Gwinnett Daily Post

Gwinnett schools earn 'distinguished school' honor

LAWRENCEVILLE - Twelve Gwinnett County schools have been identified as 2005-06 Title I Distinguished Schools. This recognition is authorized in Section 1117 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. All distinguished schools will serve as models for schools identified for improvement with similar demographics and may be contacted by other schools for information or site visits.

Recognition is based on the number of consecutive years a school has made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Annistown, G.H. Hopkins, and Kanoheda elementary schools have made AYP for four consecutive years and will receive a certificate of recognition and grant funds. In addition, they will be included in the Georgia Department of Education's Schools of Excellence celebration.

Benefield, Bethesda, Cedar Hill, Lawrenceville, Lilburn Nesbit, Norcross, Peachtree, and Susan Stripling elementary schools have made AYP for three consecutive years and will receive a certificate of recognition.

Citizens can use inmate labor to remove graffiti

SUWANEE - If graffiti ever becomes a problem in Suwanee, citizens won't have to labor to remove it themselves.

The city recently entered into an agreement with Gwinnett County that allows private property owners to use convict labor to remove graffiti on wood or cinder block surfaces. The county offers two color choices - brown and beige, or the property owner can supply paint in their preferred color scheme. The property owner would have to consent to the inmate services.

Any graffiti on city-owned property must be removed by city-employed workers.

In addition to Suwanee, the cities of Dacula, Snellville, Grayson and Lawrenceville have chosen to participate in the measure that allows private citizens to use convict labor to remove graffiti.

Georgia gets national grants

ATLANTA - The National Governor's Association announced last week that Georgia received three grants totaling $650,000 under phase two of its Honor States Grants Program. The state received $500,000 for expanding advanced placement participation, $100,000 for using virtual learning to advance student improvement and $50,000 for streamlining the governance of education.

The NGA Center's Honor States Program is designed to help improve high school graduation rates and college readiness in 26 states. The purpose of phase two of the program is to help states implement specific reforms. Twenty-nine states submitted detailed proposals of their plans to meet their goals for high school education.

After a thorough evaluation, seventeen states were awarded a total of $5,220,000 in grants ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 each. The other states receiving grants are Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Gwinnett Gab appears in the Thursday and Sunday editions of the Gwinnett Daily Post.