Klay Durham, a senior and an early childhood education student at Gordon Lee High School, works on reading with kindergarden and first-grade students at Chickamauga Elementary on Wednesday during team time. Students working on computers are, from left, Krish Chaudhari, Kylie Hunley and Alexis Shaw. The Chickamauga City Schools received a $50,000 award for being named one of four Georgia Title I Distinguished Districts for closing the achievement gap between students from families with different income levels.CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. – Spending extra time with struggling students seems to be paying off in Chickamauga City Schools.
The system recently was honored for its work to close the achievement gap between poor and wealthier students.
By working in small groups or one-on-one with a student, teachers can target a student’s needs. They do that by relying heavily on state and local data, system officials said.
“We’ve really worked on looking at the individual student more than we ever had,” Title I Director Stacy McDaniel said.
The district was one of four in the state named a Distinguished Title I District by the Georgia Department of Education. With about 1,400 students, Chickamauga won in the Very Small District category, which also included Ben Hill County, Carrollton City and Spalding County.