Category: Education

Press release

Athens Christian Preparatory Academy recently received a grant of $25,000 from the Cain Foundation. The grant which will be used for scholarships will help over 30 percent of ACPA students receive some level of financial aid.

ACPA Headmistress Teresa DeMay said, “This money is a huge influx of funds that we can use to award financial aid to qualifying families. The Cain foundation was the first foundation to help us in this way and we have so many success stories of students who have benefited from these funds.” Continue reading “ACPA Receives Cain Foundation Grant”

South Athens Elementary second-grader Jaz’Mich Davis is all smiles before devouring her fruit art. Dining Services Director Zach Thayer shared fruit facts and trivia with students this week as part of the “Chef 2 Schools” program. He also addressed students at Bel Air Elementary. (Toni Garrard Clay/AISD)

Artwork by talented Athens Middle School students will be on display this Saturday, March 28, in the Athens Middle School cafetorium from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The event is juried, with first, second, third and honorable mentions being awarded in each category. There will also be a “Best of Show.” This exhibit will incorporate the accomplishments and work of students in theatre, band and the visual arts. Admission is free, and refreshments will be served.

“We are so excited about displaying our student’s art and we are proud of all of their accomplishments,” said McNatt. “We hope to see you here to support us as a community.” Continue reading “AMS Art Show Scheduled”

Press release

The Athens Hornets math team went to Crandall Tuesday to compete in the District 13 UIL Academic Meet. The quintet, coached by teacher Ken Walker, dominated the field winning the district championship in number sense, calculator applications, and general math.

The number sense team was led by Jonathan Bywaters and Mollie Davies, who won first and second respectively. Walt Mahmoud placed fourth. The general math team was led by sophomore Eli McCool, who won first place. Davies won the bronze medal, and Bywaters took fourth.

The calculator team of Davies, Bywaters, McCool and Mahmoud swept first through fourth places respectively, to finish 230 points ahead of second-place Mabank.

Those four students, along with freshman Jacob Moore, will be competing next month at the regional level in Commerce.

By Toni Garrard Clay/AISD Communications Specialist

The Athens ISD Board of Trustees took action on several items during Monday’s regularly scheduled meeting. One of the most notable was authorization for the district to refinance the 2005 series bonds in order to reduce interest costs and annual debt service through the 2020 maturity date. The net savings is projected to fall between $75,000 and $100,000 on each of the bond’s annual payments beginning August 2016 and continuing through 2020.

“It’s an all around win-win for the school district,” said Chief Financial Officer Randy Jones, who noted that the savings only affects the debt-service side of the district’s budget and cannot be rerouted to the operations side.

A presentation was made by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Janie Sims, Director of Operations Barry Choate and Jones regarding a new food services contract for the district. The current contract expires at the end of this school year. In preparation, the district issued a request for proposals and received three in response. One of the proposals was submitted by Chartwells, the current contract holder. Upon the panel’s recommendation, the board voted that the district again contract with Chartwells for the upcoming school year, with the option of extending the agreement for a one-year period up to four times. Board member David Freeman cast a dissenting vote. Continue reading “AISD to Save Thousands Annually with Bond Refinance”