School officials: Career academies in Cobb,
Marietta will better prepare students for all futures
The academy will function much like the district’s six magnet
programs, but will be “more geared to preparing students for a
career tech pathway,” according to Nan Kiel, a spokesperson for
the school district.
“The students who attend
will be even more equipped
to start successful careers
after high school or further
their training at a technical
school or college,” Kiel said.
Superintendent Chris
Ragsdale said while all
Cobb’s classrooms aim to
prepare students for their
future career or college
experiences, the academy
will focus on training them
for high-demand jobs now and looking forward.
Kiel said the academy will allow students from across the
district to sharpen their science, technology, engineering and
math skills, as well as earn industry-recognized certifications.
The building will have a capacity of 500 students, she said.
Kiel said Cobb Career Academy students will be full-time
Osborne students, meaning they will complete their core and
Career, Technology, and Agriculture Education coursework as
an Osborne student. However, although the academy will be
located on the Osborne campus, it will be open to any rising
ninth grader in the county, she said.
The construction project is being funded through a special 1%
sales tax for education approved by Cobb voters in 2013.
FACTBOOK 2020 109
FACTBOX
Marietta City Schools by the numbers
Student Enrollment: 8,776
Number of Schools: 12
Early Learning: 1
Elementary: 8
Sixth Grade: 1
Middle: 1
High: 1
Per-Pupil Expenditures: $11,967 (FY 2020)
Number of Teachers: 663
Percentage of students who qualify for free or
reduced-price lunch: 54.5% (2018-19 school year)
Four-year cohort graduation rate: 76%
(2018 graduation rate)
EDUCATION
By Thomas Hartwell
thartwell@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA — High school students in Marietta and in
Cobb County in 2020 will be better able to take the next
step in their academic or professional careers, thanks to the
addition of college and career academies in the districts.
As of August 2019, Marietta’s academy was more than
halfway complete, and Cobb’s was about a fifth of the way
to completion, according to updates from respective district
officials.
College and career academy at Marietta High School
Superintendent Grant Rivera and members his staff
invited the MDJ on a tour of the district’s 55,000-squarefoot
college and career academy. The $12.3 million facility,
for which the district broke
ground in July 2018, is
expected to be complete by
December 2019, Rivera said.
Keith Ball, principal at
Marietta High School, said
programs will start moving
into the building in January.
“The anticipation is kind
of killing me,” he said.
Ball said the new, threestory
facility, which will be
Julie O’Meara, CEO of Marietta’s
college and career academy, stands
inside the facility under construction.
connected to Marietta High
School by bridges on multiple levels, will help to modernize
courses already being offered and will better replicate a
college or career setting.
The academy will offer the space for more focused
instruction in industries including engineering, game
design and entrepreneurship, among others, according to
Julie O’Meara, CEO of the college and career academy and
director of the district’s Career, Technology and Agriculture
Education programs.
O’Meara said the facility’s offerings will work hand-inhand
with the district’s Career, Technology and Agriculture
Education program.
Cobb Career Academy at Osborne High
The $14.5 million Cobb Career Academy, which is being
constructed on the campus of Osborne High School, is
slated for completion in May 2020. Students are expected to
occupy the building in August of that year.
Ground was broken for the project shortly after the
district’s approval of the construction contract in March
2019.
Special // A rendering of the Cobb
Career Academy, which is under
construction on the campus of Osborne
High School and slated for completion
in May 2020.
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