Although the pressure of Adequate Yearly Progress can send the blood pressure of school administrators and teachers shooting up, seven Carroll County elementary schools and two Carrollton schools are celebrating after making AYP for at least three consecutive years.

The schools recently joined the list of Title I Distinguished Schools in Georgia.

In Carroll County, Bowdon Elementary School and Roopville Elementary School have made AYP for six consecutive years.

Carolyn Waters, principal of Roopville Elementary attributes the years of success to the dedicated teachers at the school.

“They just, they love children and they’re here for the children,” she said. “They work extremely hard. They don’t mind the hours that they have to put in. Our school has come a long way in the last several years and I think it has to be attributed to the very dedicated staff.”

Waters said she was planning a carnival for the students to celebrate the achievement.

“I think it’s very important to celebrate your successes,” she said. “We’ve gone from being close to the bottom to being close to the top every year. It’s a much better feeling being on this end.”

Principal Tony Childers of Central Elementary School said last year was the school’s first year as a Title I School - one that receives federal funding to educate students living at or below the poverty level, a risk factor for students. Fifty-two percent of Carroll County Schools students and 46 percent of Carrollton City Schools students were listed by the Georgia Department of Education as “economically disadvantaged” in the 2005-06 school year, the last year for which data was available.

During the last five years, the impact of poverty has been an increasing challenge at Central Elementary, Childers said. Fifty-one percent of its 921 students were “economically disadvantaged” in 2005-06.

“Our school certainly has had some challenges, especially during the last two to three years as the school’s population has changed a bit,” he said.

The school has faced those challenges by providing more personalized instruction for children who need it, Childers said.

“If a kid needs stronger or more reading time, we try to provide that time for the student,” he said.

The strategy seems to be working - the school has made AYP for the last five years.

At Whitesburg Elementary School, which has also met AYP for five consecutive years, Assistant Principal Alison Lyle credits not only the teachers, but the school’s focus on improving parental involvement as a key to successful learning.

“We have a parenting coordinator who gets parents in for workshops and helps them know how to help their children at home,” she said.

Teachers and counselors lead the workshops and “Family Math Night,” “Family Reading Night” and “Family Science Night,” which inform parents about what their kids are doing in school and how best to help them succeed in their classes.

Both Carrollton Elementary School and Carrollton Middle School have made AYP for the last four years. Principal Trent North of Carrollton Middle, said that the success of his school is due in part to the success of Carrollton Elementary.

“They’re sending us good students,” North said.

He said while he is happy the school has been honored as a Distinguished School, he tries not to focus on AYP.

“If we focus on doing right by every child, and making sure that every child receives a rigorous and challenging curriculum and making sure that every child, at minimum, progresses one year academically, if we do that then we’re hopeful we’ll make AYP,” North said.