 12-15
● Spring break — April 2-9
● Last day — May 26
Bus transportation hotline: 770-338-4800. However, the system operates offices throughout the county. You may find more specific contact information by logging on to www.gwinnett.k12.ga.us and clicking on "transportation."
Meal prices:
● Breakfast — $1; reduced, 30 cents.
● Lunch — Elementary, $1.75; middle/high, $2; reduced, 40 cents. (Parents can also pay for student meals online at www.mealpayplus.com.)
What's new: Nine new schools and one replacement building open. The system starts its "flexibility" contract with the state, freeing it from state education laws including those governing teachers' pay, certification and class sizes as it tries new methods to improve student achievement. Gwinnett is one of two Georgia systems approved to do this (the other is Forsyth County). Schools that fail to meet their objectives within five years could be converted to charter schools as a consequence.
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