The Special Education Department at Madison City Schools provides services for more than 1,250 students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs). Students as young as 2- 1/2 may be referred to determine need. These special education services can be implemented by age 3 and students with IEPs may attend school until age 21, or when a regular education diploma is earned. SPED Director Dr. Maria Kilgore is responsible for keeping students in appropriate programs, offering a Free and Appropriate...

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(9/18/2018)   These days it is hard to separate technology from instruction. In any given school and grade level in Madison City Schools, you’ll see technology being integrated seamlessly throughout the learning activities. An organization as large as ours requires a Technology Department robust enough to support that high-level technology integration in all our classes. Technology and Instruction are two separate entities, but they must work very closely to achieve one unifying...

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(9/10/2018) Someone once said, “Who dares to teach must never cease to learn."That is a guiding principle of the Madison City Schools Instruction Department in setting the framework and support for academic programs for all students grades Pre-K through 12. Educators must continuously embrace new learning concepts themselves to prepare students for this ever-changing global environment.Instruction encompasses academic programs, curriculum development, professional learning...

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(Sept. 4, 2018) Perhaps no other part of Madison City Schools is as misunderstood as ACCESS. ACCESS stands for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide.As its name implies, it is a virtual learning service offering online class options for students in grades 7-12.Judy Bollinger is Coordinator of the North Alabama ACCESS Support Center housed in the Madison City Schools Central Office. She and her team serve 45 school systems across 22 counties in North Alabama. ACCESS...

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  (Aug. 27, 2018) Auxiliary Services is a textbook example of a school department no one thinks about.The department is over textbooks, testing, accountability, teacher resource support, and Section 504 placement and monitoring.As Coordinator Bob Lipinski puts it, it is a compilation of functions that no one knows where else to put them. Bob Lipinski sorts and attaches bar codes to a new shipment of books. Textbook management in itself is a huge task in a system with more than 11,000...

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(Aug. 20, 2018) Each day even before many students awake, school cafeteria employees are at work preparing meals for them.Madison City Schools is the largest food service in town. MCS Cafeteria workers serve approximately 6,000 lunches and 1,000 breakfasts daily. That’s over 1million meals annually across 11 schools and the Pre-K Center.That’s a lot of bellies getting filled and minds being nourished.As Coordinator of the Child Nutrition Program, Marty Tatara has a plateful of...

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(AUG. 13, 2018) Long before students enter the door of a Madison City school, chances are, Dorinda White has had dealings with them. Probably not directly, but in ensuring that each is a resident of Madison or Triana and assigned to the correct school zone. Mrs. White oversees Student Services. Her official position is Coordinator of Strategic Initiatives, Attendance and Community Relations. That catch-all title includes registration/re-enrollment, student attendance, school calendar development,...

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Madison City Schools held a 2-day administrators retreat to hone leadership skills and get department-by-department briefings on issues related to the upcoming school year.School and school district administrators, reading coaches and instructional partners heard excellent presentations and engaged in exercises in Cognitive Coaching. The goal is to grow self-directed leaders and learners.The retreat also helped focus attention on strategies directed at helping...

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Madison City Schools was well represented at the Destination Imagination Global Finals event held during Memorial Day break in Knoxville. Approximately 39 students on teams from Bob Jones High School, Discovery Middle, and Horizon Elementary competed in the world DI tournament, which drew 17,00 students from 19 countries.The group was led by Bob Jones teacher Robin Dauma, regional DI director. DI teams from Madison City Schools have advanced to Global Finals...

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Madison City’s Annual Sports Spectacular for 6th Graders  Sixth graders from Madison City gathered for some friendly competition at the annual 6th grade Sports Spectacular on Tuesday, May 22. The event took place at Bob Jones High School track and athletic fields. Sports Spectacular is a great way to commemorate the fun times that the students had in elementary school before they move on to middle school. Each student put forth his/her best effort to win and have a good time, while...

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Super Citizen Graduation CelebrationMadison City School’s 5th grade students attended a graduation celebration at Bob Jones High School’s auditorium on May 16. This celebration is part of their Super Citizen Experience. The Liberty Learning Foundation hosted the “Super Citizen” program where students learned about civics, character, finances, and careers. This was also an opportunity for them to take pride in themselves and their community. During the celebration students...

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Students of Madison Elementary School and their parents gathered for the Outdoor Classroom Certification Ceremony, on May 15. Madison Elementary School received its certification as an official Outdoor School through the Wildlife Federation’s Alabama Outdoor Classroom Program. During the ceremony, students spoke about what they have learned from the outdoor classroom and how excited they are to use it. The third grade class sang, “Each of Us Is a Flower,” which went along...

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The kids were all smiles only moments after disembarking from the bus.They were Rainbow Elementary kids who will be transferring to Mill Creek Elementary when the new school year begins. Mill Creek faculty and students pulled out the stops for the newly rezoned students. They wanted this orientation visit to be a welcoming one so students would feel good about the change.Student reaching into bag to draw which "house" she will be part of next year within the schoolThe Rainbow entourage was...

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Madison City Chess players and students on Destination Imagination Teams were honored at the May 8 MCS Board of Education meeting. MCS Board President Ranae Bartlett announced the awards and presented certificates as president of the Madison City Chess League.(Group photos below) The High School chess team of Michael Guthrie, Josh Lin, Hayden Billmann, and Will Bao from Bob Jones High School placed 1st in the  recent State Chess Tournament in Mobile. They are coached by Bill...

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Some local 8-year-old twins will soon be heading on a dream vacation to Hawaii, thanks to the generosity of students at James Clemens High School. Hannah and Hailey Shores were honored April 18 in a pep-rally style gathering where their dream vacation wish was revealed. The pair have cystic fibrosis. Hannah expressed her Hawaii interest to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which matched her desire with a school wanting to help. TV coverage links below. Parents...

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Prom is coming up at James Clemens High School. In a move to warn about the dangers of impaired or distracted driving, students are producing a PSA to drive home that point.The simulation and filming took place Tuesday, March 20, on the front lawn of the school with the help of the Madison police and fire departments. Mangled cars were placed in a head-on collision configuration to simulate an accident. JCHS advanced drama students posed as occupants, all bloodied...

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The Madison City Board of Education recognized two James Clemens High School students and their teacher-sponsors for winning a Military Child Education Coalition video challenge contest. The achievement sends three students and two sponsors on an all expenses paid trip to the NTS (National Training Seminar) conference in Washington, D.C. this July, where they will be presenting to other S2S groups from across the country.The students recognized at the board meeting, Sandra...

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With the Toyota-Mazda plant coming amid the growing trend in "new-collar" jobs, area schools are already ramping up teaching courses that will help them in advanced manufacturing fields.But what about the trade skills needed to build the assembly plant, workforce training facilities and homes for all the new residents?James Clemens and Bob Jones students, led by their instructor Mr. Lanford, visited STEM classes at Liberty Middle to introduce trade skills. A similar demonstration was done...

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Discovery Middle in Madison has earned the Project Lead the Way Distinguished School Award for 2017-18.The PLTW recognition honors schools committed to increasing student access, engagement and achievement in PLTW programs.Discovery Middle is the only school in Alabama to receive this honor for the 2017-18 school year.Project Lead the Way provides curriculum in computer science, engineering and biomedical science. The courses are designed to teach students not only technical skills, but also how...

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