Cherokee TV

Cherokee Schools Open for 2008-09 Year

CTV STAFF
Monday, August 04, 2008

Cherokee County’s schools opened Monday morning for the start of the 2008-2009 academic year, ending summer break for more than 36,000 students.

The official count for the first day of school was 36,085, which is the largest first-day attendance count in the Cherokee County School District history, said Mike McGowan, director of public information, communications and partnerships.

McGowan said the new school year's first day count represents a 2.6 percent increase over the first day count for last year, which was 35,180 students, or 905 fewer students than were enrolled in local public schools on Monday.

Over the previous eight years, changes in first-day enrollment counts to tenth-day counts varied from increases of 3.4 percent to 6.1 percent, school district data shows.

A few hundred additional students have enrolled in recent years between the first- and tenth-day enrollment counts, the data shows, yet this year's student population report for the start of the school year suggests a smaller growth rate than officials expected.

Before the August 4 start of the 2008-2009 year for the Cherokee County School District, officials said they expected the total enrollment to reach 37,413 students, an increase of 3.13 percent over the last academic year’s 36,276.

The First Day Facts report issued by Superintendent Dr. Frank Petruzielo and the school district office before the school year began says more than 5,000 full- and part-time employees, including 2,677 teachers, are employed for the new academic year.

The school district hired 181 new teachers to address population growth, officials said.

Highlights for the new school year include the opening of three new elementary schools, including Joseph Knox Elementary on Ga. 20 in western Canton; the Canton Elementary replacement school on Marietta Highway, and the first full year for the new Little River Elementary replacement school on Trickum Road in Woodstock last winter.

There are 18 new school buses to bring to the fleet’s total to 340 buses, officials said.

For more information, visit the Cherokee County School District's Web site at www.cherokee.k12.ga.us.