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The Cherokee County School District offers an annual program to prepare teachers for future leadership roles.  The Superintendent’s Leadership Academies initiative gives teachers, support staff and school and district leaders the opportunity for professional development through various classes for different leadership experience levels.  

The first-ever class of Cherokee County School District finalists has been named for a new program focused on developing future entrepreneurs!  Georgia FLEX (Foundational Leadership and Entrepreneurial eXperience) is a statewide initiative offered locally for the first time this school year through a partnership between the school district, Cherokee Office of Economic Development, and local businesses and industries.

Fifty-three Cherokee County School District student athletes have signed commitment letters to compete at the college level!  The students were honored with ceremonies at their high schools to celebrate their signing of National Letters of Intent.  This week’s National Signing Day was the earliest day on which high school seniors can sign a binding commitment to play competitive college sports other than football.

Cherokee County School District students have earned top honors this fall at statewide and regional career competitions!  Through Career and Technical Student Organizations, students expand their classroom Career Pathway program learning by participating in after-school and weekend activities like conferences, competitions and community service.

A Cherokee County School District teacher has been elected to lead a national career education association!  Callie Davis, who leads the River Ridge HS Career Pathway Healthcare Science program for Diagnostics: Clinical Laboratory Science, was selected by her peers to serve as president-elect of the Health Science Educators Association, the educator membership arm of the National Consortium for Health Science Education.  

Ten Cherokee County School District Class of 2026 graduating seniors won STEM scholarships from a local organization!  Congratulations to our students and their teachers, thank you to the award sponsors, and thank you to our School Board for its laser focus on ensuring our students are learning more, growing more, and achieving more in our classrooms than they could anywhere else!

The Holly Springs Optimist Club today honored eight CCSD students, along with an outstanding teacher and a paraprofessional at its annual High School Awards breakfast, which recognizes outstanding special needs students and their supportive teachers and staff. 

The Cherokee County School District’s newly formed Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council provides educators with the opportunity to share valued feedback.  The talent of our teachers is unparalleled and their dedication to go the extra mile is unmatched! 

Thirteen Cherokee County School District high school seniors have been named National Merit Commended Students by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation!  The seniors are among the only 2 to 3% of the Class of 2025 honored nationwide with the recognition, which is based on outstanding PSAT scores, and CCSD’s total increased from eight honorees last year.  

Ten Cherokee County School District students have been selected by College Board to serve as its ambassadors!  They are among the 9,000 high school students, chosen based on their applications from candidates nationwide, selected to help their peers learn about tools and opportunities for college preparation success.

Three Cherokee County School District students have been selected for a regional leadership program!  Cherokee High School junior Madeline Flournoy, Etowah High School sophomore Chloe Okoth, and River Ridge High School junior Leigha Samuel are among the outstanding high school students selected to participate in this school year’s Model Atlanta Regional Commission youth leadership program.  

The Cherokee County School District reached new heights with 1,500 current students and Class of 2025 graduates earning national 2025 Advanced Placement (AP) awards!  The AP awards program each fall recognizes an elite group of high school students from across the country who have demonstrated outstanding college-level achievement through their performance on multiple AP exams the previous school year.  

Today, we continued a new series of work sessions with the Student Delegates to the School Board.  Prior to every School Board meeting, the group of high school seniors representing each of CCSD’s high schools meet with the Superintendent’s senior staff to learn more about district operations and career opportunities offered by each division. 

The Cherokee County School District’s Class of 2025 ACT scores increased and topped national and state averages!  The class earned an outstanding 22.8 average, up from 22.5 last year and exceeding Georgia’s 21.4 (up from 21.2) and the Nation’s 19.4 steady average on the competitive college entrance and placement examination, according to a report released today by the Georgia Department of Education.

Student Delegates to the School Board serve for one school year to give valued input and feedback to the School Board and Superintendent of Schools in our mission to become the highest performing school district in Georgia!  Over the coming months, we'll be introducing each Delegate to our community. 

The College Board has honored Cherokee County School District students with National Recognition Programs Awards for exceptional academic achievement!

The Cherokee County School District Class of 2026 graduation ceremony dates have been set!

Cherokee County School District’s SAT scores for the Class of 2025 increased and continue to top national and statewide results!  The CCSD Class of 2025 earned an average total score of 1085 on the curriculum-based college entrance and placement exam, according to results released today by the College Board.  The 2025 score is an increase from 1083 in 2024 and further widens CCSD’s margin over the national public school average by 89 points and the state by 56 points.  

The Cherokee County School District’s graduation rate for the Class of 2025 topped the state average, with three schools exceeding 95%!  The CCSD four-year graduation rate is 91.8%, according to a new report from the Georgia Department of Education released today, exceeding the state average of 87.2% by nearly 5%.

Today, we kicked off a new series of work sessions with the Student Delegates to the School Board.  Prior to every meeting, from October through May, the group of high school seniors representing each of CCSD’s high schools will meet with the Superintendent’s senior staff to learn more about district operations and career opportunities offered by each division.  For today’s session, School Board members met with the Delegates to talk about their role as leaders and their decision to serve.  A high-performing school district begins with a high-performing school board! 

This year it’s easier than ever to support CCSD high school athletic teams, bands and JROTCs … while buying chances to win a Jeep Wrangler! Thanks to the longtime partnership of Shottenkirk Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Canton, which donates the Jeep, the annual raffle fundraiser is continuing -- with the improved format of online raffle ticket sales.

Eight Cherokee County School District high school seniors today were named 2026 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists!  They are: of Cherokee High School, Grace Dai, Andrew Lockwood, and Ian Zeller; of Creekview High School, Levi Cone; of Etowah High School, Dylan Fallin; and of Sequoyah High School, Matthew Chemmala, and Riley O'Neill.  Congratulations to our honored students and their teachers and thank you to our School Board for its investment in ensuring our students learn more, grow more, and achieve more in our classrooms than they could anywhere else!

A Cherokee County School District Career Pathway teacher has earned national recognition!  Callie Davis, who leads River Ridge High School’s Career Pathway Healthcare Science program for Diagnostics: Clinical Laboratory Science, has been named a national ambassador for the National Consortium for Health Science Education for this school year.

The Cherokee County School Board this week will recognize its new class of Student Delegates!  Student Delegates to the School Board serve for one school year to give input and feedback to the School Board and Superintendent of Schools. 

Are you ready for some football?  And softball, volleyball, cross-country, flag football and competition cheer?  Our high school varsity football season kicks off with our first regular games Friday night, and several other fall sports already are underway.  

A Cherokee County School District school nurse and volunteers have been honored by the Georgia PTA with top statewide awards for outstanding service to students and their families!  The awards were presented at the organization’s recent statewide convention.  Congratulations to our winners and thank you for your service, thank you to the PTA for its support of our students, educators and schools, and thank you to our School Board for its longtime partnership with PTA!

A Cherokee County School District Class of 2025 graduate has earned a $5,000 scholarship from a school district partner!  River Ridge High School Class of 2025 graduate Chaselynn Higgins has earned this year’s Waste Management/Pine Bluff Landfill Scholarship. 

Twenty-six Cherokee County School District high school rising juniors and seniors are spending this summer as student researchers through a partnership with Georgia’s National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center!  Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute, a CCSD Partner, made the student research positions available through its role as the Georgia Science Education Initiative’s National Cancer Institute GA YES (Youth Enjoy Science) Program site.

Six Cherokee County School District Career Pathway teachers have earned top honors in their field, with one being named the region’s best! Air Force JROTC and Government and Public Administration instructors Senior Master Sgt. (Ret.) Jeffrey Bise and Technical Sgt. (Ret.) Jody Van Ostrand of Cherokee HS; Lt. Col. (Ret.) Stephen Bergey and Technical Sgt. (Ret.) Ciarra Malto of Etowah HS; and Major (Ret.) Marlon Ayers Sr. and Chief Master Sgt. (Ret.) Rodney Deese of River Ridge HS all have earned 2025 Outstanding Instructor Awards from the U.S. Air Force.  

Ten Cherokee County School District students recently were honored for their outstanding artwork!  The students were selected by local arts businesses and organizations to receive prizes in recognition of their exceptional entries into the CCSD Festival of the Arts held this spring in downtown Woodstock.

Cherokee County School District students won gold in the statewide Summer Special Olympics!  Cherokee County Special Olympics’ soccer team earned gold and student athletes earned individual gold medals in cheer, flag football, soccer, swimming, and track competitions at the 2025 State Summer Games recently held at Emory University.

Two Cherokee County School District students are participating in a statewide leadership program this summer!  Rising seniors Jack McGuigan of Cherokee High School and Cullen Stacy of River Ridge High School were selected for the week-long American Legion Department of Georgia’s Boys State program at Valdosta State University.

The Cherokee County School District and School Board celebrated the Class of 2025 Valedictorians and Salutatorians at its 24th Annual Scholar Recognition Banquet.  The special event on Wednesday evening was attended by the Scholars and their parents; the teacher each scholar chose as the most influential in his or her education; CCSD’s high school Principals; Superintendent of Schools Mary Elizabeth Davis and her senior staff; and the School Board.

The Cherokee County School District is celebrating graduating seniors who plan to pursue careers in skilled professions!  The District joined Be Pro Be Proud Georgia, the Cherokee Workforce Collaborative, Cherokee Office of Economic Development, and Chattahoochee Technical College this week to present the annual Skilled Professions Signing Day event held in downtown Woodstock at the Arts Center.  

Two Cherokee County School District Class of 2025 seniors have been named candidates for a top national honor!  Cherokee High School senior Elliana Mathews and River Ridge High School senior Alfred Tang are among only 4,000 students selected as candidates for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program from the more than 3 million graduating seniors in the nation’s Class of 2025.  Only 216 students from Georgia were recognized with this prestigious honor.

Cherokee County School District’s high schools have earned the state’s top honors for outstanding Advanced Placement programs and performance!  All six of CCSD’s traditional high schools today were named 2025 AP Honor Schools for exceptional student performance and participation on AP exams, which offer students more challenging coursework and the opportunity to earn college credit.

The Cherokee County School Board on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, appointed a new board member to fill a vacancy created by retirement and voted to maintain local control of school funding decision-making by opting out of statewide legislation.

Congratulations to the Cherokee County School District’s 2025 STAR Students and Teachers!  The STAR, or Student Teacher Achievement Recognition, Student honor is awarded to the high school senior from each Georgia public and private high school with the highest score on any single test date of the SAT and who also ranks in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of his or her class based on grade point average.  Each honored student is invited to select his or her favorite teacher to be named that school’s STAR Teacher.

The Cherokee County School District on Thursday night celebrated 264 outstanding high school students as 2025 Superintendent’s Key Scholars!  These top students were recognized, through the 20th Annual Superintendent’s Key Scholar Recognition Ceremony, for earning a PSAT National Merit Selection Index score of 185 or greater, which ranks them in at least the top 10% of students nationwide.    

More than 500 CCSD female athletes gathered Monday to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) and recognize the positive impact and great opportunities provided by the school district’s elite athletic programs. 

State School Superintendent Richard Woods visited Little River Elementary School on Monday to present special banners to 15 CCSD schools recognized for outstanding achievement in literacy or math on the 2024 Georgia Milestones tests.

Cherokee County School District theatre programs and students earned top honors at regional One Act Play competitions, with one show advancing to a state performance event!

Cherokee County School District high school students have increased their success in college-level courses, earning international honors for their schools.  CCSD students raised their overall Advanced Placement (AP) exam average score to 3.6, up from 3.4, this past spring, according to a new report from the College Board, while also increasing participation, with 6,955 exams completed, up from 6,091.  

The Cherokee County School District’s Class of 2024 ACT scores topped national and state averages!

In honor of National School Custodian Day, we’re recognizing one of our high school head custodians each day.  Please join us in thanking them for all they do to keep our schools safe and clean for our students, teachers and staff, volunteers, and visitors!

Cherokee County School District’s SAT scores continue to top statewide and national results, according to results released today by the College Board.

The Cherokee County School Board this week will recognizes its new class of Student Delegates!

Within the Pathway, classes offered include: introduction to software technology, computer science principles or AP Computer Science Principles and web development.  Students can earn Microsoft Office Specialist and Certified Internet Web Professional industry certifications and can compete with the school’s TSA (Technology Student Association), First Robotics of Georgia and Skills USA teams in regional, state and national career competitions.

The Cherokee County School Board at its Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023 meeting approved plans to expand a school and heard important budget updates.

The Cherokee County School Board at its Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023 regular meeting welcomed its new Student Advisor and Student Delegates for the school year!

The Cherokee County School Board on Thursday, May 18, 2023 reviewed the proposed budget for next school year, which increases salaries for teachers and support staff, and approved the construction contract for the new replacement Cherokee High School campus.

We are changing from NEFF to HERFF for our letters and letter jackets starting Spring of 2023.

This week’s CCSD Pathway Profile focuses on Air Force JROTC - Government and Public Administration, which is offered at Cherokee HS, Etowah HS, River Ridge HS and Sequoyah HS, with other JROTC Pathways also offered at Creekview HS (Army) and Woodstock HS (Navy).  The Cherokee County School District offers 38 Career Pathway high school programs, which provide students with a wide selection of job exploration and preparation electives.  Through CCSD Pathway Profiles, we regularly share highlights with you from one of these programs.  

The Cherokee County School District offers 38 Career Pathway high school programs, which provide students with a wide selection of job exploration and preparation electives.  Through CCSD Pathway Profiles, we’ll regularly share highlights with you from one of these programs.  This week’s profile focuses on Cybersecurity, which is offered at the Cherokee College & Career Academy that is open to all CCSD high school students …