Middle school can be a tough time for a lot of students, but at Cousins Middle School, the faculty work hard to make sure that academics don't slip while the students are transitioning from being children and becoming teenagers.

"I am proud of our teachers and staff who work hard each day to educate the students zoned for our school," said Principal Scott Sauls. "In spite of dealing with a very transient population due to No Child Left Behind over the last few years, our staff has remained committed to teaching young people regardless of what school or what area students may have come from."

Superintendent Gary Mathews said, "CMS shows strong achievement in English language arts with 92 percent of students earning proficient or better by the eighth grade. Math comes in at 87 percent by the eighth grade which is strong as well. Although Cousins missed federal Adequate Yearly Progress by less than one student in a single subgroup under the old NCLB, CMS was the only school in our system coming into 2011-12 to record gains in every subject in every grade on all Georgia assessments. And the gains were double digit almost across the board. To be direct, the instructional staff and Principal Scott Sauls have done an outstanding job in preparing students for the states many assessments."

Cousins Middle has special programs throughout the year that include Curriculum Nights and the Parent University which is held twice a year, for parents and which focuses on information and ‘classes' for parents in various areas including test anxiety, test-taking strategies and transitioning to the middle/high school among other topics, said Sauls.

"I am fortunate to work with some of the finest educators in the state and feel as though our family atmosphere encourages and promotes academic achievement for our children. As we like to say, from time to time, ‘You can't have a family without Cousins,'" Sauls said.