Newton Citizen

By Michelle Floyd

Staff Reporter

COVINGTON - Newton High School students should be on their best behavior Monday when State Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox will pay a visit to the school that morning.

Cox, who taught high school-level world history and American government for 15 years, is expected to teach a 50-minute lesson to an Advanced Placement government class at Newton High School about 8:30 a.m. Monday.

She also will visit and observe other classes at the school, including math, geometry, AP language arts, biology and visual arts, according to a press release from the Newton County School System.

NHS Principal Roderick Sams said the school is "eagerly anticipating" her visit.

"Her visit continues to validate the quality of our school district as well as our school," he said in the press release. "The students that will be taught by Superintendent Cox are also excited to be a part of her visit. This will be a valuable experience for them, as well as an opportunity for our faculty and staff to show just how talented they are."

After her lesson and classroom observations, Cox will meet privately with school administrators and a selected group of teachers and students for about an hour to discuss the curriculum and address any concerns, according to the Georgia Department of Education.

Dana Tofig, director of communication at the GaDOE, said visiting schools is part of Cox's "constitutional duties."

"She tries to spread her visits around the state and in most cases, works with her staff to choose districts she hasn't visited in a while or offer a strategic insight into best practices," Tofig said. "There are occasions where schools reach out to her and ask her to visit, and we try to honor those requests as well."

This isn't the first visit Cox had made to the Newton County School System. A few years ago, she visited the central office and Ficquett Elementary School. Cox was elected as state school superintendent in 2002 and again in 2006.

Michelle Floyd can be reached at michelle.floyd@newtoncitizen.com.