On Friday, January 30, 2026, Polk School District proudly hosted a Champions Lunch to recognize our fall sports State Champions. Students were treated to a special luncheon at Cherokee Country Club as we celebrated their outstanding achievements.
We were excited to honor:
📣 Cedartown High School Gameday Cheer — 4A State Champions
🐄 Easton Cole (Rockmart High School) — 1st Place in Showmanship at the Georgia State Fair in Perry, GA
Congratulations to these incredible students for representing our district with excellence, dedication, and pride. We are so proud of you! 👏
Polk School District is excited to announce our Pre-K/Kindergarten registration dates for the 2026-2027 school year!
✶Monday, February 23, 2026
✶Monday, March 2, 2026
✶Monday, March 9, 2026
Please be sure to carefully review the requirements listed on the attached flyer.
✶Students will not be able to register without a legal parent/guardian present*
✶Legal parent/guardian MUST have a valid photo ID**
✶You must provide a valid proof of residency
✶All current pre-k students MUST register for kindergarten
***Students MUST register at their zoned elementary school***
Please contact the school for which you are zoned if you have any questions.
WEATHER UPDATE: Polk School District will open with a two-hour delayed start on Tuesday, January 27, 2026. The additional time will ensure our buses and facilities are fully operational and warm. This means all bus routes, school openings, and start times will be shifted forward by 2 hours from their regularly scheduled times. For example, a 7:00 AM bus pickup will now be a 9:00 AM pickup, etc. There will be no change in dismissal procedures.
Please ensure all students are dressed warmly for tomorrow's frigid temperatures. Wear layers, hats, gloves, and scarves.
We appreciate your continued understanding and support as we take these precautions to ensure the safety of our students and staff during these extreme cold conditions.
📅 June 3–10, 2027
Ready for the trip of a lifetime?! ✈️
This is your chance to explore Costa Rica and experience ADVENTURE like never before!
⚡ Imagine this:
🌿 Exploring lush rainforests
🚣 Kayaking on Lake Arenal
🧗 Zip lining through the jungle canopy
🐊 A real Jungle Crocodile Safari
🌉 Walking across hanging bridges
♨️ Observing natural hot springs
And much, much more!
📣 Interest Meetings (DON’T MISS THESE!):
📍 CHS – January 22nd @ 6:00 PM
OR
📍 RHS – February 5th @ 6:00 PM
Grab your friends, bring your family, and come hear all about it!
🌎 This is more than a trip — it’s an experience you’ll never forget.
There is an interest sign up sheet in the RHS Commons Area.
👉 PURA VIDA!
Any decisions regarding school closures or delays next week will be made by 12 p.m. on Monday. Families will be notified through phone calls, text messages, our website, Facebook, and the district mobile app.
All weekend extracurricular activities have been canceled.
We appreciate your continued support and cooperation as conditions continue to evolve.
Polk School District families are invited to a free community resource event hosted by Victory Baptist Church to help families replenish essentials for the second semester!
This event is open to all Polk County families and will offer:
✔️ School supplies
✔️ Hygiene products
✔️ Clothing
✔️ Food pantry items
✔️ Free haircuts
✔️ Backpacks
📅 Date: January 31, 2026
⏰ Time: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
📍 Hosted by: Victory Baptist Church
🎉 Cost: FREE
We are grateful to our community partners for supporting our students and families as we head into the second half of the school year. 💙
We hope to see you there!
Congratulations to our 2025-2026 Polk School District Spelling Bee winner, Jaxon Landrum! Jaxon is an eighth-grade student at Cedartown Middle School and will advance to compete in the Regional Spelling Bee on February 28 at Georgia Highlands College.
We are extremely proud of all our District Spelling Bee competitors. Two students from each of the district’s six elementary schools and two middle schools competed, reflecting impressive preparation and academic achievement.
We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to our Spelling Bee Coordinator, Dr. Melanie Hyde; Caller, Holly Amerman; and Judges—Debbie Ross, Tim Rowell, and Maria Garland. Your time, commitment, and support made this event possible, and we are truly grateful for all you do for our students.
A special thank you to our Spelling Bee sponsor, the Polk County Rotary Club. We are grateful for your continued support of our students and schools!
2025-2026 School Representatives:
Cedartown Middle School:
Winner - Jaxon Landrum - District Winner
Alternate - Zachary Quiahua
Rockmart Middle School:
Winner - Jacob Mendez
Alternate - Jesalie Bush
Cherokee Elementary School:
Winner - Gatlin Hooper
Alternate - Jett Addison
Eastside Elementary School:
Winner - Elijah Belcher
Alternate - Savannah Rutledge
Northside Elementary School:
Winner - Jeremiah Sisson
Alternate - Gael Pineda Ortiz
Van Wert Elementary School:
Winner - Anna Shepard - District Runner-Up
Alternate - James Odom
Westside Elementary School:
Winner - Daven Maddux
Alternate - Boone Burgess
Youngs Grove Elementary School:
Winner - Makalyn Grimes
Alternate - Andres Navarrete Celis
Today, Northwest Georgia RESA Executive Director Brian Otott and Let’s Read, Georgia! Literacy Coach LeAnne Jones presented Polk School District schools with trophies and books in recognition of their outstanding performance in the Let’s Read, Georgia! literacy campaign this fall.
Polk School District finished 1st overall among participating districts, with several schools earning top honors among schools:
🥇 1st Place : Van Wert Elementary – 16,672 books read
🥈 2nd Place: Northside Elementary – 10,049 books read
🥉 3rd Place: Youngs Grove Elementary – 4,500 books read
The Ready, Set, Read! Campaign, held September 1 – October 10, 2025, is a statewide literacy initiative designed to inspire children, families, and educators to read together and celebrate the joy of reading across Georgia. The campaign highlighted the collective commitment of Georgia’s Regional Education Service Agencies to advance literacy through meaningful engagement with school communities.
During the campaign:
📖 More than 60,000 books were logged statewide
🏫 Participation included 167 districts and 548 schools
📚 Over 17,000 unique book titles were read
👨👩👧 Parents logged more than 24,000 read-alouds
Participation was seen across every region of the state, with Let’s Read, Georgia Literacy Coaches, districts, and school communities rising to the top of the leaderboard. Polk School District is proud to be part of this incredible statewide effort to promote literacy and a love of reading.
Be sure to keep an eye out for another Let’s Read, Georgia campaign coming this February—and get ready to read, log, and compete for the top prizes once again! 📚🏆
#letsreadgeorgia #readsetread #nwgaresa #psdproud
Polk School District students will have an early release day on Friday, December 19, 2025.
Elementary Schools: Dismiss at 11:30 AM
Middle & High Schools: Dismiss at 12:00 PM
A sack lunch will be provided to all students before dismissal.
Please note: All After School programs will be closed on this day.
We wish all of our PSD families a safe and fun-filled holiday season! ❄️✨
At Tuesday’s regular session board meeting, Mrs. Dale Tuck, CEO of the Polk School District Educational Foundation, and Mr. Mark Lumpkin, Superintendent, proudly presented a $5,000 donation to Ms. Patty Rogers and Ms. Joy Hindman with Ferst Readers.
This generous donation will help support children in our community with the gift of literacy every month from birth to age five. To learn more about Ferst Readers or to register a child, please visit their website at ferstreaders.org.❤️
A big thank you to our dedicated educators whose participation in the Casual for a Cause initiative made this contribution possible! 👏
#PSDStrong #CommunitySupport #FerstReaders #CasualForACause #LiteracyMatters
PRESS RELEASE: Polk School District is pleased to announce the results of the 2025 College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI) scores for all schools.
CCRPI was initially conceived by the Georgia Department of Education in 2012 to provide stakeholders with a more comprehensive view of achievement and growth in public schools across the state. It also sought to raise the level of College and Career readiness for Georgia students to be more comparable to other states. While CCRPI has changed nearly every year since its inception, and as such, a comparison between any two years should be considered carefully, it does allow for the direction of progress to be considered.
CCRPI is comprised of four categories: Content Mastery, Progress, Closing Gaps, and Readiness. An additional category, Graduation Rate, is measured at the high school level.
The first category, Content Mastery, considers how students perform on Georgia Milestones Assessments. Calculations for these areas are complex, with weighted averages of student scores considered for each of the four (4) levels of achievement on Georgia Milestones—Beginning (0 pts.), Developing (0.5 pts.), Proficient (1 pt..), and Distinguished (1.5 pts.).
For the Content Mastery area, Polk School District is proud to celebrate the following highlights:
● There was an increase in Content Mastery scores for eight (8) out of our ten (10) schools.
● Five of the six elementary schools and both middle schools experienced more growth than the Georgia state average (0.8 points of growth in elementary schools, 1.6 points of growth in middle schools).
● Youngs Grove Elementary increased nearly 10 points in Content Mastery from 2024 to 2025!
● Cherokee, Northside, Van Wert, and Youngs Grove Elementary Schools, as well as Cedartown High School, all achieved their highest content mastery scores ever!
The second category of CCRPI, Progress, measures students' individual growth by comparing their previous year’s Georgia Milestones test scores with those of students across the state who also scored similarly, and then analyzing how they performed against this group the following year. By measuring individual students' growth, Progress scores give districts a more accurate measure of the direction of students' learning than comparing Content Mastery scores alone. Additionally, a small percentage of the score considers the progress of language learning students from one year to the next toward English language proficiency.
For the Progress area, Polk School District is proud to celebrate the following highlights:
● Five of our elementary schools, both middle schools, and both high schools scored above 80 on this metric, indicating that the vast majority of students made greater progress compared to their peers.
● Cherokee and Van Wert Elementary schools achieved their highest progress scores ever, surpassing the state average, which declined for elementary schools between 2024 and 2025.
The third category of CCRPI, Closing Gaps, considers the yearly progress of subgroups of students, including those who are economically disadvantaged, as well as White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Multi-Racial groups, English-Language Learners, and Students with Disabilities. This measure is designed to help ensure that all groups within a school are growing and to identify any groups that may require additional support.
For the Closing Gaps area, Polk School District is proud to celebrate the following highlights:
● Cherokee and Youngs Grove elementary schools received a perfect 100 score in the Closing Gaps area, demonstrating growth in nearly every subgroup and subject, and far exceeding the Georgia State elementary school average score of 75.
● Northside Elementary also exceeded the State elementary school closing gaps score.
The fourth category of CCRPI, Readiness, considers the elements of school accountability that have been shown to impact students' future success. The measure includes reading comprehension, as measured by Lexile scores, school attendance, and success in fine arts, CTAE, foreign language, and Computer Science courses. At the high school level, this area also measures essential indicators of post-graduate success, such as high school completion of college-level courses (Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment), SAT, ACT, and ASVAB (military-readiness) scores, and earning an industry credential in a CTAE pathway.
For the Readiness area, Polk School District is proud to celebrate the following highlights:
● Northside, Van Wert, Westside, and Youngs Grove Elementary Schools, as well as Rockmart and Cedartown Middle Schools, all achieved their highest Readiness scores ever.
As previously announced, both Cedartown High School and Rockmart High School exceeded the State of Georgia Graduation Rate, and Polk School District achieved its highest graduation rate, the final element of CCRPI for high schools.
More information about CCRPI can be found on the Georgia Department of Education website
🎄✨ Join the Office of Exceptional Student Services for Our Community Wonderland Transition Fair! ✨🎄
📅 Date: December 1
🕚 Time: 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
📍Polk County College and Career Academy HON Room, Cedartown Campus
This special event focuses on supporting students with IEPs and 504 Plans. Families are invited to explore the wonderful resources and career opportunities our community has to offer!
🌟 Discover exciting career pathways
🎓 Learn about post-secondary options
🤝 Connect with community supports for families
🎯 Enjoy games, prizes, and fun for everyone!
For more information, please contact Bethany Nevarez, Exceptional Student Services Parent Mentor, at bethany.nevarez@polk.k12.ga.us
.
Let’s come together to celebrate, learn, and build brighter futures! ❤️
Every shirt purchased helps fund important student and teacher initiatives throughout the year. ❤️
🛍️ Order online: https://polkcountyga.schoolwindow.com/estore/do-apparel.html
💵 Prefer cash or check? Please submit your payment, along with the attached order form, to your child's school or the PSD district office.
🎅 Deadline to order: November 19 — don’t wait! Get your shirt in time for Christmas!
It’s that special time of year when our school community comes together to make a difference! From November 11 through November 21, we’re hosting our Annual Canned Food Drive, with a district-wide goal of collecting 25,000 cans to help local families in need. 💙
✅ How to Help:
Bring non-perishable canned goods to your school during the drive dates. Every can counts toward our goal!
Let’s show the power of kindness, teamwork, and community spirit. Together, we can fill pantry shelves and hearts this holiday season. 💪❤️
#PSDGivesBack #OneDistrictOneTeam #FoodDrive
🎉 Congratulations to Van Wert Elementary! 🎉
Polk School District is proud to recognize Van Wert Elementary School as the #1 Top School, the #1 Top Teacher School, and the #1 Top Parent School in the Let’s Read Georgia Contest! 📚
🏆 Top Overall Schools:
🥇 Van Wert Elementary – #1 in Georgia with 16,672 points
🥈 Northside Elementary – #2 in Georgia with 10,049 points
🥉 Youngs Grove Elementary – #3 in Georgia with 4,489 points
🌟 Other High-Performing Schools:
⭐ Eastside Elementary – #9 in Georgia with 1,614 points
⭐ Cherokee Elementary – #11 in Georgia with 1,133 points
⭐ Westside Elementary – #14 in Georgia with 499 points
🌟 Top Teacher Schools:
1️⃣ Van Wert Elementary
2️⃣ Northside Elementary
👨👩👧👦 Top Parent Schools:
1️⃣ Van Wert Elementary
3️⃣ Youngs Grove Elementary
🏅 Top District and County:
Polk County
This incredible accomplishment reflects the dedication and teamwork of our students, teachers, parents, and community. Polk School District is leading the way in promoting literacy and a love for reading across Georgia! 💙📖
See the standings at https://lrg.georgiaresa.org/campaign/ready-set-read?tab=standings
#letsreadgeorgia#psdproud
Polk School District will be closed for Fall Break on Friday, October 3rd, and Monday, October 6th. 🍎
Students and staff will return on Tuesday, October 7th.
We hope all of our students, staff, and families enjoy a safe, restful, and fun-filled break!
Cedartown, GA – September 29, 2025 – Polk School District is proud to announce historic achievements in its four-year graduation rates, reflecting the hard work and dedication of students, families, teachers, and staff across the district.
For the Class of 2025, Polk School District’s overall four-year graduation rate reached 92.5%, the highest in district history. Both high schools in the district also reported outstanding results:
Cedartown High School achieved a graduation rate of 91.9%, its highest ever.
Rockmart High School posted a remarkable 93.5%, representing a nearly four percentage point increase from last year.
“These numbers are more than statistics; they represent opportunities for our students’ futures,” said Mark Lumpkin, Superintendent of Polk School District. “We are incredibly proud of our students for their perseverance, as well as our teachers, staff, and families who supported them every step of the way. These results demonstrate what can be accomplished when our entire community works together for student success.”
The record-breaking graduation rates highlight Polk School District’s ongoing commitment to academic excellence and preparing all students for success beyond high school.
Our district is currently sitting 2nd in the entire state in the Let's Read Georgia contest — and it's all thanks to YOU! 🏆🎉
🥈 Youngs Grove is showing out in a big way:
2nd place statewide among all schools!
Over 1,168 books read and tracked so far!
And our Youngs Grove parents are holding strong in 2nd place too!
Out of 270 schools across Georgia, check out how all our schools are stacking up:
Westside – 9th
Eastside – 11th
Cherokee – 17th
Northside – 25th
Van Wert – 27th
💥 WOW! Just incredible!
🗓 The contest runs through October 3, so there’s still time to climb even higher. Let’s keep pushing! Parents — keep reading with your students and logging those books. Every book counts!
📖💙 Let’s show Georgia what our district is made of. Let’s READ!
Follow our progress online at Let's Read Georgia https://lrg.georgiaresa.org/campaign/ready-set-read?tab=standings
#LetsReadGA #PSDProud #ReadersAreLeaders #KeepReading
Today, we celebrate the incredible work of our Polk School District IT team — the tech heroes who keep our schools connected, our systems secure, and our classrooms running smoothly.
From troubleshooting tech issues to ensuring our students and staff have access to the digital tools they need every day, your hard work and dedication don’t go unnoticed. 🙌
💙 Thank you for all you do to support learning and innovation across the district. You truly are the backbone of our digital world!
#NationalITProfessionalsDay #PolkProud #TechHeroes
