We are excited to announce the 2025-26 Young Georgia Authors contest winners from CCSD! Every spring, our students submit work to their schools, and the winning entries are then judged by a district team. Congratulations to these winners who will now be judged by a panel from Northeast Georgia RESA for the opportunity to advance to the state competition!
Kindergarten - Bosston Simpson, J.J. Harris Elementary
1st grade - Jericho Smothers, Gaines Elementary
2nd grade - Adeline Sheridan, Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary
3rd grade - Baker McKown, Barrow Elementary
4th grade - Noel Garcia Gatica, J.J. Harris Elementary
5th grade - Maya Luciana Arenales Grajeda, Johnnie Lay Burks Elementary
9th grade - Singer Brinson, Clarke Central High
10th grade - Lucianna Russo, Cedar Shoals High
11th grade - Eudora Dawson, Clarke Central
12th grade - Ella Conway, Cedar Shoals
3 months ago, Clarke County School District
Young Georgia Authors winners graphic with names

Elementary soccer season is underway! Check out a full gallery of photos from last night's matches between Timothy Road and Whitehead Road here, and see the full season schedule in this post.

3 months ago, Clarke County School District
Boys playing soccer
Soccer season schedule graphic
Soccer season schedule graphic
It was a day filled with great professional learning opportunities across all content and student support areas for our teachers and staff! We look forward to welcoming our students back to school tomorrow!
3 months ago, Clarke County School District
PL day
PL Day
PL Day
PL Day
PL Day
Scenes from last night's Board of Education meeting where we recognized the following students and staff:
• 2026 CCSD District Spelling Bee winner Phoebe Geisenhof of Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School and runner-up Nora Varsa of Johnnie Lay Burks Elementary School
• Cedar Shoals High School sophomore Kenia Gonzalez-Chavez for her recent selections to the 2026 Youth LEAD Georgia and Disney Dreamers Academy cohorts
• The Winterville Elementary School cheerleading team for winning its fourth consecutive elementary team championship in the Worldwide Spirit Association Cheer and Dance Competition in Athens and qualifying for the One Prime Finals National Championship in Orlando, Florida
• CCSD Elementary Math Content Coordinator and Lead Curriculum Coordinator Desylin Culliver for winning the 2026 Georgia Council of Supervisors of Mathematics Outstanding Leadership Award
• Fowler Drive Elementary School first-grade teacher Macy Cross for being named CCSD's February Employee of the Month.

Congratulations to all!
4 months ago, Clarke County School District
Spelling Bee winner and runner-up
Kenia Gonzalez-Chavez
Winterville cheerleaders
Desylin Culliver
Macy Cross

Congratulations to Macy Cross, first-grade teacher at Fowler Drive Elementary School, for being named CCSD's February Employee of the Month! Ms. Cross is in her fifth year at FDES and was nominated by second-grade teacher (and this year's Fowler Teacher of the Year) Samantha Yvellez for consistently going above and beyond to support her students’ academic and personal growth and demonstrating dedication through thoughtful lesson planning, strong classroom management, and a genuine commitment to meeting the diverse needs of all learners. Ms. Cross was surprised with the award this morning by Interim Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Scott and will be publicly recognized at tomorrow night's Board of Education meeting. Anyone in the community may nominate any full-time CCSD employee with at least one full year of service for this award at bit.ly/CCEmployeeAward.

4 months ago, Clarke County School District
Employee of the Month Cross
Interim Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Scott visited Ms. Dametrice Johnson's second-grade class at Timothy Road Elementary School this morning to read "Opal Lee and What It Means to be Free" as part of the school's ongoing monthlong celebration of African American history featuring guest readers from the TRES staff, district office, and the community.

Known as the "Grandmother of Juneteenth," Opal Lee is still living at age 99 and is a retired elementary school teacher and counselor known for being a leading champion in the movement that made Juneteenth a federally-designated holiday in 2021. Ms. Lee was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2024.

Dr. Scott spoke to Ms. Johnson's students about Ms. Lee's legacy and the meaning of Juneteenth, and the students in turn asked her some questions inspired by their recent Wit and Wisdom lessons in African American history.
4 months ago, Clarke County School District
Dr. Scott and students
TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN! A flashback to two years ago when CCSD warehouseman Gonzales "Zake" Adkins was recognized for 50 years of service to the district and won the Employee of the Month award that year. Today is Mr. Zake's 52nd work anniversary, and he still holds the distinction as CCSD's longest-serving employee, providing truly exceptional service to our schools since Feb. 6, 1974!
4 months ago, Clarke County School District
Zake
A wonderful display of family and community support last night during Winterville Elementary School's annual Student Art Show! We have 143 students with their work on display at the Winterville Cultural Center through the end of March, so come check it out during the center's normal business hours! A huge thank you to Winterville Elementary art teacher Carlin Jay for her encouragement of the students, the Winterville Arts Council for hosting the event, and the Winterville Family Staff Partnership for providing refreshments!
4 months ago, Clarke County School District
exhibit
exhibit
exhibit
exhibit
As we returned to school this morning, Whitehead Road Elementary School students were fully engaged in interactive Black History Month activities through a "Read-in Sit-in." Grade-appropriate read-alouds and activities centered on the Civil Rights movement and how sit-ins and other collective actions inspired lasting change and progress.
4 months ago, Clarke County School District
Students and teacher

REMINDER: Share your thoughts by this weekend on the CCSD Superintendent Search! Go to qrco.de/CCSDsearch to complete the survey, available in English and Spanish (select language in top right-hand corner). And stay up to date on the search process at www.clarke.k12.ga.us/superintendent-search.

4 months ago, Scott Thompson
Superintendent search survey graphic

Congratulations to the CCSD District Spelling Bee CHAMPION, Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School's Phoebe Geisenhof and RUNNER-UP, Johnnie Lay Burks Elementary School's Nora Varsa! Full photo gallery on the CCSD Facebook page coming Saturday!

4 months ago, Clarke County School District
Winner
Runner-up

Scenes from the Clarke County Mentor Program's Annual Breakfast Celebration this morning, where we were honored to receive the Celebrating Connections Award, along with the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, marking 35 years of a treasured partnership with the mentor program in making a difference in the lives of countless CCSD students.

The Mentor Program also presented the Community Impact Award in honor of its late former long-time Executive Director, Trudy Bradley, to her children, Tod and Bridget. The award was presented by U.S. District Court Judge, Cedar Shoals High School alum, and Clarke County mentor, Steve Jones.

Remember: The many, many success stories of this incredible program over the years have been made possible by community members just like you! Learn more about becoming a mentor to a CCSD student and start the process today at clarkecountymentorprogram.org.

4 months ago, Clarke County School District
Award
Award
CONGRATULATIONS to the Coile Middle School girls and Clarke Middle School boys on winning the 2026 CCSD middle school basketball championships! Also congratulations to the Coile boys and Hilsman Middle School girls on their runner-up finishes!
4 months ago, Clarke County School District
Coile girls
CMS boys

Check out our full Facebook gallery for scenes from this morning's University of Georgia MLK Freedom Breakfast!

5 months ago, Clarke County School District
Dr. Scott and students
Scenes from last night's Board of Education meeting, where we recognized:
• Robby Davis of Barrow Elementary School for winning first place among all third-graders statewide in the fall 2025 Noetic Learning Math Contest
• the winners of the 2025-26 MLK Art and Writing Contest
• CCSD Student Information Support Specialist Genoveva Gonzalez for her selection as the district's Employee of the Month for January
• David Diaz, receptionist and ASP coordinator at Johnnie Lay Burks Elementary School for being named a winner in the sixth annual GLISI "Hidden Heroes" online voting campaign.

Congratulations once again to all these students and staff members!
5 months ago, Clarke County School District
BOE recognitions
BOE recognitions
BOE recognitions
BOE rec

Congratulations to Genoveva Gonzalez, student information support specialist in the District Office, on being named our Employee of the Month for January!

Ms. Gonzalez has worked for CCSD since 2007 and has been with the Office of Information Support Services for 13 years. In her role, she assists families with setting up and making changes to their Parent Portal accounts and also provides training and support to schools to provide the same assistance and maximize the use of our Infinite Campus system so that families and students can get the information they need, when they need it.

Ms. Gonzalez was nominated by one of our building leaders, who praised her for taking on extra responsibilities recently due to current vacancies in her office, but still maintaining the office's standard of excellent customer service. She is one of the many CCSD employees whose tireless, behind-the-scenes work is invaluable and keeps operations flowing smoothly.

Ms. Gonzalez was surprised with the award today by Interim Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Scott and will be publicly recognized at tomorrow night's Board of Education meeting.

Anyone in the community may nominate any full-time CCSD employee with at least one full year of service for this award at bit.ly/CCEmployeeAward.

5 months ago, Clarke County School District
EOM - Gonzalez
Howard B. Stroud Elementary School students Claire Babalola and Bailey McDowell, with the guidance of their teacher, Ms. Kelly Parker, were the top earners in the entire district in the statewide Stock Market Game that took place this fall! Their team was ranked 388th out of thousands of teams across Georgia as they made over $4,000 in profit in just 10 weeks. Way go, Superstars, and good luck in the spring game!
5 months ago, Clarke County School District
Teacher and students
CCSD is pleased to announce the winners of our 2025-26 school-level spelling bees! These 18 students, representing the 14 elementary schools and four middle schools across the district, will now compete in the annual district bee on Friday, Jan. 30.

The event will be held at the District Office, starting at 10 a.m., and will be live-streamed and available for on-demand viewing on the CCSD YouTube channel! The winner will advance to the region bee in February for the chance to qualify for the state bee.

Barnett Shoals Elementary - Leila Hussain, 4th grade
Barrow Elementary - Wilder Steele, 5th grade
Burks Elementary - Nora Varsa, 5th grade
Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle - Phoebe Geisenhof, 7th grade
Clarke Middle - Ione Forschler, 6th grade
Cleveland Road Elementary - Nafaf Thaw, 5th grade
Coile Middle - Gabriel Marcos-Ventura, 8th grade
Fowler Drive Elementary - Aalaiyah Goss Arevalo, 4th grade
Gaines Elementary - Jadon Greene, 5th grade
Hilsman Middle - Kyle DeMott, 6th grade
Holston Elementary - Alaina Sesson, 5th grade
Howard B. Stroud Elementary - Phuong Nguyen, 5th grade
Judia Jackson Harris Elementary - Yesica Umana Acevedo, 5th grade
Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary - Arlo Turner, 3rd grade
Timothy Road Elementary - Jarron Dorsey, 4th grade
Whit Davis Elementary - Naomi Yacob, 5th grade
Whitehead Road Elementary - Natalya Houk, 4th grade
Winterville Elementary - Madeline Davis, 5th grade
5 months ago, Clarke County School District
spelling bee graphic

Only ONE WEEK LEFT until our January "Find Your Fit Friday" session! From 2:30-4:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9, representatives from CCSD's Human Resources Division will meet with prospective employees at the District Office, discuss current vacancies, and share information about the hiring process and pathways to joining the CCSD team.

If you're interested in joining our team and using your talents to promote positive school cultures across the district and to further our mission of creating educational journeys that empower all students to fulfill their potential, register now at bit.ly/3XR6F2Y.

You can also view a list of current teaching and support staff openings at ccsdjobs.org!

5 months ago, Clarke County School District
Find Your Fit
Still plenty of time to nominate a CCSD Employee of the Month for January!

Anyone in the community may nominate any full-time CCSD employee with at least one full year of service for the award. The winner will be surprised at their school or building, publicly recognized at the Jan. 9 Clarke County Board of Education meeting, and presented with a gift bag from the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce with contributions from several local businesses.

Submit a nomination at bit.ly/CCEmployeeAward
5 months ago, Clarke County School District
EOM graphic