April and May School Calendar

RMS chorus, led by Ms. Thomas, received superior ratings from all judges in performance and sight-reading. (Superior is the highest rating you can receive.) They were highly praised in the judges' comments. One wrote that it was "a highlight of the festival!"

PCSD – MS Letter, Spring 2026:
This spring, students in grades 6-8 will be administered Georgia Milestones End-of-Grade (EOG) 
assessments in the subjects of English/Language Arts and Mathematics. Students in grade 8 are 
also administered EOG assessments in Science and Social Studies. The Milestones are designed 
to measure how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined on the state’s 
content standards. The results also help teachers and schools identify what resources and 
support our students will need in the coming school year.
Some grade 8 students may be enrolled in a high school level course instead of the typical 
grade 8 course. Some of those high school courses have an associated Georgia Milestones Endof-Course (EOC) assessment, while some do not. In PCSD, grade 8 students may have the 
opportunity to complete Ninth Grade Literature and Algebra Concepts and Connections for high 
school credit. Depending on the course being completed, the student may face a different 
testing requirement:
• Ninth Grade Literature: Grade 8 students enrolled in Ninth Grade Literature will 
complete the Grade 8 ELA End-of-Grade assessment, because Georgia no longer offers 
an EOC for this course.
• Algebra Concepts and Connections: Grade 8 students enrolled in Algebra Concepts and 
Connections will have to complete both the Grade 8 Mathematics EOG assessment and
the Algebra Concepts and Connections EOC assessment. 
All students are expected to participate in the Milestones. Please know that we can only 
administer the Milestones assessments on campus at the student’s home school. The state 
does not offer an online version that can be administered at home. 
State law requires that students in grade 8 must achieve grade level scores in reading and 
mathematics to be promoted to the ninth grade. In Paulding County, however, EOG results are 
not the sole determinant in promotion/retention decisions. Our district is an authorized 
Strategic Waivers School System, which allows PCSD to declare that Milestones EOG results are 
only one piece of information when discussing promotion/retention. ELA scores will be delayed 
this year due to the Georgia Department of Education’s standard setting protocol for this new 
EOG therefore, our schools will weigh a totality of the information available about a child when
considering promotion or retention including classroom performance, teacher evaluations, 
parental input, grades, and formative test results. EOG scores do not count as any portion of 
the student’s final course average for the associated subjects; however, all Algebra Concepts 
and Connections EOC results must be counted as 20% of the final grade in that course without 
exception.
As we prepare for the beginning of the Spring Milestones administration in late April, we ask 
that you please review the attached information. If you have any questions, please reach out to 
your student’s teacher or your local school counselor for more information.