Berrien Academy Charter Renewed

Graduation rate up 25 percentage points since it opened

The Valdosta Daily Times

NASHVILLE — Opened in August of 2005, Berrien Academy Performance Learning Center was recently granted a second five-year charter.

Berrien County Collaborative Executive Director Matt Jansen said, “The overwhelming support we receive from the Berrien County Board of Education and community helped to move this school into a new charter for another five-year term. Over the past five years, we have assisted in raising the graduation rate from 49 percent in 2004 to 74 percent in 2010.”

Located inside the Youth Empowerment Services building at 1015 Exum Road in Nashville, Berrien Academy is a public charter school. It is operated in partnership between the Berrien County Board of Education and Berrien County Collaborative Inc.

Berrien Academy serves as many as 75 students in grades nine through 12.

It is SACS accredited and students completing the state requirements receive a high school diploma.

“We have continually offered dual enrollment courses through Wiregrass (Georgia) Technical College (formerly Valdosta Technical College) while increasing the number of tech prep and college prep diplomas and simultaneously decreasing the dropout rate below the state average,” Jansen added. “The partnerships that have developed over the past five years have led to over $2 million in additional resources being awarded to the school system to train our teachers and students in the areas of technology and cross curriculum project-based learning. The innovative course structure and educational environment is focused on business skills needed to succeed in a 21st Century job market.”

As for the future of Berrien Academy, Jansen said there are plans to develop a Career Academy.

“The Career Academy has become the model for the future of high school in our country,” he said. “By integrating high school and technical college courses, students will be given the opportunity to graduate high school with marketable skills and certified training.”

To learn more, visit www.berrien.k12.ga.us or call Matt Jansen at (229) 686-6576 or the Berrien County Board of Education at (229) 686-2081.

Student Public Service Announcements

Check out students projects that have been posted on US Education's website. These projects are part of our Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse and Production 1 classes at Berrien Academy and High Schools. http://useducationtv.com/default.aspx?sid=98.

2009 Annual Survey Reports Now Online

Results of the 2009 local and state annual surveys are now posted on
CASAforChildren.org. Highlights of 2009 findings are as follows:

- The number of children served nationwide was 237,095.
- The number of volunteers in service was 70,919.
- The number of new volunteers trained was 23,753.

Thank you to all CASA/GAL staff who took the time to respond to our annual
survey. The results can be helpful to all of our programs in our
fundraising and public awareness efforts.

http://www.casaforchildren.org/site/c.mtJSJ7MPIsE/b.5466423/k.16B4/Data_Collection_and_Evaluation.htm

Alapaha Judicial Circuit Justice for Children Summit – July 29, 2010

Your attendance is requested for the Alapaha Judicial Circuit Justice for Children Summit to be held on July 29, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. at the Berrien County Extension Office (516A County Farm Road, Nashville, GA 31619, (229)686-5431). Continental Breakfast begins at 8:30 a.m.

This summit is sponsored by the Supreme Court of Georgia’s Committee on Justice for Children (J4C) in partnership with the Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) and the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS). Staff from the Supreme Court of Georgia’s Committee on Justice for Children will review and compare statistical information pertaining to our court and agency work on deprivation matters and help us to identify our strengths and challenges. All juvenile court stakeholders involved with issues of child abuse and neglect are needed to assist in identification of goals for our court and the development of action plans to achieve those goals.

Please RSVP to Ms. Regina Roberts by email at regina.roberts@gaaoc.us or by phone at 404-561-2724 no later than July 23, 2010 with the following information: name, e-mail address, phone number, and your role or job title. Breakfast, Lunch and snack items will be provided. If you have special dietary needs, please inform Ms. Roberts when confirming your attendance. I look forward to seeing you at the summit.

Alapaha Judicial Circuit

Supreme Court of Georgia

Justice for Children Summit

July 29, 2010

9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

9:00 – 9:15 Welcome Remarks by the Honorable Carol W. Hunstein,

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia; The Honorable P. Harris Hines, Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia; The Honorable Clayton Tomlinson, Judge of the Juvenile Court of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit

9:15 – 9:30 Introductions & Overview of Summit Curriculum

9:30 – 9:45 Video: “Multiple Transitions: A Young Child’s Point of View on Foster Care and Adoption”

9:45 – 10:30 Strengths and Challenges

10:30 – 10:45 Break

10:45 – 11:45 “The Path to Permanency” - presented by Ms. Melissa Carter, Esq. Director of the Georgia Office of the Child Advocate and Mr. Bobby Cagle, Georgia Division of Family and Children Services

11:45– 12:15 “Ground Truth: Using Data to Explore What is Really Happening at the Local Level” - presented by Mr. Christopher Church, Esq., Managing Attorney, Committee on Justice for Children

12:15 – 12:45 Lunch

12:45 – 1:40 “Ground Truth” – continued

1:40 – 2:10 “Through Our Eyes” – presented by Georgia EmpowerMEnt Group

2:10 – 2:25 Break

2:25 – 3:00 Action Planning

3:00 – 3:45 Group Discussion of Action Plans

3:45 – 4:00 Closing, Q & A, Next Steps

CHRISTMAS IN JULY AT DFCS

During the month of July, The Berrien County Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) will be sponsoring “Christmas in July” in support of the foster children of Berrien County. DFCS will be accepting donations which will be directed towards buying school supplies and school clothes for foster children. According to Director Mary Lynn Bracewell, there are approximately 20 children in foster care in Berrien County. Many of these children are school age. The State of Georgia does not provide any additional money for foster parents to buy school supplies and school clothes for the children they keep in their home.

There are many ways that the community can help. People can request specific sizes and ages of the foster children, and then purchase items themselves to bring to the DFCS office, or they can make a monetary donation which will be used to buy the needed items. For more information, contact Bracewell or Kayse Layfield at 686-5568.