Lakeview Academy School was named a 2025 Title I Reward School by the Georgia Department of Education, meaning it is in the top 5% of Title I schools in the state for making the most progress in improving performance in English Language Arts and Mathematics.
The recognition is based on two years of statewide assessment data and the school’s investment to improve areas of growth.
“It was exciting to earn this recognition,” said Lakeview Academy Principal Cory Roberson. “It shows the hard work of the previous administration and the scholars working hard, not only performing on the state assessments with such growth but improving each day in the classroom. We continue to build on this foundation.”
According to Roberson, updated math standards from a few years ago shifted focus onto mathematics and ensured both faculty and staff were prepared for the shift. As part of the change, teachers began using lesson plans provided by the state and using supplemental materials to fill in the gaps.
“ELA and literacy was a part of that shift as well,” said Roberson. “Reading is a part of every subject, making it vital to be able to teach reading comprehension and improve literacy skills.”
Lakeview Academy reinstated Accelerated Reader, to test reading comprehension and record words read based on the test scores. Students that read a million words receive special rewards as well as students who show an eagerness to read, improvement in their comprehension, and more. “We started offering more incentives to read and goals that motivate the students. We’ve already had two students read one million words since we started the Baldwin Reads program a little over a month ago,” said Roberson.
Baldwin Reads is a community partnership with Fouts Brothers, launched Sept. 23, to help improve literacy across the school district. It allows students to progress through achievement levels and earn recognition as they meet reading milestones, to receive monthly book donations, and allow the community to partner to read directly with students.
“At Lakeview Academy, since its launch, we’ve had 2,613 books checked out and over 18 million words read school-wide,” said Roberson. “Our scholars are reading and challenging themselves in the classroom. And with the fourth graders, Fouts Brothers comes in and visits two to three classrooms for three days out of the week and reads with the scholars. They are helping students get into reading, find books they want to read, and bringing more volunteers into the classroom.”
Moving forward, Lakeview Academy aims to retain high quality staff, break-down this data for faculty and students so that students may “take ownership of their learning,” perform higher or at the state average on each state assessment within the next three years, and push Accelerated Reader and literacy.
“We may have been recognized as a Title I Reward School but that is only the foundation. We want to continue to build and these are only a few goals we have to do that,” said Roberson.