1. Healthcare

February 2015
Volume 1, Issue 6
The Paulding Pulse
HOMETOWN PRO HONORED
Not every high school can say that they have a professional sports player among
their graduates. But that is one thing East Paulding High School can boast about!
Zack Wheeler graduated from East Paulding High School in 2009. He was drafted by
the San Francisco Giants with the 6th overall pick in the
2009 Major League Baseball draft. Wheeler was traded in
2011 to the New York Mets, where he is currently a
starting pitcher. He made his major league debut in a
doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves on June 18,
2013 in Atlanta.
As a way of recognizing Wheeler’s tremendous success
in the major leagues, East Paulding High School retired
his Raiders baseball jersey at a ceremony on Saturday,
January 17th. No one at East Paulding High School will
ever wear #45 again.
While at East Paulding High School, Wheeler played both baseball and basketball. In
four varsity seasons, Wheeler compiled a 95-36 record. In 2008, his junior year, he went 8-3 with a 1.31
ERA and 127 strikeouts over 64 1/3 innings and was
named AAAA Region Pitcher of the Year. In 2009, his
senior year, Wheeler pitched in 13 games and finished
9-0 with a 0.54 ERA and 151 strikeouts in 77 2/3 innings. That year he was named the 2009 Gatorade
High School Player of the Year for Georgia.
Congratulations, Zack!
STAY CONNECTED WITH PAULDING COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Paulding County School District
@pauldingboe
pauldingboe.blogspot.com
The mission of the Paulding County School District is to prepare
ALL students for success in the 21st century.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
From the Superintendent ........2
Buzz from the Board ................2
Kindergarten Registration.......3
School Choice Information......4
Medication Policy Update .......4
Applying for the FAFSA...........5
Transition Tuesdays ................5
UPCOMING DATES:
 February 4: Early Release
(Students dismissed 2 hours
early)
 February 6: Progress Reports
 February 9: Stakeholders’
Meeting (6:30 pm at BOE)
 February 16: Presidents’ Day
(schools & offices closed)
 February 17-20: Winter
Break (May be considered
inclement weather makeup
days)
FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT’S DESK...
There is so much going on in the next few weeks that I want to draw your attention to.
In October, our Board of Education voted to enter into a contract with the State Board of Education that is commonly referred to
as “IE2” — short for Investing in Educational Excellence. This is a partnership that will provide the district with some flexibility from certain
state laws that apply to education, but will ultimately be in the best interest of our students. You will be hearing more about IE2 in the coming
weeks, especially at our Stakeholders’ Meeting on February 9th at 6:30pm at the Board of Education. We will be asking for your input on our
application, and I encourage you to join us to learn more and be a part of this important discussion.
Winter Break is quickly approaching. The Central Office will be closed on Monday, February 16 and students will be out of class
through February 20th. The window to apply for school choice will open soon. You’ll find a list on our web site by the end of this week as to
which school will accept school choice students.
Also, please go ahead and start talking with your child about the upcoming Parent Teacher Conferences that will take place in
March. This is an excellent time to find out and understand their concerns, and ask questions that will help you prepare for that conference.
Finally, I hope you all received the letter we sent home regarding the Microsoft Office 2013 Suite. With Microsoft’s support, we are
able to offer five copies of the Microsoft Office 2013 client for each student (download on up to five personal computers) and five copies of the
mobile app for Microsoft (installed on up to five mobile devices). I hope you will take advantage of this amazing offer.
I hope you are all having an excellent semester!
Cliff Cole
Superintendent
National Black History Month
American Heart Month
Dental Health Month
At its January 13th meeting, the Board of Education reelected Mr.
Joe Watson as board chair and Dr. Kim Curl as vice chair. The
Board also voted to continue to retain Talley, Richardson & Cable
as the District and Board’s attorney.
Joe Watson
Feb. 1: National Freedom Day
Commemorating the end of slavery on the date of passage of the
13th Amendment in 1865
Feb. 2: Groundhog Day
Feb. 12: Abraham Lincoln’s
Birthday
Feb. 14: Valentine’s Day
Feb. 15: Susan B. Anthony Day
Celebrating the birthday of the women’s rights
leader and the adoption of the 19th Amendment
(for women’s suffrage) in 1920
Feb. 16: Presidents’ Day
Feb. 17: National PTA
Founder’s Day
Feb. 19: Chinese New Year
Feb. 22: George Washington’s
Birthday
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February Board
Meeting Dates:
February 10—
6:15pm
February 24—
8:30am
You can find more details about January’s
board meetings through our News from the
Board newsletter:
January 13
Dr. Kim Curl
January 27
Remembering Larry Ragsdale
Larry Ragsdale, former Paulding County Schools Superintendent, passed away on Thursday, January 15, 2015.
Mr. Ragsdale was born in Austell, and taught in Florida for
17 years before returning to his home state. He served as
assistant principal and principal at East Paulding Middle
School. He was an administrator at the Paulding Board of
Education before becoming Superintendent of Haralson
County Schools. He ended his career here in Paulding
County as Superintendent, retiring in 2009.
Mr. Ragsdale is survived by his wife of 42 years, Deborah,
as well as two brothers and their extended family.
The Paulding County School District appreciates the years of service Mr. Ragsdale
contributed to our community, and our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time.
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SCHOOL CHOICE (HB251)
Kierin Hernandez, from Abney Elementary, was
named the winner in the NorthWest Georgia Regional Technology Fair for Game Design (Grades 3 and
4).
For the tech fair, Kierin designed a game called
“Ninja Blade.” It’s about a ninja who must rescue his
sensei (teacher) from a bad ninja. The ninja must go
through several levels and defeat the bad guys, like
giant bats, devil dogs and death walkers in order to
rescue his sensei. The ninja walks through the levels and has a sword that can
transform into a blaster.
Kierin developed the game using a program from
MIT called “Scratch” (scratch.mit.edu). He created
all the scenes, characters, and weapons using an 8bit art app on his iPad and uploaded them to the
game, instead of using the stock footage provided in
Scratch. He worked for two months to develop the
game.
Kierin’s mom, Christina, tells us that he has always
been interested in computers. From the time he was
a toddler, he was playing games on the computer,
and in his spare time, he builds large scale buildings
and structures in Minecraft, as well as 8-bit versions
of famous video game characters, like Mario, Luigi, and Link. Kierin taught himself to program using red stone in Minecraft, and can create some elaborate
functioning structures, such as roller coasters and music blocks playing songs.
The window to apply for school choice within Paulding County is quickly approaching.
Parents may elect to enroll their child in a
school that is located within the district
other than the one to which the student is
assigned, provided a school has classroom
space available after its assigned students
have been enrolled.
If your child applies and is accepted into a
school other than the one to which they are
assigned, parents assume the responsibility
of transporting their child to and from
school.
Applications will be made available at 5:00
PM on February 27, 2015. The deadline
for submission will be the close of business
(5:00 PM) March 13, 2015.
For more information, please visit the Student Transfer page on the Paulding County
School District’s website.
Light Rocky Road Brownies
▪1/2 teas baking powder
DIRECTIONS:
▪1/2 C cocoa powder, sifted 1.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
▪1/4 teas salt
2.
Prepare 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray and flour
3.
Combine baking powder, cocoa powder, salt and
flour in a mixing bowl
4.
In another mixing bowl combine egg whites, sugar,
vanilla, and marshmallow cream
5.
Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients
6.
Bake for 18 minutes
▪ 1/2 C flour
▪ 4 egg whites, whipped
▪ 1/2 C sugar
▪ 1 Tbsp vanilla
▪ 1 C marshmallow cream
Nutrition Information: 121 calories, 0.6g fat, 1.2g dietary fiber, 2.5g
protein
Yields: 12 servings
Recipe courtesy: farmflavor.com
New This Month on the Web
This month’s “Spotlighting Our Schools” videos:
Nurses Notes
Our medication policy has been updated as
follows: ALL prescription medications must
be brought in by a parent/guardian and
given to the School Nurse. (Medication
counts and verification will be done along
with a parent/guardian signature.)
Parents, please take time to review the medication policy. Make sure if your student
needs to carry an inhaler, an epipen or diastat that the correct forms are completed
 All Pro Dads (Baggett Elementary)
and that the school nurse is aware. Please
Our students are doing wonderful things inside their take the time to contact the School Nurse to
schools. We hope you enjoy a brief look inside to some ensure all medical conditions are listed and
of those events.
correct.

Atlanta Falcons Junior Training Camp (Russom
Elementary)
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APPLYING FOR THE FAFSA
SAT CHANGES
When students open their SAT test booklets in Spring of 2016, they’ll see a SAT that is
more focused than ever before. As more of the changes are announced, you’ll find that
information here in our e-newsletter as well as on the Paulding County School District’s
website. So what’s changing?
Category
Current SAT
Redesigned SAT
Total Testing Time
3 hours, 45 minutes
3 hours (plus 50 minutes for the optional essay)
1.
Critical Reading
1. Evidence-based Reading and Writing
2.
Writing
▪Reading test
3.
Mathematics
▪Writing and Language Test
4.
Essay
2. Math
*Redesigned SAT testing time subject to research
Components
3. Essay (optional)
Important Features
Essay
▪Emphasis on general reasoning
skills
▪Continued emphasis on reasoning alongside a
clearer, stronger focus on the knowledge, skills,
and understandings most important for college
▪Emphasis on vocabulary, often in and career readiness and success
limited contexts
▪Greater emphasis on the meaning of words in
▪Complex scoring (a point for a
extended contexts and how word choice shapes
correct answer, and a deduction
meaning, tone and impact
for an incorrect answer)
▪Rights-only score (a point for a correct answer,
but no deduction for an incorrect answer)
▪Required and given at the beginning of the SAT
▪25 minutes to write the essay
Score Reporting
▪Optional and given at the end
▪50 minutes to write the essay
▪Tests writing skill; students take
a position on a presented issue
▪Tests resading, analysis and writing skills;
students produce a written analysis of a provided source text
▪Scale ranging from 600-2400
▪Scale ranging from 400-1600
▪Essay results scaled to multiplechoice writing
▪Essay results reported separately
One of the key changes you’ll find in the redesigned SAT is that it will focus on relevant words, the
meanings of which depend on how they’re used. Students will be asked to interpret the meaning of
words based on the context of the passage in which they appear.
Here’s a sample question:
[…] The coming decades will likely see more intense clustering of jobs, innovation, and productivity
in a smaller number of bigger cities and city-regions. Some regions could end up bloated beyond
the capacity of their infrastructure, while others struggle, their promise stymied by inadequate
human or other resources.
So, how do you make the most out of your
application?
1. File Early
Go ahead and file now. Some schools make awards
on a first-come, first-served basis until their funds
are depleted. You can estimate your 2014 tax liability using your last paystub.
2. Not sure you’ll get aid? File anyway.
Even though you might not qualify this year, if you don’t
apply now, you can lose out on funding later on. That means
if your family’s financial situation changes while a student is
in school, it can be harder to get aid if you didn’t apply for it
initially.
This may seem obvious, but mistakes on the FAFSA
can delay the processing of your application and put
you at the back of the line. One easy mistake is
leaving blank fields that don’t apply to you. In this
case, be sure to write a 0 in the space.
4. Move money out of your student’s
checking account.
The FAFSA formulas assume a student can spend
20% of their assets on college. For parents, that rate
Adapted from Richard Florida, The Great Reset
maxes out at 5.64% of assets. Moving a child’s mon©2010 by Richard Florida
ey into a 529 account shields it from consideration
as a child asset.
5. Explain any extenuating circumstances.
This question asks students to analyze how the word “intense” is used in context. While students may
frequently use the word “intense” to describe personalities or emotions, the context of this sentence
requires students to recognize that “intense” can also mean “concentrated.” The best answer is B
because the context makes clear that the clustering of jobs, innovation and productivity is expected to
be denser, or more concentrated in a smaller number of bigger cities and city-regions, over the coming decades.
Stay tuned to more sample questions from the redesigned SAT throughout 2015.
**Information and sample question provided by CollegeBoard.com**
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As college tuitions continue to increase,
financial aid has become a critical component in making higher education a possibility for many families.
3. Fill out the form completely.
TEST YOUR SAT KNOWLEDGE
As used above, “intense” most nearly means:
A) emotional.
B) concentrated.
C) brilliant.
D) determined.
The Free Application for Federal Student
Aid, or FAFSA, is now available for the
2015-2016 school year. The FAFSA determines which students are eligible for
federal grants, student loans, and workstudy jobs, as well as eligibility for many
private awards.
The FAFSA asks more than 100 questions, but there
is no spot to explain specific family circumstances,
like a recent job loss or high medical bills. If you
think there are more facts a financial aid officer
needs to know, TELL THEM! Send a supplementary
letter explaining the situation.
2ND ANNUAL CASINO ROYALE NIGHT
School district employees, families and the community are invited to attend the
2nd Annual Casino Royale on February 28th at 6:30 pm at the Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport.
Tickets are $125 a couple or $75 for an individual.
A special promotion for employees is available at $75/couple or $40/individual.
We will also offer employees at “Sell 7 tickets, Get One Free” special. That promotion will run through February 14th.
All tickets will include 2 drink tickets, hors d'oeuvres, $5,000 play money and entertainment. We anticipate
another sold out event, so get your tickets early. Tickets are available at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/2ndannual-paulding-casino-royale-tickets-14922305016.
Sponsorships are also available at www.pauldingeducationfoundation.com.
The committee is always seeking donations and new volunteers.
Please contact Amy Mollohan at [email protected] for more information.
“Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew.”
- Cecily Tyson
TRANSITION TUESDAYS
Please join us at our monthly meetings for
more information about topics and resources available to families of students
with disabilities.
Dinner will be provided to all who RSVP
and child care is available upon request.
February 24
6-8 p.m.
Hiram High School
Topic: Transitioning from Elementary to Middle School
and Middle School to High School
Scheduled Speakers:
Tiffany Canty, Lead Teacher for Herschel Jones Middle School
Jennifer Colburn, Lead Teacher for Moses Middle School
Lindsey Young, Lead Teacher for North Paulding High School
VISION
The vision of the Paulding
County School District is to
provide a safe, healthy, supportive environment focused
on learning and committed to
high academic achievement.
Through the shared responsibility of all stakeholders, students will be prepared as lifelong learners and as participating, contributing members
of our dynamic and diverse
community.
Paulding County Board of Education
3236 Atlanta Highway
Dallas, Georgia 30132
770-443-8000
www.paulding.k12.ga.us
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