Newsletters & School Communications

Letters and Information to the Community 

Letter to Junior Parent  ACT March 6, 2025

December 20, 2024

Dear Centennial HS Students and Parents,

We would like to inform you that all Centennial HS Juniors are invited to take the upcoming ACT test to be held March 6, 2025, at Centennial High School. This test is an important opportunity for students to showcase their academic skills and prepare for college admissions.

Please note the following important details regarding the testing dates:

·       Registration Link: https://forms.office.com/r/qNBmTUZ21w to register for testing. (Deadline February 14, 2025

·       Test Date: Thursday, March 6, 2025

·       Test Location: Centennial High School

·       What to Bring: An approved calculator.

§   Approved Calculator List

·       No Cost

 The Deadline for Students Applying for Accommodations: January 24, 2025

Please be sure to complete the necessary application process by these deadlines to ensure that all accommodations are arranged in time. For students who require accommodations or have any specific questions about the test, please email Ms. Ward at wardi@fultonschools.org or Mr.

Billups at billupsw@fultonschools.org as soon as possible.

We encourage all students to review test materials and ensure they are ready for the exam. Please also be aware of any specific instructions or changes due to school policies or other factors, which will be communicated as needed.

Thank you for your attention to this important testing event. We wish all our students the best of luck as they prepare.

Sincerely,

Ms. Ward and Mr. Billups

Testing Coordinators, Centennial High School

Letter to Senior Parent ACT March 6, 2025 

December 20, 2024

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we approach the spring semester, we want to remind you about the upcoming opportunity for seniors to register for the ACT test to be held March 6, which is essential for those who still need a qualifying test score for the HOPE or Zell-Miller Scholarship.

This test is particularly important for seniors who have not yet met the testing requirements for these scholarships. To ensure that your student has the chance to achieve the necessary score, we encourage you to help them register for the ACT before the enrollment deadline.

Accommodations: If you already have approved accommodations with College Board, you DO NOT need to re-apply. If you do not have approved accommodations with College Board, please be sure to submit the necessary documentation as soon as possible to ensure that the accommodations are arranged in advance. This process can take time, so we recommend applying early.

 

If you have any specific questions about the test, please email Ms. Ward at wardi@fultonschools.org or Mr. Billups at billupsw@fultonschools.org as soon as possible.

Key Information:

 ·       Complete this link to register for testing at Centennial and indicate if you’d like to

apply for accommodations.

·       Test Date: Thursday, March 6, 2025

·       Test Location: Centennial High School

·       What to Bring: An approved calculator

§   Approved calculator list

·       Eligibility: This ACT test is open to seniors who still need a qualifying test score for the HOPE or Zell-Miller Scholarship.

·       Enrollment Deadline: The registration deadline for seniors is January 15.

Thank you for your support in helping your students achieve their academic goals. Sincerely,

Ms. Ward and Mr. Billups

Testing Coordinators, Centennial High School

November 20, 2024

Greetings Centennial uKnighted Community:

The Thanksgiving Holidays are quickly approaching Nov. 25-29, and then as students return Dec. 2nd, we have just three critical weeks remaining in the semester. Entering a holiday of thanks, I’d like to provide you Fall updates from CEN10.

My Team’s Focus Areas

Recently our coordinator for advanced academic studies visited and sent me a follow-up note, saying, “Your school is truly beautiful and spotless; it felt bright and welcoming, and every staff member greeted us with smiles and offers to help. The students we observed while peeking into classrooms were engaged and focused.” I want this to be the experience day-in and day-out for everyone who encounters Centennial. My commitments as the leader of Centennial remain to ensure we continue building a #RelationshipsMatter culture, we continue lifting academic outcomes for all students through our instructional focus areas, and we continue building intentional student support systems.

 

My first focus continues to be relationships. I believe in the adage that “students don’t care what we know until they know we care.” In my weekly message to staff I challenge them to ensure at Centennial #RelationshipsMatter. It has been exhilarating getting to build relationships with students as I’ve attended plays to ensembles and sports to competitions. I enjoy interacting with them during class change, at lunches, and in visiting every teachers’ classes this fall at least one time. I continue to tell everyone that students at Centennial are respectful and engaged – they are phenomenal is my message. Thank you to the families who support us that I’ve been fortunate to see in PTSA meetings, school events, principal chats, and volunteer efforts. The feedback and support parents are providing to us is essential – including in the simple yet critical routines you’re setting to review attendance and grades regularly; this matters. Remember if your student needs to be absent, for any reason, consider requesting a participated remotely day here which protects their attendance and our data!

 

The second focus area has been on six key areas in our instructional practices to improve academic outcomes for all students: having clear learning targets for each class each day; creating lessons that put the cognitive lift on students, not teachers – what we call student agency; phasing our lessons to avoid sustained periods of lecture; content-appropriate writing instruction; integrating vocabulary instruction so that terms don’t prevent mastery; and differentiating when students are ahead or behind. We’re providing an ongoing series of professional development opportunities this year in focused note-taking, a writing strategy and note-taking strategy. Our staff is turning up the dial to make positive outcomes for students. I continue to believe your students are in the care of Centennial adults who are committed to continuously improving. Their instructional work – and students’ academic focus – has helped Centennial achieve: a 2024 (and highest ever) 93.8% graduation rate, AP participation and scores which designate Centennial a 2024 AP Honor School with a 3% increase of students earning 3+ scores from 2023, International Baccalaureate scores in several subjects that exceeded world averages, and a greatschools.org “2024 College Success Award” which recognizes and celebrates public high schools that excel at preparing students to enroll and succeed in college.

 

The third focus area has been to sustain and bolster our student support programs. I am most proud that our MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support) team of counselors, administrators, support program coordinators, and specialists was recognized with the 2024 Student Support Team of Georgia Educators “STAR Promising Practices Award” for our intervention work with students in academics, behavior, and attendance. This is tremendous! Inclusive in that is a team effort: I am proud that more than 45 staff members are “check-and-connect mentors,” individuals who check in weekly with students identified from academic and behavior reports; local faith-based partners are providing another 50 mentors and support mechanisms to meet student and staff needs; and our teachers are implementing interventions and tracking data to help students succeed. PTSA, SGC, and the athletic umbrella and individual sport boosters are supporting our students’ involvement in school and beyond. If you haven’t, please join PTSA at https://centptsa.org to ensure programming like classroom mini-grants, student and staff treats, and more.

 

Other Highlights

Our athletes’ work on and off the field led in our new, challenging region – girls volleyball advanced through the region tournament and made the GHSA state playoffs for the first time in 3 years and football had a season that started stronger than in the past 21 years. Centennial’s fine arts garnered 1^st & 2^nd place awards in 4 categories at the Georgia National Fair while our performing arts students shined with a 2^rd place regional performance of 39 Steps and Cooper Witt won Best Actor. Chorus won the Social Media Award at the 2024 Southern Invitational, and our band, chorus, and orchestra programs continue to take highest marks in their competitions.

 

Communication

I value communication as a critical tool of Centennial’s success. This fall I’ve hired a phenomenal, contracted communications director who has helped us start additional communications on Facebook, Instagram, and Thread to compliment our long-standing “X” presence. Celia Cody will be helping us improve our website, improve streams of communication, and set up systems to sustain this work. Our long-standing weekly Knightly News is still your great source every Thursday evening via e-mail.

 

If you haven’t completed the district’s Annual Stakeholder Perception Survey, please do. Your support, your positive comments, and your constructive answers all help us improve. The survey is only open through Friday and is in seven languages. Click here. Or, speaking of our greatschools.org award, perhaps you’d like to leave a 5* review on greatschools; we’ve had one review since 2022, and unfortunately some in the past have used this only to complain – it’s always nice for positive reflections of our school to be out there. Click here if you care to leave a review.

 

As Thanksgiving approaches, please know that Centennial is thankful to have the opportunity to work with your children. For me personally it is an absolute privilege and honor to do the work that I love at Centennial. As always, if you need something, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your student’s teachers, to my administrative team, or to me. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

 

Sincerely,
 

Dr. Opie Blackwell, Principal   

 

August Senior Newsletter

 

 

Back to School Newsletter

Death of Staff Member 

Fall Update November 20