by Michelle Wirth
Amana Academy has been selected as a finalist for the 2017 STEM Education Awards sponsored by the Technology Association of Georgia and TAG Education Collaborative. The school is a finalist in the STEM Certified School Outreach category, which recognizes the critical role that schools that have already received state STEM certification play in mentoring schools that are working toward becoming certified. This is the second year in a row Amana Academy has been chosen as a STEM Education Award finalist in the STEM Certified School Outreach category.
Amana Academy was the first K-8 school to become STEM certified by the Georgia Department of Education and the first middle school in Fulton County. Fewer than 60 schools in the state have achieved STEM certification and another 1000 are in the application process.
Last year, Amana introduced STEM\\venture Days, a series of events designed to showcase their unique Expeditionary STEM program to both educators and industry innovators. More than 30 teachers that represented nine different systems or schools attended a STEM\\venture Day at the Fulton County charter school.
Since opening in 2005, Amana Academy has garnered a reputation for academic excellence. The school has received numerous awards, recognitions and grants. Some of the recent highlights include: During the 2016-2017 school year, Amana Academy received the Highest-Performing Reward School designation from the Georgia Department of Education. This category recognizes schools that receive Title I funds and are among the top 5 percent schools in the state. These schools have the highest performance over three years for the “All Students” group on state assessments. On the 2016-2017 Georgia Milestones End-of-Course Physical Science Test, more than 90 percent of Amana Academy middle school students scored proficient or better. In 2015, Amana had the highest percentage of students taking high school level courses in middle school. In 2014, the school’s 7th graders were the highest performing in Fulton County on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT). In 2011, the K-8 charter school won Georgia Charter Schools Association’s Georgia Charter School of the Year Award.
The STEM Education Awards will be held on November 3 at the Loudermilk Center in downtown Atlanta. The awards ceremony is the premier STEM recognition event in the state and honors innovative, high performing STEM educators, schools, companies, and programs.
Michelle Wirth
Michelle, GCSA's Director of Communications, is an award-winning journalist with a background in strategic communications. She has a Master’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism and a Bachelor’s in Communications from the University of Denver.
