King Middle School hopes to make a splash at the upcoming Neighborhood Celebration this Saturday (Oct. 2), and yes, we’d love to have them bring their newly renovated, reopened and reinvigorating pool — the only one of its kind in the district. King Middle serves a pivotal role in the south Atlanta area as one of the feeder schools to Maynard H. Jackson High School (this year’s host site for the Celebration).
So many of the great things going on at King Middle can be traced to Principal Danielle Battle, who was instrumental in the reopening of the pool — and not just for recreational or competitive reasons, as reported in an AJC article:
African-American children ages 5 to 14 are three times more likely to drown than white children of the same age, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Although drowning rates have slowly declined, fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years. Non-fatal drowning can cause brain damage that may result in long-term disabilities.
Beyond increasing the number of African-American children who can swim, Battle sees swimming as a discipline sport, which has the potential to teach students skills that can carry over into the classroom.
She worked with the district’s facilities department to bring the pool back up to standards, making sure it met city and state regulations. They purchased new lane ropes, float boards, fins and water weights.
It should also be noted that, last fall, King Middle received honors for improving in the percentage of students who met and exceeded standards on the Georgia Middle Grades Writing Assessment and the CRCT in Eighth Grade Physical Science. (Read that story here.) We were also proud of Battle working with art teacher Ali Isabelle on World AIDS Day last December. (Read that story here.) We actually caught up with Ms. Isabelle just as she was about to attend this past weekend’s APS Arts Education Conference at the High Museum. (Read that story here.)
So clearly, there’s a lot going on at King Middle School! Come check them out this Saturday at the Neighborhood Celebration, and come back to Talk Up APS for more sneak peeks at the participating schools.
Talk Up APS 
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