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Community Profile

By Diane Brackman and Jenn Pahl

 

School Characteristics

 

            Norcross High School is a large metropolitan school outside of Atlanta in Gwinnett County.  It has a rich and interesting history.  It was housed at the corner of Beaver Ruin Road and Buford Highway from 1956 until 2001.  Norcross opened its brand new 414,000 square foot facility on Spalding Drive in Norcross in the Fall of 2001.  It was completed early due to a tornado clearing the land naturally.  The new facility is a beautiful three story facility showcased by a circular Media Center and complete with athletic facilities of a new football stadium field house, baseball fields, tennis courts, two gymnasiums, and boys’ and girls’ weight rooms.  Besides the physical structure, the school is equipped with state of the art technology including fiber optics broadband, which provides incredible speed for the numerous instructional technology labs, CISCO labs, IT labs, and the classroom computers.  They have wireless Internet available throughout the building.

 

            Norcross houses approximately 2,745 students enrolled this school year (2005-2006).  The demographic structure of the school has changed greatly within the past twelve years from being a school of 95% white population and 9% free and reduced lunch to the current year of 67% minority and 43% of the students on free and reduced lunch.  The 2005-2006 diversity is divided into 33% White; 28% African American; 27% Hispanic, 11% Asian, and 1% Multi.  Norcross High School proudly has adopted the motto of “Achieving Excellence on the Wings of Diversity.”

 

            Of the 2,745 students enrolled this school year, there are 10.6% English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).  There are 7% of the students in our special education programs being served through thirteen interrelated classes, one Emotional Behavior Disorders class, one mild intellectually disabled and three classes of moderately intellectually disabled.  Norcross High has 24% of it population in the gifted program.

 

            The faculty and staff of Norcross High School include 260 members.  Of those 170 are certified teachers.  The number of teachers who hold advanced degrees is 54%.  The current staff ethnicity is 25%.

 

            While increasing in the number of students from various cultures and economic backgrounds, Norcross High School has improved or maintained its academic achievement.  One of the programs that boosted the academic success of the students is the International Baccalaureate program.  Norcross High School is the only high school in Gwinnett County to provide the IB Program and Diploma.  Students who select to receive an IB Diploma must follow a prescribed set of coursework their junior and senior years, while taking a pre IB curriculum their freshman and sophomore years.  Further, these students must complete “internal” and culminating assessments, and designated special projects.  The coursework includes the areas of language or literature, a second language, a Theory of Knowledge course, other social science courses, experimental science, math and courses in the arts.  Students must take at least three courses at the Higher Level (HL).  In the year 2002-2003 there were 120 IB exams administered to the students at Norcross High School.  There were 75% of the students who scored a 4 or better, allowing them to use this high school credit toward a college degree.  The IB program has grown to 290 students for the 2005-2006 school year. 

 

            Norcross also has a significant number of students who take the Advanced Placement curriculum.  Norcross Offers 17 AP courses, and 75% of the students who participated in AP courses during the 2002-2003 school year scored a 4 or better which allowed them also to use this toward college credit.

 

            While the school celebrates the great success of our students, Norcross High is also extremely focused on students needing additional support and remediation.  This past year the school served nearly 200 students who participated in an after school academic assistance program through a Century 21 grant.  Seventh period classes are offered to students who need additional time and opportunity to learn in smaller group settings.  The faculty and staff have put their energies to analyzing the data of the diverse populations to examine which students need additional support and assistance.  The staff truly believes in “No Child Left Behind.”  The faculty and staff has studied and implemented the work of Dr. Gerald Anderson’s CQI program that he created while superintendent in Brazosport, Texas.  Norcross High teachers are also heavily involved in applying the strategies that Max Thompson in his study of 90-90-90 schools has found to be effective.  Norcross also has a program called AVID for the average student where by they are encouraged to excel.

 

Technology Resources

 

            Norcross High is very blessed in Gwinnett County with a vast amount of resources available.  All the computers in the building were replaced last February (2005) and have Windows XP and updated software on them.  Every teacher has a laptop computer which they can take home.  All teachers are connected to a Lotus Notes server which has greatly improved communication within the school.  The grades are kept on an electronic program called IGPro.  It is a easy task to e-mail grades to parents or resource teachers.  The attendance is kept on a program called ClassXP.

 

            The English and Math Department each have their own computer lab.  There are three inter-related labs for other classes to share; one of these labs is in a room off the Media Center.  The Media Center also has 32 additional computers for students to use.  The Technical Education Department has seven computer labs with 28 computers each.  All of these labs have LCD Projectors and we have two Smart Boards for the department to share.  The Broadcast Journalism classroom has six Kron video-editing systems as well as a studio with studio-quality cameras for making live or pre-recorded announcements.  The Information Technology lab has a Catapult system whereby presentations or anything on the screen can be sent to the student monitors and/or the LCD Projector in the room.  You can even make the student computer monitors blank which is great when you want their attention or for homeroom! 

 

            Every classroom has a television with remote, a VCR with remote, AverKey (unless they have a LCD projector), and an overhead projector.  The Media Center loans out 12 LCD projectors, four portable laptop carts (with 16 laptops), three Smart Boards, 15 digital cameras, and 8 camcorders.  The Media Center has one Kron video-editing system, one Flex Cam system, one portable modulator (can record and broadcast from remote areas of school), and five closed circuit channels.  Gwinnett County offers tutoring on-line for students in several languages. 

 

            The Media Center has a vast amount of databases available and the students can inter-loan books with the Gwinnett Public Library.  The Media Center has two full time Media Specialists and a secretary.  They also have student aids that work in the Media Center.  Norcross High has 1½ LSTC’s (technology coordinator) who strive to keep the teachers on track.  Norcross High, like all schools in Gwinnett County has a full time TST who works to keep all computers repaired.

 

            The security at the school has vastly improved since moving into one large building.  Norcross High has security doors that lock after the opening time and everyone then as to come in the front door where there is  a desk setup to register and approve guests.  There are cameras throughout the building, as well as in the parking lots.  There are also call buttons in all rooms, in case of an emergency.

 

Test Data

 

            Norcross High School’s average SAT scores for 2004-2005 school year were 1047 with 95% of the students taking the exam.  This far exceeds the state and national averages not only in score, but also in the percentage of students taking this college entrance exam.  The average Gwinnett County score is 1043.  The average state SAT score is 993 and the National average is 1028 (with much fewer percentage taking the exam).

 

            To earn a diploma in Gwinnett County, students must pass both the Gwinnett County Public Schools’ Gateway Assessment and the Georgia High School Graduation Test.  Given in the 10th grade, the Gateway essay exam tests content in social studies and science, as well as language arts skills – writing, grammar, and spelling.  For school year 2004-2005, the percentage of NHS students who scored in the Excellent or Effective ranges increased from the previous year in every category. 

 

            Schools earn Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status by meeting a series of performance goals that every school, system, and the state as a whole must achieve under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.  For school year 2004-2005 Norcross High met AYP which meant a lot of celebrating but now prepare to meet the increased standards for the next school year.

Norcross Demographics

The city of Norcross, located in Gwinnett county Georgia, is comprised of 4.1 square miles and is home to 8,410 residents (year 2000 census data).  Like the rest of Gwinnett county, Norcross experienced rapid population and economic growth during the 1990’s. The 2000 U.S. census projects that this trend will continue through the end of the current decade at an estimated rate of 9% per year.  Continued population increases may be attributed to the consistent and sustained economic growth of Gwinnett county which added 2,900 jobs during 2002-2003, in contrast to the loss of 23,000 jobs statewide.

While economic growth remains strong, it is not as strong as it was during the 1990’s.  In the last five years construction, technology, and manufacturing sectors experienced a decline.  However, according to Gwinnett county economic indicator reports, jobs in the technology field are becoming more plentiful and jobs in the service sector are growing rapidly as well.

The population of Norcross is comprised of:  4,765 (56.7%) males and 3,645 (43.3%) females and represents a wide variety of ethnicities.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Norcross has undergone a tremendous shift in terms of the ethnic composition of the population.  Once a predominantly Caucasian community on the outskirts of Atlanta, Norcross’ population has rapidly grown to be more reflective of a larger metropolitan area.  Currently 41.5% of the population is foreign born (breaking down into a figure of 31.8% Latin America, 6.7% Asia). With this figure in mind it is not surprising to find that Hispanics account for the majority of the population with a number of 40.9%, white non-Hispanics are the second largest group measuring 32.3%, and African-Americans make up the third largest group accounting for 20.8% of the population.  The remainder of the Norcross population breaks down as follows:

  • Other race (15.4%)
  • Two or more races (3.6%)
  • Vietnamese (2.0%)
  • American Indian (1.5%)
  • Chinese (1.3%)
  • Asian Indian (1.3%)
  • Korean (0.6%)
  • Other Asian (0.6%)

The three major ethnicities, particularly the large Hispanic population, accurately reflect the growth trend of the Hispanic community experienced by the county and state of Georgia as a whole.  The rapidly growing non-English speaking Hispanic portion of the population challenges the current educational system which was originally built to service the needs of children who are native English speakers. 

The median household income is $44,728, and the average income per capita is listed at $22,442, approximately 20% greater than that of the national average. Median home values list at $128, 200, which is in line with both region and national averages.  However, the census reveals that approximately 53% of all homes in the Norcross area are rented and that actual home ownership stands at only 39%, which falls well below the national home ownership rate of 63%.

In terms of education, 67.5% of Norcross residents obtained a high school or greater level of education.  Those holding bachelor’s degrees and graduate or professional degrees figure at 22.8% and 5.2% respectively. 

Approximately 6.3% of the population identifies itself as unemployed, which is nearly double the Gwinnett county unemployment rate of 3.3%.  The numerous office parks located in Norcross offer many employment opportunities requiring a college level education and draw commuters from surrounding metropolitan Atlanta counties.  The predominance of offices in Norcross equates to fewer jobs in the manufacturing and service sectors.  This factor paired with the high rate of foreign born residents may account for the higher than average unemployment rate in an area focused primarily on the technology and business sectors. 

References

“Accountability Report” by Mary Anne Charron, Principal, Norcross High School

“School Overview Report” by Mary Anne Charron, Principial, Norcross High School.

Demographics (Sept, 2005) by Leslie Lady, Secretary to the Registrar, Norcross High School computed on program called SASSI.

Gwinnett County Public Schools website, http://www.gwinnett.k12.ga.us

Norcross High School website, http://www.norcrosshigh.org/index.html

State of the County 2005: Gwinnett County [4 pages].  Available http://www.co.gwinnett.ga.us/departments/boc/pdf/2005_state_county.pdf

 

Gwinnett County Department of Financial Services (2005 June). [6 Pages]. Gwinnett County Economic Indicators [Online government publication]. Available http://www.co.gwinnett.ga.us/departments/financialservices/pdf/economic_indicators_june_2005.pdf

 

(2004 December). Economic development finishing the year strong [10 Paragraphs]. Gwinnett Business Journal [Website]. Available http://www.gwinnettbizjournal.com/story_detail.cfm?StoryID=839

 

City of Norcross Website Demographics http://www.norcrossga.net/site/page5700.html

 

U.S. Census Bureau 2000. [4 Pages].  Geographic Area: Norcross City, Georgia [Website] Available http://censtats.census.gov/data/GA/1601355776.pdf