Health and Physical Education

1058 Fifth Avenue 
Jonesboro, GA 30236
Phone:  770-473-2845
Fax:  770-473-2916

Physical Education Program

In the state of Georgia, physical education and health is a required a minimum of ninety hours per school year in grades kindergarten through five. As this is a minimum requirement and because teachers view physical activity for all children a critical part of the instructional day, many elementary schools insure that students receive more that the required ninety hours annually. All middle (6-8) school students are scheduled into physical education as part of the connections classes. One semester of physical education, in the form of Personal Fitness, is required for graduation from all Georgia public high schools (9-12). The State Department of Education has established minimum standards for all levels and courses in physical education through the written Georgia Performance Standards Framework. These minimum standards are imbedded in our curriculum.

The elementary physical education program has seen major advance in the past several years. All thirty seven elementary schools have physical education buildings and 23 physical education specialists are employed to provide quality instruction to our students. Clayton County has committed to provide physical education to every child. Our program includes annual instruction in fitness, loco-motor and non-loco-motor skills, equipment manipulation, body management, rhythms and social skills. We have adopted CATCH Physical Education as supplemental material for classroom teachers. Classroom teachers also use the Energizers program to get student up and moving inside the classroom. We are proud of our instructional program and the materials and equipment available to both classroom teachers and highly qualified physical education instructors.

The middle school curriculum introduces middle school students to a wide range of fitness activities, team and lifetime sports, recreational games and track and field. Included in the fitness activities is an emphasis on personal fitness to help combat increasing levels of childhood obesity. The FitnessGram student fitness assessment is administered to all students enrolled in a physical education class.

High School physical Education programs focus on personal fitness with opportunities to explore a variety of individual and team sports. The Personal Fitness course is usually scheduled in the ninth grade year and is required for graduation. Computerized fat analysis and heart rate equipment is available in all high schools. After thorough assessment, students set personal health goals that they are encouraged to maintain or improve upon for a lifetime. Other physical education courses offered include team and lifetime sports, track and field and weight training. We believe that as part of the total educational process secondary physical education should be universal in opportunity and individualized in application, therefore students can achieve the highest level of health related fitness and improve lifetime and team skills and abilities.

Health Education Program

In the state of Georgia, health and physical education is required a minimum of ninety hours per school year in grades kindergarten through five. As this is a minimum requirement and because teachers view the area of health education in the elementary grades as a critical and integral part of their instructional program, many include more than the required number of hours. Middle School students in Clayton County receive health instruction as part of their connections classes. It is our belief that the middle school students are at a critical point in their social and emotional development and that the issues facing them are more complex, therefore every effort is made for students in grade 6-8 to receive nine weeks of health instruction annually. A semester (18 weeks) of health is required for high school and must be successfully completed prior to graduation. Georgia Performance Standards are established by the State Department of Education in health. These minimum standards are embedded in the curriculum.

Elementary (K-5) health education in Clayton County Schools is comprehensive and includes activities in the areas of nutrition, mental health, safety, disease prevention, human life cycle, violence prevention, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Our curriculum has been designed and selected by classroom teachers for classroom teachers. The kindergarten classrooms use the Health Promotion Wave Curriculum and instructional kits. First through fifth grade students have the textbook Your Health by Harcourt Brace.

Instruction in health in the middle grades (6-8) is also comprehensive and includes a wide variety of topics. The adopted textbooks for grade 6-8 are Totally Awesome Health by Glencoe/McGraw Hill and Choosing the Best. Local and Georgia Performance Standards address the areas of safety, nutrition, mental health, disease prevention, human life cycle, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Eighth graders have the opportunity to receive American Red Cross certification in Standard First Aid. Decision making through critical thinking strategies and literacy are a focus across the curriculum.

The high school level (9-12) program is eighteen weeks in length. Local and Georgia Performance Standards address the areas of safety, nutrition, mental health, disease prevention, human life cycle, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs as well as ADAP. ADAP is the Alcohol and Drug Awareness Program mandated by the state and supported by the Georgia State Patrol. This course is required of all persons under the age of 18 who wish to acquire a driver’s license. This course is four hours in length and culminates with a written test. The four hours must be attended and the test successfully completed in order to receive a Georgia Driver’s License. Textbooks used in addition to the ADAP materials are Choosing the Best Life and Glencoe Health: A Guide to Wellness, 2001.