The students in the new agriculture program at Rutland Middle School have a lot of work on their hands. As part of the program and the FFA chapter, students help take care of several cows that live on campus.
The students wash the cows and walk them to practice for competitions. They also take care of some grooming needs.
"It's something I've never really done before," said eighth-grader Taylor Autry, president of the FFA chapter. "It's very fun. I would want everyone to come experience this."
The cows are provided by parent Benjamin Newberry of Donacin Dairy in Lizella. Teachers Robbie Bartlett and Andrew Reeves oversee the program, and Bartlett said there were a couple of benefits to having the cows on campus.
"Responsibility is the biggest thing, but just getting them out of their comfort zone," he said, noting that other students - particularly in the special education program - also liked coming to visit the animals. "It's a highlight of their day to be able to come out and see the cows."

The Bibb County School District received notification this week that the District has earned the distinction of accreditation from AdvancED. AdvancED is the global leader in advancing excellence in education through continuous improvement, organizational effectiveness and accreditation.

The District welcomed an Engagement Review Team from AdvancED in October 2017 as part of the five-year review process for accreditation. During the Engagement Review Team’s visit, October 1-4, members interviewed 233 stakeholders and visited 13 schools. Based on the Engagement Review Team’s assessment, the District received an overall Index of Education Quality (IEQ) Score of 342.79 on a scale of 100 to 400.

This score, one of the higher scores received by a Georgia school district under AdvancED’s new review process, is based on ratings from the three domains of leadership capacity, learning capacity and resource capacity, as well as classroom observations. Under each of these domains, the District met all standards with ratings of Exceeds Expectations, Meets Expectations and Emerging. The District did not receive any ratings of Needs Improvement.

“If I had to sum my assessment and thoughts, I could do it one word: Wow. The results of the AdvancED visit show the school district is doing great work. I’ve been told the score of 342 is probably in the top 10 percent of school districts worldwide. That’s exciting! It shows that while student achievement is not where we want it, we’re doing the right work to get it where we want to be. I’m very excited and thankful to our teachers, students and the community,” said Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones.

To demonstrate their grasp of their lessons, fifth-grade students at Heritage Elementary School recently put on a live cells demonstration. These students dressed like parts of plant and animal cells and told other students what function these components perform. What a great way to learn and teach others!

Today, Southfield Elementary held a "Living Wax Museum" in honor of Black History Month. This event taught students about Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and more. It's important that our students learn about these individuals' accomplishments, and this was a creative and fun way to do so. Way to go!

Central High School teacher Lyschel Shipp and students Zacheriah Donaldson and Edna Rutland are heading to Harvard University on March 1-3 to present at the university's "Alumni of Color Conference." The students' presentation discusses ways to advocate for students of all races and economic situations while also promoting social justice. Congratulations to these students for being chosen for such an honor!

On Feb. 10, about 230 candidates came to Rutland High School for the District's Recruitment Fair. These individuals met with school administrators and other staff from across the District, interviewed onsite and some even received contingency contracts.
"I think it's been a great turnout," said Paige Busbee, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources. "For us, it's been a great success. We've had some really quality people come through here."
In addition to all the school administrators and teachers who came to meet the potential new employees, we'd like to thank the Human Resources department for organizing the event. Also, the staff and students at Rutland helped make the event a success, and students from Miller Magnet Middle School provided musical entertainment.
To find out how you can join us for the next recruitment fair, hosted by Middle Georgia RESA at Westside High on March 3, click here.

The House Bill 251 transfer process will be open from March 1 through March 31. Under this state law, parents may request to transfer their child to another public school in the district for kindergarten through 12th grade for the upcoming 2017-2018 school year “if such school has classroom space available after its assigned students have been enrolled.”

Click here for more information.

Art by Nicole Hill

Student artwork will be on display when the Annual Student Art Show opens in March at The 567 Center for Renewal. The opening for the show will be held Friday, March 2, from 6-9 p.m. The 567 Center for Renewal is located at 456 First Street in downtown Macon.

The art show is a collaboration between the Bibb County School District and The 567 Center for Renewal. The artwork will remain on display throughout the month of March.

On Jan. 25, 11 physical education teachers - Aaron Allen of Union, Trent Allen of Southfield, Randy Carr of Porter, Levert Chaney of Heritage, Cateah Collins of Weaver, James Harris of Weaver, Wayne Holleman of Union, Brad Lord of Springdale, Sherri Marks of Howard Middle, Bruce Mullen of Union and Glen Turner of Alex II - along with PEP grant coordinators Jena Derzi and Maxine Cherry traveled to Jekyll Island to attend the Share the Wealth Conference. This conference's mission is to bring the best presenters and programs to physical educators. Each session is designed to be relevant, hands-on and participatory. This year around 500 physical educators attended the 3 day conference.

Olympic champion Jackie Joyner-Kersee visited Northeast Health Science Magnet High School and Central High School (Macon, Georgia) on February 8. She spoke to students at both campuses as part of a partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Georgia.
“You are here for a reason, but it is left up to you to decide where you want your journey to take you,” she told the students at Northeast.
Joyner-Kersee, a three-time gold medalist and star basketball player at UCLA, also encouraged the basketball teams still vying for region and state tournament victories. Thanks for the uplifting words!

Vineville Academy of the Arts recently honored its Character Kids of the Month with the "Panda Paw" Award. This month's students were recognized for showing "Consideration."

Hartley Elementary School's Junior Beta Club invited the Ladies of the Macon Links to come and discuss black colleges and universities. Links member Paula Adams read "I Love My HBCU" book to the students. Everyone who attend a black college told a little about themselves and wore a shirt that represented that college. Member Patricia Galloway (Links member) helped to coordinate this event, and the goal is for banners of HBCUs to be collected and donated to Hartley to be hung throughout the school media center.

More than 50 representatives of schools and districts across Middle and South Georgia took a tour of Rutland High School on Monday. The purpose of the visit was to learn about the school's Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports efforts.

"It's important because PBIS is a non-negotiable in our District," said PBIS Coordinator Curlandra Smith, noting that schools of various levels of PBIS implementation attended the event. "People want to see what we're doing in Bibb County, and we're excited about that."

The tour included a walkthrough of the school to see how PBIS principles are displayed in the hallway, as well as stops in classrooms to see how teachers implement it. The tours were led by the school's Marine Corps JROTC cadets, which Principal Kent Sparks said was a credit to his faculty and staff.

"It says that our staff has done an outstanding job with our students, and it says that the culture is such that they're able to successfully interact with adults," he said.