InTucker Magazine

Very Distinguished – Local School Honored as Top Performer

Livsey Elementary School added two feathers to its cap last month when they received two recognition awards from the Georgia Department of Education for being a top performing Title I school.

The Distinguished Schools honor is awarded to Title I schools that rank in the top five percent of eligible schools in the state based on the combined content mastery test scores for ELA and Math. The Rewards Schools honor is bestowed on the Title I schools that are ranked in the top five percent and have shown improvement within that ranking over the past two years.

Georgia has over 1,500 Title I schools in the state and Livsey consistently ranks in the top five percent for performance. Principal Shawna Pickett is proud of Livsey and gives credit and praise to the staff, students and parents at Livsey for demonstrating their commitment to excellence.

“We are part of a community,” Pickett said. “So everything we do here we try to look at it complete. So the staff, the parents, the school, the students, we all work together to make achievements and to move forward in our success.”

Principal Pickett further credits the school’s success with how the additional Title I funds are utilized to best support the student body. Livsey uses the additional funds to hire retired teachers on a part-time basis. These teachers help students in small groups during regular instructional time and during after school tutoring opportunities.

“It is great and I think it is a large portion of what has helped us reach those goals,” Pickett said.

The Livsey principal has been with the school for eleven years, including four years as Assistant Principal. Under her leadership, the schools has earned the Distinguished Schools honor four times since 2019.

Livsey is a STEM certified school located in north Tucker off Chamblee Tucker Road and serves grades pre-k through fifth.