by Leigh Knight
It’s not just about test scores, good
neighborhoods or state championships. What makes
a school – private or public – outstanding can
be hard to define, but parents tend to know it
when they see it.
For 20 public schools across the state of
Georgia, there is no hiding success. They were
named to the prestigious list of Georgia Schools
of Excellence for 2005.
“These schools are nominated based on their
academic accomplishments and improvements,” says
Dana Tofig, spokesman for the Georgia Department
of Education. “It is always important to
recognize excellence and progress.”
Once selected for the School of Excellence
program, schools are then considered for the
national No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon
Schools Program.
The No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools
Program honors public and private K-12 schools
that are either academically superior in their
states or that demonstrate dramatic gains in
student achievement. In 2005, five schools in
Georgia received the honor, among 296 in the
nation.
“President Bush likes to say being an
educator is more than a job; it’s a calling,”
said Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
in her speech at the 2005 No Child Left
Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools ceremony, which took
place November 11 in Arlington, Va. “Where many
people see an impossible challenge,” she told
the educators in attendance, “you see
opportunity and hope.”
What does it take for a school to be
considered excellent? We look at four area
schools that have garnered the coveted
recognition.
Riverside Elementary, Suwanee
Principal: Dr. Craig Barlow
“Learning with pride at Riverside” is the
motto of Riverside Elementary. Located high on a
hill in Suwanee on 35 acres overlooking
magnificent mountains and Lake Lanier, the
Riverside Rockets have good reason to be proud:
They are the recipients of the Georgia School of
Excellence award for 2004-05.
“We were very surprised [by the award],” says
Angie Pacholke, one of four assistant
principals. “We know our students do very well.
They are very high achieving, so we always
anticipate, but this was a wonderful surprise.”
The school credits its success in large part
on its designation of math as a special class
(other specials are P.E., music and art).
Students eagerly look forward to this class
taught by “Dr. Think” (a.k.a. Joyce Nelson, who
holds a doctorate in mathematics) and Kathy
Moore. This class, which focuses on thinking
skills, enables students to receive 40 minutes
of instruction twice a week in addition to the
required one-hour daily block.
The school’s three reading specialists – Faye
Richards, Alicia Bishop and Judy Stephenson –
have given Riverside’s students a huge advantage
as well, Pacholke says. These specialists spend
the first nine weeks teaching lessons with a
focus on writing. Then “at-risk” students are
identified for additional instruction in reading
and/or writing during nonacademic times. Free or
reduced tutoring is available after school to
give students “an extra boost,” she says.
“We believe that all children have potential
and all are capable of achieving,” says Pacholke,
whose daughter is a kindergarten student at
Riverside Technology plays an important role in
that achievement. The school uses software
called Success Maker to challenge students in
areas of reading and math. The program can be
accessed from one of the school’s many computers
– in three full computer labs and one mini-lab –
or from home.
“Another huge advantage we have is our
wonderful PTA,” Pacholke says. “We are so
blessed by parents and the support they give us.
… I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Peachtree Charter Middle School, Dunwoody
Principal: Steve Donahue
Since its conversion to a charter school in
2001, Peachtree Charter Middle School has worked
hard to achieve its ranking as a 2005 Georgia
School of Excellence, one of two middle schools
in the state to receive such recognition.
Under the leadership of Principal Steve
Donahue, the school focuses on the study of
world languages and music. In fact, 30 percent
of the approximately 1,100 students take a full
year of a foreign language such as Spanish,
French, German or Latin, allowing students to
earn one high school credit, according to
Donahue.
Peachtree Charter offers a full year of band,
with 40 percent of students playing a musical
instrument, as well as a choral program.
“Students who take music learn more
discipline. They have to follow a beat, the
conductor; they learn to multi-task,” Donahue
says. “Music helps students learn to focus and
pay closer attention to detail.”
Perhaps Peachtree Charter Middle’s biggest
achievement lies in successfully meeting the
needs of students at “both ends of the rainbow,”
he says. One in five students at the school is
“international,” a term Donahue uses proudly to
refer to the many different ethnicities
represented, including Asian, European and an
approximately 17 percent Hispanic population.
Peachtree Charter also has the largest
nonresident special-education population in the
DeKalb County school system, Donahue says. It
employs 22 special education teachers and eight
para-professionals in addition to a large
gifted-program staff, offering 67 sections of
gifted classes every day.
“The community has been great,” says Donahue,
who notes that students are often inspired by
seeing their parents getting involved. Maria Rey
and other parent volunteers offer English
classes and meetings for the Latino community.
At Peachtree Charter much emphasis is placed
on “preparing the students for Dunwoody High
School and beyond,” Donahue says. In 2005, 352
students took the PSAT, which provides practice
for the SAT and is usually taken in the 10th
grade. Donahue believes that by taking the test
early, “The anxiety is removed or relieved.
Students say, ‘Oh, I took that last year.’”
The school paid for those who wanted to take
the test but couldn’t afford it. The expenditure
was just one example of Peachtree Charter
demonstrating its motto, “Teamwork makes the
dream work.”
High Meadows School, Roswell
Head of school: Liz Gembecki
 One of the first questions Liz Gembecki, head
of school at High Meadows School in Roswell,
asks when interviewing teachers is, “How would
you use this campus for instruction?”
The private school moved to the beautiful,
sprawling 42-acre campus in 1973. Since that
time, it has grown its reputation, earning the
No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools award
for 2004 and placing in the top 10 percent of
standardized test scores for private schools in
the nation.
High Meadows, an independent, nonsectarian
school serving preschool through eighth grade,
is accredited by the National Association for
the Education of Young Children and the Southern
Associations of Colleges and Schools, the
Georgia Accrediting Commission. It is one of
three schools in the Georgia Independent Schools
Association in the state for preschool and
kindergarten. It is also a candidate for
International Baccalaureate Primary Years
Programme, a renowned international program of
academic excellence for children ages 3-12.
At High Meadows, students learn in multi-age
classrooms. “We don’t separate them merely
by grade level. The students are able to work at
their ability level, up to their full
potential,” Gembecki says.
Each classroom has two certified teachers who
co-teach. “I expected to come in and see the
teachers taking turns or having separate lesson
plans,” says Gembecki, who joined the school
in 2001. “What I saw was both teachers actively
engaged in students and the lesson.”
Teachers, with input from students, prepare
individualized lesson plans with activities for
every ability level in the classroom, in keeping
with High Meadows’ inquiry-based approach to
learning.
“Students are encouraged to question the
world around them, bring their discoveries to us
and to the class discussion. Our children take
ownership of their education. They are learning
because they want to, not because they have to
take a test,” Gembecki says.
Perhaps the most important classroom remains
those 42 acres. Here students may ride ponies,
feed and care for animals such as sheep, goats
and chickens, and enjoy playtime in the meadow.
“It’s like the way life use to be,” she says.
Sequoyah High School, Canton
Principal: Elliott Berman
The only high school in Georgia to win the
2005 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools
award, a 2005 Georgia School of Excellence
recipient and one of Newsweek magazine’s top
1,000 schools for 2005, Sequoyah High School is
a principal’s dream come true.
That dream began with former administrator
Doe Kirkland, who was appointed to the school
when it first opened its doors in 1990. Two
years ago, she left Sequoyah in the very capable
hands of Elliott Berman to become assistant
superintendent of instruction for Cherokee
County.
 “I spent 43 years in education. I came to
North Georgia to retire but ended up inheriting
this wonderful program from Doe,” says Berman,
who served as principal at a large Miami high
school prior to moving to Georgia and now enjoys
Sequoyah’s “small” enrollment of 1,950 students.
“At Sequoyah, our philosophy is to use best
practices in teaching, challenge students to
stretch their minds and imagination, nurture
them but expect things from them,” Berman says.
“We are also a very data-driven school. We look
at Georgia high school graduation test scores,
the SAT, the PSAT to determine what we need to
tweak each year to be successful.”
That data analysis, much of it compiled by
lead counselor Jerry Cox, enables the faculty to
best help students, ranging from those with
special needs or limited English skills to the
very high achieving (Sequoyah offers 700 seats
in 15 different advanced placement courses).
Additionally, Sequoyah has an award-winning
athletic program and more than 50 clubs,
including chess, photography, academic
competition and even movie critiquing.
“Our school is like a pyramid. The academic
program is our foundation. Athletics and
extracurricular activities are the two sides.
With those in place, it’s strong,” Berman says.
“We have a great relationship with the
community and parents,” he says. “Dr. Petruzielo,
the superintendent of Cherokee County schools,
gives his total support to our school, which has
created a situation where we can strive for
excellence.
“I credit Doe Kirkland, the faculty and staff
for nurturing kids and striving to raise the
bar; our students for realizing their ability to
meet our expectations. It is like a school you
read about in education textbooks – an
educator’s dream. It lives and breathes at
Sequoyah High School.”
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