A new middle school principal, a handful of new teachers and the new Common Core Georgia Performance Standards will greet the 1,400 or more students when the Commerce City School System cranks up on Monday, Aug. 6.
Otherwise, thanks to budgetary restraints of the Great Recession, the 2012-13 school year will be largely the same.
“There are no new programs, just because of funding,” reported James E. “Mac” McCoy, superintendent. “We’re just hoping to maintain what we’ve got until the economy turns around or the state turns around and sees fit to put money back into public education.
McCoy said he expects enrollment to be about the same as last year — right around 1,400 students – but at this point, the numbers are mostly a guess.
“We’ve had a very busy week of open enrollment,” he said. “We don’t know what we had leave us, but it has been a steady stream of (new) people coming in.”
The major facility change in the system is in the administrative suite, which just relocated into the old office/cafeteria section of the former CHS. The Commerce Board of Education had its first meeting in June in the new, spacious meeting room that was formerly the high school cafeteria.
New Curriculum
Kids probably won’t notice, but the new curriculum is a major focus, with teachers in all schools working over the summer to learn the curriculum and to develop teaching units.
“They have been working diligently on what the state wants us to do,” McCoy said.
The key words are “common core,” and most states in the U.S. have bought into the concept, which is to standardize the core curriculum nationwide.
Commerce Primary
Second-year Commerce Primary School principal Lisa Maddox also reports teachers working all summer writing the new units.
“Curriculum-wise, it’s a bit of a change, but it’s all for the good,” she said. “It’s more of an application of things, it’s more rigorous. Kids are going to graduate a lot more prepared than I did.”
Maddox reported the following staff changes: Christie Barker, from Augusta, special education; Derrick Davis, transferring from Commerce Middle School to teach physical education; Lisa Brown, first grade, and Jan Thornton, second grade, both teachers transferring from the elementary school; and parapros Abby Rogers, kindergarten, and Kristen Bryant, second grade.
Maddox expects enrollment of about 420 children. Due to some shifting of teachers, she also expects smaller classes this year.
Commerce Elementary
Commerce Elementary School teachers also spent the summer preparing for the new curriculum.
“Teachers have been working the whole summer on professional development, getting units, materials and assessments ready for the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards,” said David Cash, principal.
Teaching changes include Lisa Langston, fourth grade, moved from CMS; Sabrina Hardy, third grade, from Early Intervention Program; Amy Porter, fourth grade, transferred from CPS; Dianne Cotrell, changing to fourth grade from third grade; and a new special education teacher yet to be hired.
Cash said he expects enrollment of about 220 students. The school had 215 when the 2011-12 year ended.
Commerce Middle
Bill Ruma, hired this spring to replace Chuck Bell, is still learning the ropes as principal of Commerce Middle School, but he likes what he’s found.
From Dacula, the former assistant principal at Apalachee High School in Winder finds himself in a school that’s been steadily improving.
“In a smaller school, everybody pitches in wherever help is needed,” he explained. “When you invest more in a school, you have ownership. The test scores are very good; obviously a vision has been developed here and everybody bought into the vision or you wouldn’t have the results you had.”
As for the facility, Ruma, looking around his spacious office, called them “amazing.”
“The community has invested for the future, no doubt about that,” he said.
His first priority is to get to know everyone, to build relationships.
“What’s good here was accomplished by the people who’ve been here,” he said. “You’ve got to talk to other people to develop a common vision.”
The other personnel change at CMS will be eighth-grade math teacher Rusty Townsen, who moved from part-time to full-time.
Ruma thinks the new performance standards give a school “more opportunity to show your success in different areas,” and he pointed out that middle school students will be able to earn some Carnegie unit credits toward high school graduation.
“It’s a more fair way to judge,” he said of the performance standards.
Ruma, 46, and his wife, Kim, have two daughters, ages 12 and 9.
Commerce High
Principal Donnie Drew reports few changes. Among them are Rob Brown, who was promoted from assistant varsity basketball coach to varsity coach, the transfer of Marvin Justice from in-school suspension coordinator to physical education teacher, and the transfer of parapro Jake Epps to in-school suspension coordinator.
Drew notes that the school was able to fill its needs without hiring additional staff.
“They were well qualified to do what we’ve got them doing,” he assured.
Drew admitted not being “as enthused as some people” about the common core curriculum, but he predicted the teachers will make it work.
“If the teachers can get all the training they need and can buy into it like the people selling it to us, they’ll do a good job of exposing the kids to it,” Drew said.
Commerce High School ended the last school year with 360 students. Drew said the school expects about 390 this year.
