The Georgia Department of Education announced that nine Atlanta Public Schools have exited its Priority and Focus Schools lists.
 
These schools were removed from the state’s lists because they no longer meet the definition of a Priority or Focus school and have met the required improvements to exit.  The following APS schools were released:
 
Focus Schools

Benteen Elementary School

Brown Middle School

Cleveland Avenue Elementary School

Dobbs Elementary School

Fickett Elementary School

Parkside Elementary School

Hope-Hill Elementary School
 
Priority Schools

Maynard H. Jackson High School

South Atlanta School of Health and Medical Science
 
“We are very pleased to learn that nine APS schools have been removed from the state’s Focus and Priority lists,” said APS Superintendent Meria J. Carstarphen. “While we are making strategic improvements with our transformation efforts, we still have much work to do toward improving student achievement.”
 
As part of Georgia’s ESEA waiver, which granted flexibility from some provisions of No Child Left Behind, the GaDOE was required to identify Priority and Focus Schools. Priority Schools represent the lowest-performing 5 percent of Title I schools based on achievement data, plus schools with a graduation rate below 60 percent for two consecutive years. Focus Schools represent the lowest-performing 10 percent of Title I schools based on achievement gap data. That data examines the gap between a school’s lowest performing 25 percent of students and the state average, and the extent to which that gap is closing.