Charter System Information

Overview

Marietta City Schools (MCS) became one of Georgia’s first Charter Systems in June 2008. The MCS charter system includes ten schools: six K-5 elementary schools, one sixth grade academy, one middle school, one high school, and one grades 3-5 elementary magnet school (Marietta Center for Advanced Academics). The MCS charter system does not include either of the system’s two existing charter schools, Marietta Charter School (start-up) and Sawyer Road Elementary (conversion).

MCS also has an alternative program for grades 9-12 at the Marietta Performance Learning Center at Woods-Wilkins. This program is not listed as a “school” to be converted under the charter system. The school district also includes two SB 618 residential treatment centers: George W. Hartmann Center and Nelson Price Treatment Center. These residential treatment centers operate under Memorandums of Understanding with MCS and the Georgia Department of Education.

School Choice

Through a strategic planning process begun in 2006, MCS has already implemented certain system-wide innovations. One of these is elementary school choice (“Choice Academies”). Curriculum at our elementary schools is based on the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS), and enhanced by school-selected focuses:

• Language and Communications
• Literacy
• Arts Integration
• Leadership
• Community Collaborative
• International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program (PYP)
• Talented and Gifted (TAG) Learning
• Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)

The Choice Academies concept extends to the middle schools; students can continue in the IB Middle Years Program (MYP), or in the STEM magnet program. In high school, MCS students can select from career pathways, IB diploma/certificate, dual enrollment, Advanced Placement (AP), or early college programs.

Innovations - Charter System

• Small learning communities,
• 8th to 9th grade transition academy,
• Teacher leadership academy,
• Addition of new career pathways at the high school level,
• Exploration of horticulture, ecology, teacher preparation, and other emerging career pathways,
• Internships and early college pathways,
• Enhanced classroom experiences and authentic assessments,
• Web-based learning and assessment,
• Looping cohorts,
• Digital student portfolios,
• Teacher innovation grants and performance incentives,
• Increased individualization through differentiation,
• Use of career inventories in upper elementary and middle grades,
• Financial incentives for teaching in areas of critical need,
• Expansion of the role of School Governance Teams—converting advisory local school councils into “highly trained and high performing” governing bodies.

Achievement Goals – Charter System

The overarching achievement goal of the MCS charter system is to increase its high school graduation rate from 75% in 2008-2009 to 95% in 2012-2013—an aggressive increase over 5 years. In addition, there are specific, rigorous goals for all students, at each grade level 1 through 8 and for the subgroup of economically disadvantaged students, with regards to academic achievement and performance on the state-mandated Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT).