Middle school students in Fayette County will start and end their school day earlier to accommodate an additional 20 minutes of extra instructional time added to the high school day. Adjustments were made to the middle school schedule to help reduce traffic congestion due to the later release of high school students, especially at the South Complex (Rising Starr Middle and Starr’s Mill High) and the North Complex (Flat Rock Middle and Sandy Creek High).
Middle school hours are 8:15 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; high school hours are 8:40 a.m. (same start time as last year)-3:40 p.m. Elementary start and end times have not changed; they are 7:45 a.m.-2:30 p.m. The middle and high school time changes were approved by the Board of Education on March 15, 2011.
End of Course Tests for all high school grade levels will now count 20 percent of a student’s final course grade. The previous weight was 15 percent.
The change comes as the Georgia Department of Education phases out the Georgia High School Graduation Test beginning with students who enter high school this year. Under the new state plan, End of Course Tests will count for 20 percent of a student’s final course grade. In order to avoid confusion of having tests weighted at different levels for varying groups of students, the school system is weighting End of Course Tests the same, 20 percent, for everyone.
Sandy Creek High and Whitewater High have new principals at the helm. Former Sandy Creek High Principal Roy Rabold is now at Whitewater High, replacing Greg Stillions who retired at the end of the last school year. Former Sandy Creek High Assistant Principal Darrell Evans replaced Rabold as the school’s new principal.
