Crabapple Crossing Students Prove They Can Write

Students at Crabapple Crossing Elementary School know how to write, and they proved it in statewide testing. Every fifth grade student at Crabapple Crossing Elementary School met or exceeded standards in the statewide Writing Assessment.

Eigth of the ten public elementary schools in Alpharetta and Milton topped Georgia and Fulton County success rates, with 93 percent or more of the students meeting or exceeding standards. Only Amana Academy (86 percent) and Manning Oaks (84 percent) were below the county average of 88 percent, but both were higher than the statewide average of 81 percent.

Each spring, fifth graders take the Grade 5 Writing Assessment as part of the statewide testing program. Students are assigned a topic in one of three genres – narrative, informational and persuasive – and are allowed two hours to write an essay. Papers are scored using a standardized system and rated as Does Not Meet Standards, Meets Standards and Exceeds Standards.

“It’s encouraging to see our students’ scores continue to rise, but we can always do better,” said Superintendent Robert Avossa. “Our goal is to increase the number of students who exceed the standards, not just meet them.” 

Individual School’s Scores Increase

Forty-two percent of all schools participating in the assessment had more than 90 percent of their students scoring within the Meets Standards and Exceeds Standards categories. In particular, Crabapple Crossing had 100 percent of their students in the Meets Standards category, and Birmingham Falls, Cogburn Woods and Lake Windward had 97 percent reaching those standards.

Schools are showing an increase in the percentage of students in the Exceeds Standards category. Forty percent of the schools have at least one-fourth of their students at this level, while last year 27 percent were in this category. Fulton Sunshine was one of nine schools that showed gains of 10 percentage points or more in the percent of students in the Exceeds Standards category: Abbotts Hill, Findley Oaks, Fulton Sunshine, High Point, Hillside, Medlock Bridge, Northwood, Spalding Drive and State Bridge Crossing elementary schools.

As a part of the statewide testing program, the Grade Five Writing Assessment was administered to Fulton students in early March. The annual assessment provides fifth graders with a measurement of their writing performance. This information helps students, parents and teachers identify writing strengths as well as areas where additional focus is needed. A similar writing assessment is administered in eighth grade as well as during high school, when students take the writing section of the Georgia High School Graduation Test in their junior year.

Check your school's scores below, and the accompanying pdf file for all Fulton County public elementary schools.

School                         Meets or Exceeds (% Change)

                    96% (+3)

                       86% (-3)

         97% (unchanged)

           97% (+5)

    100% (+3)

                 97% (unchanged)

Lake Windward           97% (+2)

            84% (+3)

              94% (-2)

                 95% (+4)

Fulton County             88% (+1)

Georgia                      81% (+2)