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11 Gwinnett students named Gates Millennium Scholars

Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer
Monday, May 14th, 2012, 2:37pm
11 Gwinnett students named Gates Millennium Scholars

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- Eleven graduating seniors in Gwinnett County public schools have been named 2012 Gates Millennium Scholars.

The prestigious Gates Millennium Scholarship, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, pays full college tuition, room and board for some of the country's most promising young people. Only 1,000 students earn the scholarship every school year.

This year's Gates Millennium Scholars from Gwinnett County include:

Collins Hill High School
Vivek Kamlesh Patel
Will attend the University of Georgia
Major: Pre-medicine

Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
Arsalan Akkas Sufi
Will attend Yale University
Major: Undecided

Meadowcreek High School
Alex Shaun Steele
Will attend the University of Georgia
Major: Computer engineering

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When does the school year end?

Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer
Monday, May 14th, 2012, 1:35pm
When does the school year end?

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- The last day of school is right around the corner for Gwinnett County students.

Public schools will dismiss for the summer on Wednesday, May 23.

Buford City Schools, meanwhile, will end the school year two days later -- Friday, May 25.

The last days of school in other metro Atlanta districts are staggered throughout the second half of May. They include:

Wednesday, May 16
Clarke County

Thursday, May 17
Hall County

Friday, May 18
Bartow County
Clayton County
Fulton County

Tuesday, May 22
Atlanta Public Schools
Barrow County

Wednesday, May 23
Carroll County
Newton County

Thursday, May 24
Cobb County
Decatur City Schools
DeKalb County
Rockdale County

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Brookwood High in the Education Nation Spotlight

Submitted by Donna Lowry, 11Alive Reporter
Thursday, May 10th, 2012, 2:31pm
Brookwood High in the Education Nation Spotlight

SNELLVILLE - 11Alive's Education Express sent an early morning at Brookwood High School highlighting the school's science courses.

Members of Brookwood's award-winning Science Olympiad team displayed their talents on live television during the morning show. The team is only five years old, but has won the chance to go to state competition every year and has won top honors in four of those years. The team has also competed at the state level for five years.

In addition, Brookwood was one of the first schools to offer courses in bio-technology to help students prepare for jobs in their area. The 13-county area of metro Atlanta is called the "Innovation Cresent" because it is home to 85% of the bio-technology jobs.

11Alive is giving Brookwood High's Principal, Debbie Dees a check for $500 as a reward for the school's innovative programs.
Throughout the week, 11Alive is spotlighting five metro Atlanta schools for their innovation.

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Denny's exec to speak at Ga. Gwinnett graduation

Submitted by Associated Press
Monday, April 30th, 2012, 6:53am
Denny's exec to speak at Ga. Gwinnett graduation

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- The chairwoman of the board of directors for Denny's Inc. will speak at Georgia Gwinnett College's graduation ceremony.

Debra Smithart-Oglesby will deliver the commencement address May 11 at 10 a.m. Smithart-Oglesby served as the interim CEO of the restaurant chain from June 2010 to January 2011.

She also served in a number of leadership roles at Brinker International, the parent company of Chili's Grill & Bar and Romano's Macaroni Grill, among other restaurants.

Denny's is the country's largest full service family restaurant chain with more than 1,650 locations.

Georgia Gwinnett College opened in 2006 as the state's newest four-year college in more than a century.

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2 Gwinnett students win credit union scholarships

Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer
Monday, April 23rd, 2012, 7:32am
2 Gwinnett students win credit union scholarships

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- Two high school students from Gwinnett County are this year's winners of the top scholarships offered by Georgia United Credit Union.

The credit union gave away $12,500 worth of college money to 13 metro Atlanta high school seniors this year.

Karl-Mary Akre received a first-place $3,000 scholarship. The Peachtree Ridge High School student is part of several prestigious organizations, including the National English Honor Society, the National History Club and DECA. She is also an AP Scholar with Honors and a past participant in the Governor's Honors Program. Karl-Mary will attend Vanderbilt University in the fall, where she plans to major in international relations.

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Ga. high school students take longer to earn diplomas

Submitted by Associated Press
Tuesday, April 17th, 2012, 3:26pm

ATLANTA -- A new method of calculating graduation rates reveals that more high school students are dropping out than had been previously counted and some of them are taking five or even six years to earn a diploma.

According to reports the new formula was released last week. It shows that Georgia's 2011 graduation rate dropped 13 percentage points using the calculation, to 67.4 percent.

RELATED | Compare graduation rates by school

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Nearly 90 metro Atlanta schools near bottom of barrel

Submitted by Associated Press
Wednesday, March 21st, 2012, 9:44am
Nearly 90 metro Atlanta schools near bottom of barrel

ATLANTA -- The Georgia Department of Education has released a list of 156 schools labeled as "focus" schools under the state's new accountability system.

The schools, many of which are in metro Atlanta, are one step above the state's worst performing schools, called "priority" schools, which were released last week. The "focus" schools are ones with a graduation rate of less than 60 percent over two years or have large gaps between the highest and lowest achieving subgroup of students on campus.

Subgroups can be determined by race, special needs and family income.

The state was one of 10 to win waivers last month from the federal No Child Left Behind law.

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