Charter System
Charter System Information
Overview
Marietta City Schools (MCS) became one of Georgia’s first Charter Systems in June 2008. The MCS charter system includes twelve schools: one early learning center, seven 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).
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 one SB 618 residential treatment center: George W. Hartmann Center. This residential treatment center operates under a Memorandum of Understanding with MCS and the Georgia Department of Education.
Your Charter System in Action
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. Curriculum at our elementary schools is based on the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS), and enhanced by school-selected focuses:
- Language and Communications (A.L. Burruss Elementary)
- Literacy (Dunleith Elementary)
- Arts Integration (Hickory Hills Elementary)
- Leadership (Lockheed Elementary)
- S.M.A.R.T. Goals Academy (Park Street Elementary)
- International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program (PYP)(Sawyer Road Elementary)
- Talented and Gifted (TAG) Learning (West Side Elementary)
- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)(Marietta Center for Advanced Academics)
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
Charter System Innovator of the Year
The Charter System Foundation Innovation Award recognizes the system that demonstrates instructional innovations in the classroom, schoolhouse, or system-wide level with a focus on unique programs that increase student interest and drive achievement. MCS was selected to receive this award for the innovative Graduate Marietta Student Success Center, a one-of-a-kind program at Marietta High School.
MCS Charter innovations include:
- 8th to 9th grade transition academy,
- Addition of new career pathways at the high school level,
- Digital student portfolios,
- Enhanced classroom experiences and authentic assessments,
- Expansion of the role of School Governance Teams—converting advisory local school councils into “highly trained and high performing” governing bodies,
- Exploration of horticulture, ecology, teacher preparation, and other emerging career pathways,
- Financial incentives for teaching in areas of critical need,
- Graduate Marietta Student Success Center
- Increased individualization through differentiation,
- Internships and early college pathways,
- Looping cohorts,
- Small learning communities,
- Teacher innovation grants and performance incentives,
- Teacher leadership academy,
- Use of career inventories in upper elementary and middle grades,
- Web-based learning and assessment.
Contacts
Dr. Grant Rivera
Superintendent
250 Howard Street
Marietta, GA 30060
Phone: (770) 422-3500, ext. 7253
Chuck Gardner
Chief Academic Officer
250 Howard Street
Marietta, GA 30060
Phone: (770) 422-3500, ext. 7268