February is CCSD School Choice Month, which includes both the opportunity to request a reassignment and the kickoff for Pre-K, kindergarten and Grades 1-12 new student enrollment for the 2022-23 School Year.
SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS
In addition to the details below, CCSD annually publishes the CCSD CHOICES guide, which is online here, to provide parents with an overview of educational options in Cherokee County.
Reassignment Requests and Cherokee Academies
CCSD offers parents the opportunity to request a reassignment for their child to any school with capacity for the 2022-23 School Year. More than 2,100 students currently are taking advantage of this school choice option.
The application period is today, Feb. 1, through 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 1. Applications and detailed information that parents need to read before beginning this process are online here. Families must provide their own transportation for students who choose to attend a school through reassignment. If you’re enrolling a new kindergartener and requesting reassignment, please complete the reassignment process first.
The schools with capacity to accept reassignment requests for the 2022-23 school year are:
Elementary Schools: Arnold Mill ES, Avery ES, Ball Ground ES STEM Academy, Bascomb ES, Boston ES, Hasty ES Fine Arts Academy, Holly Springs ES STEM Academy, Indian Knoll ES, Knox ES STEM Academy, Macedonia ES, Mountain Road ES, Oak Grove ES STEAM Academy, Sixes ES
Middle Schools: Freedom MS, Mill Creek MS, Woodstock MS
High Schools: River Ridge HS, Sequoyah HS
Among those with capacity for reassignments are five Cherokee Academies, CCSD’s award-winning school choice program for elementary schools that offers additional instructional support and resources in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), Fine Arts (through an integrated approach that uses the arts to teach all subjects) and STEAM, which is STEM with integrated arts.
Parents will be notified by March 31 as to whether their request has been approved. If approved for reassignment, students will participate in their new school’s meet-and-greet/walk-through event during summer break.
i-Grad Virtual Academy
CCSD’s current Digital Learning pandemic response program will be discontinued after the end of this school year; the new i-Grad Virtual Academy launched this year for Grades 9-12 will be expanded for the 2022-23 school year to include Grades 4-12. CCSD is expanding this school choice option in response to the needs of a specific population of students who prefer and succeed through online learning.
Enrollment in i-Grad Virtual Academy is application based, and students will be selected based on their ability to succeed in digital learning. The initial enrollment will be limited to 500 students. i-Grad is a permanent school choice; students are withdrawn from their school and enrolled into i-Grad, and seniors graduate from i-Grad. Students are asked to make at least a one-year commitment to i-Grad as part of the application process.
i-Grad students mostly work remotely, but are expected to attend some in-person assessments and learning activities. Families must provide their own transportation for these occasions. The in-person site for Grades 6-12 will be the i-Grad campus, which is part of the ACTIVE Academies campus in Canton; the in-person site for Grades 4-5 will be Holly Springs ES STEM Academy.
The curriculum for Grades 4-8 is teacher-developed with lessons delivered through Canvas and Microsoft Teams; the curriculum for Grades 9-12 is a blend of Edgenuity lessons and teacher-developed lessons delivered through Canvas and Teams. Schedules will include core academics as well as non-core subjects. Students will need to have access at home to the Internet and a laptop computer with camera and microphone.
Additional information, including daily learning expectations and applications, which require teacher recommendations, is online here; the application period is today, Feb. 1, through 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 1. An Informational Night virtual meeting will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Feb. 10; information is online here.
Parents will be notified of their student’s acceptance into i-Grad by March 31; an orientation program will be held in the spring for students and parents. As this is the same timeline as CCSD’s school choice reassignment program (Feb. 1-March 1), if you also are considering that program, we recommend you apply for it as well in order to maintain that option should your child not end up enrolling in i-Grad.
Alternative Daytime and Evening High School Programs
CCSD offers ACE Academy, an award-winning daytime high school program, at its ACTIVE Academies campus in Canton. The program allows students to work at their own pace to complete the required academic and elective credits to graduate on time, with options to graduate early. Capacity is limited. For more information, please visit the school website and contact the school.
CCSD partners with Mountain Education Charter High School to offer an evening high school program, which is housed in the Etowah East building on the Etowah High School campus. Mountain Ed offers students nightly dinners, mentors and other supports to help them graduate as soon as possible. For information, please visit the school website and contact the school.
Cherokee College & Career Academy
This school year, CCSD launched Cherokee College & Career Academy (C3), which offers high school students the opportunity to participate in unique Career Pathway programs not offered on their school’s campus.
The program, which is housed at the ACTIVE Academies campus, currently offers classes in cybersecurity. Students travel to C3 for morning or afternoon career classes and spend the remainder of the day at their school’s campus attending core classes. Next school year, additional programs will be added in unmanned aircraft systems and flight operations, with opportunities for students to earn FAA certification in small unmanned aircraft systems and pilot ground operations. Selection of the programs was based on industry needs, and Cherokee County’s regional airport offers excellent partnership opportunities.
For information, please reach out to your child’s high school counselor.
KINDERGARTEN AND NEW STUDENT ENROLLMENT
Parents beginning today, Feb. 1, can use the Registration Gateway (https://registration.cherokeek12.net/) to enroll all students Grades K-12 who will be new to CCSD for the 2022-23 School Year.
The online registration process takes about 15-20 minutes; parents will enter their own identification information, such as emergency contact names and phone numbers, which increases accuracy and eliminates redundancy. Required documents (birth certificate, proof of residency, etc.) will be brought to the follow-up appointment that the school will coordinate with parents. More information, including a list of required documents, is available online here.
Children who are turning 5 on or before Sept. 1, 2022 may be enrolled in kindergarten; children who are turning 6 on or before Sept. 1, 2022 are enrolled in first grade. A placement committee, which includes the child’s parents, will review requests for a child who will turn 6 on or before Sept. 1, 2022 to instead attend kindergarten. All 23 CCSD elementary schools have full-day kindergarten. More information about CCSD’s kindergarten program is available online here.
If you have difficulty using the Gateway, please email enrollment.support@cherokee.incidentiq.com
PRE-K APPLICATION FOR LOTTERY DRAWING
Georgia Lottery Pre-K for 4-year-olds is offered through CCSD at Ball Ground ES STEM Academy, Hasty ES Fine Arts Academy, Johnston ES Preschool, Oak Grove ES Fine Arts Academy and RM Moore ES STEM Academy. Children who are turning 4 on or before Sept. 1, 2022 are eligible to attend Georgia Pre-K.
The application window for the 2022-23 school year lottery opens on Friday, Feb. 11, and applications are due by noon Friday, March 11. The lottery drawing to fill class rosters will be on March 16. More information, including detailed application information and the list of documents required for enrollment, is online here.
Additionally, CCSD’s Ralph Bunche Center offers Georgia Lottery Pre-K classes, and holds its own lottery drawing. Please contact the school for additional information.
Space is limited and wait lists are common, but parents can search for available Lottery-funded Pre-K slots at private providers in their area at http://decal.ga.gov/ProviderSearch/PreK . The openings are updated in early September and then regularly throughout the year.
Ninth District Opportunity Head Start preschool for income eligible 3- and 4-year-olds is offered at Ralph Bunche Center in Canton and Johnston Preschool Center at Johnston ES in Woodstock. Please contact the schools for additional information.
CCSD additionally offers Special Education preschool and services for eligible children beginning on their third birthday. For information concerning eligibility criteria and referral procedures, please the Office of Special Education at (770) 704-4315 or email preschoolassesment@cherokeek12.net.