Academics Overview
What is Fulton County School's Continuous Achievement?
The Fulton County Board of Education supports the mission statement that children should be given the opportunity to reach their full potential. To that end, the District's Continuous Achievement framework for advancement allows each child to progress in language arts and math at their optimum pace and depth, expanding and compacting the curriculum as appropriate.
The Continuous Achievement framework is a board policy that is implemented in all elementary and middle schools and includes a process for advancement in the current grade level and an acceleration process, which allows a student to advance above grade level. While no child will be placed below their current grade level, there will be no artificial barrier to moving ahead. Using the district framework, assessments, and guidelines, students are accelerated when they demonstrate exceptional performance for their age appropriate grade level and exhibit strong skills for advancing a grade level.
How is Continuous Achievement Implemented at Hillside?
In an effort to effectively implement Continuous Achievement, as well as allow for better teacher effectiveness, Hillside's teachers and staff developed an Innovative Schedule. This Innovative Schedule, which is unique to Hillside, allows our teachers to specialize in one content area (i.e. Language Arts, Math & Science/Social Studies) as opposed to 5 content areas. By focusing on one instructional area, Hillside teachers become Content Specialist, who teaches three classes within a grade-level bandwidth of either K-2 or 3-5 grade levels. As a Content Specialist, our teachers can
- Delve deeper into content area and enrich the students understanding like never before
- Collaborate vertically within content area (K-2 ad 3-5)
- Attend targeted Professional Development
- Provide targeted Feedback to students & parents
Our students benefit from this Content Specialist and Innovative Schedule by
- Implementation of the continuous achievement levels throughout the year.
- Extended instructional time in each of the three content areas.
- Input and guidance from 3 different teaching perspectives
- Balance of diverse learning environment.
What is Personalized Learning?
At Fulton County Schools we are committed to meeting every student where they are, so that every student can achieve at a high level. At Hillside, we have embraced personalized learning by participating in the FCS Group 2 Roll-Out. We have completed all the readiness steps, received our iPads and are actively integrating personalized learning into each of our classrooms. To learn more, click on the links below:
What specials classes will my child be taking during the year?
Our students will participate in specials everyday of the week. These special classes include:
- Physical Education (PE) – twice a week
- Art – once a week
- Music - once a week
- Media Center – Bi-Monthly
- STEM Lab – Bi-Monthly
- Counseling - 1x a month
- Media Center- scheduled 1x a month but potentially visit more often via HR classroom
What programs does Hillside offer to enhance the curriculum?
Through our partnership with the Hillside PTA, we are able to provide programs throughout the year to enhance our student's education curriculum. These events include Science Day, Artist Day, and Yukon Math. In addition, Hillside is one of three schools in the Northeast Learning Community to have a full-time Advanced Strategies Lab, which students attend bi-monthly.