River Ridge HS Summer FAQ

The Cherokee County School Board on Thursday night reviewed the proposed budget for next school year, which calls for a reduction in the tax rate for all property owners and well-deserved pay increases for teachers and support staff.

The proposed 1.5 mills decrease in the tax rate is the first reduction proposed since 2014 and has been recommended by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian V. Hightower in light of rising home values.

Parking for Next School Year: We will have 1 day the week before school starts to purchase parking permits. Please pick up a pink parking application outside of 2302 before school is out. Only the pink parking applications will be accepted.

Attention applicants for Voice of the Ridge. Please check your school email for your audition time today.

The CCSD School Nutrition Summer Feeding program will kick off June 6, and community donations are requested to make it a success.

“We care about our students’ well-being all the time, and we know that providing meals over summer break is a hardship for some families,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian V. Hightower said.  “We’re so fortunate to have a dedicated School Nutrition team, an outstanding partner in MUST Ministries and a supportive community working together to feed our students over the summer.”  

The River Ridge JROTC Instructors proudly congratulate Noah Leiker and Madison Morgan for being appointed as the Fall and Spring Group Commanders for the JROTC Program.  Their efforts directly resulted in their unit receiving the Distinguished Unit with Merit Award from Headquarters JROTC.  Aim high Noah and Madison!

Cherokee County School District student athletes have been honored by Positive Athlete Georgia, with 11 regional winners, two state winners and two state scholarship winners!

The 2022 Positive Athlete Georgia Awards are presented by the Positive Athlete Georgia organization, which promotes the benefits of positivity to young athletes around the world.  Football star player Hines Ward formed Positive Athlete with businessman Scott Pederson.

Cherokee County School District students, educators and volunteers were honored by the PTA with regional awards!

The Georgia PTA District 13 Spring Conference & Awards Ceremony, which recently was held in Woodstock, recognized outstanding PTA volunteers, teachers, nurses, administrators and students from Cherokee and Forsyth Counties.

Cherokee County School District’s Class of 2022 will walk across the stage for graduation ceremonies next week!

The ceremonies for CCSD’s 2,936 graduating seniors will be held at First Baptist Church of Woodstock (11905 Highway 92, Woodstock, 30188).  The ceremonies will be streamed on www.fbcw.org so family and friends who are unable to attend still can participate.

Eighty-six Cherokee County School District high school and middle school students won seats in the prestigious Georgia Music Educators Association All-State Chorus and Reading Chorus.

The Cherokee County Educational Foundation helped celebrate the end of the school year by presenting Cherokee County School District teachers and support staff with $50,000 in grants!

The nonprofit organization, since its 2012 formation to raise funds for CCSD teachers, programs and schools, has awarded more than $1 Million in grants to support teaching and learning.

National School Nurse Day is May 11, 2022, and this week, we will introduce you to CCSD’s 2022 Innovation Zone Nurses of the Year! Stay tuned as we highlight one winner each day. Thank you to all CCSD nurses for the care you provide daily to our students and staff! #CCSDfam #SND2022

A Cherokee County School District Class of 2022 graduating senior has earned a $25,000 college scholarship from a community foundation!

It is the third year of the annual college scholarships presented by the Jason T. Dickerson Family Foundation.  The scholarship requirements, beyond the perennial requirement for community service, are set by the foundation each year.   This year’s scholarship application was limited to students planning a career in veterinary medicine, with one scholarship awarded.

Twenty-seven Cherokee County School District students earned state honors through the 2021-22 Georgia PTA Reflections fine arts contest! 

The annual competition offers students in all grades and abilities the opportunity to create original works of art in the categories of dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography and visual arts.  Students can earn recognition at the School, District, State and National levels.  This year's theme was “I Will Change The World By... .”

Friday May 6 marked the 10^th year of recognizing School Lunch Hero Day, which is celebrated the first Friday of May to pay tribute to the heroes of School Nutrition who keep students supplied with nutritious meals for breakfast and lunch throughout the school year.

The Cherokee County School District will present a Job Fair focused on hiring support staff for next school year from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 26, at our technology campus at 1020 Keeter Road, Canton, 30114.

The May 2022 edition of the CCSD Connections monthly parent e-newsletter is now online at https://www.cherokeek12.net/Content2/newsletter and includes important end-of-year announcements including May 27 early dismissal for middle and high school students and plans for the summer meal program.  Thanks to this month's sponsor, Credit Union of Georgia! #CCSDfam

A message to the community from Cherokee County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian V. Hightower …

Many years ago, rural families would thank their valued teachers with the crops from their farms. 
 
After this tradition had passed, the apple, the prettiest of these crops, continued to be given for generations as a gift to favorite teachers. 

NOTICE: Due to the rising volume of false information currently being circulated about our school district and our outstanding teachers and staff, we will be updating our Fact vs. Fiction webpage at https://bit.ly/CCSDfacts on a more frequent basis.  If you have a question about something you’ve seen on social media or received via mail or email about our schools, our staff or our curriculum, please reach out to your school or contact us directly at the Ask CCSD Helpdesk at https://bit.ly/AskCCSD  #CCSDfam
 

Twelve Cherokee County School District Class of 2022 graduating seniors will be honored by the Cherokee County Sports Hall of Fame! 

The community organization each spring recognizes the most outstanding male and female senior athletes from each of CCSD’s high schools.  Honorees are nominated by high school administrators based on the outstanding athletic contributions the seniors made during their high school career.  This recognition is a separate program from the Hall of Fame’s annual induction ceremony honoring individuals who have distinguished themselves in the field of athletics in Cherokee County. 

A Cherokee County School District business partner and volunteer has received a top community award!

Kevin Williams, operator of Cherokee County Chick-fil-A, today was honored with the Liberty Bell Award by the Blue Ridge Bar Association at its annual Law Day observance.

The Cherokee County School Board on Thursday heard good news about the school district’s financial outlook due to increasing home values and discussed ways to reduce the burden on taxpayers, while also using some of the windfall to make teacher and staff pay more competitive.

Twenty-eight Cherokee County School District high school and middle school students won seats in the prestigious Georgia Music Educators Association All-State Band and Orchestra.

Students audition for these selective performance opportunities.  This year's All-State Band and All-State Orchestra events were recently held at the Classic Center in Athens.

The April 2022 edition of the CCSD Connections monthly parent e-newsletter is now online at https://www.cherokeek12.net/Content2/newsletter and includes a message from the Superintendent about the district’s accreditation renewal, as well as other important information.  Thanks to this month's sponsor, Credit Union of Georgia!

There will be no school on Tuesday, May 24, the date of the Primary Election, in order to ensure the safety and security of students due to the use of schools as polling sites.  May 24 will be a Digital Learning Day, with assignments provided online for students to complete at home.  Bags with a breakfast and lunch for students will be available for pick up at all schools that morning at no charge; order forms will be emailed to all parents on Friday, May 20.

Cherokee County School District’s high schools, for the 12th consecutive year, have earned top honors for outstanding Advanced Placement (AP) programs and performance!

All of CCSD’s high schools have been named Georgia 2022 AP Honor Schools for exceptional student performance and participation on AP exams, which offer students more challenging coursework and the opportunity to earn college credit.  Overall, CCSD students who took the exams earned passing scores of 3 or higher on 73% of the 5,028 tests administered last school year, exceeding the Georgia rate of 60% and the National rate of 54%.  This passing rate ranks CCSD 10th in the State and 2nd among metro Atlanta counties.  

The Cherokee County School District received excellent news today: the district’s international accreditation as a high-quality school system is recommended for renewal for another five years!

“Accreditation is the gold standard for school districts – it provides independent assurance to parents, employees and taxpayers as to the excellence of their public schools,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian V. Hightower said.  “I’m incredibly proud of the work that all of our employees do every day to provide the best possible education and care to each of our students.  Thank you to the amazing parent volunteers and business and community partners who support us.  None of this would be possible without the outstanding leadership of our School Board, its vision for our future and its strong stewardship of the resources entrusted to them by our community.”

On behalf of the Superintendent, please be advised that serious misinformation about CCSD is being circulated on social media. 

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian V. Hightower has no plans to ask the School Board to privatize bus drivers or School Nutrition or any other part of CCSD operations.  The School Board also has had no discussions about privatizing these services.

As part of national Sunshine Month, observed every March to highlight the importance of open government and transparency, the Cherokee County School District has updated its Open CCSD website.

CCSD is committed to transparency and accountability.  Open CCSD at https://www.cherokeek12.net/Content2/open-ccsd was established in 2013 to provide the community with a clear understanding of its operations and stewardship of fiscal resources.  

The Cherokee County School Board on Thursday, Dec. 9, celebrated the School District winning the Georgia 2021 Governance Team of the Year Award with a review of accomplishments from the past year.