|
|
| Upcoming Board of Education Meetings | |
****
-
Click here for information about these board meetings
|
|
| A Quick Note |
We now have access to every e-book that ASCD has published in the last ten years.
They created this really cool website for us.
The password is griffin.
Enjoy! |
|
|
|
|
|
The New and Improved HR.... | A message from Andy Matthews, Human Resources Director
Why does everyone love to hate HR? We really are nice, hard working, supportive people...REALLY! I am proud to say that we have an awesome HR staff that comes to work every day excited about working for you!
As part of our transition to "new and improved", we want to improve our image and our service. We don't want to see those looks of "Uh Oh!...HR is here. I wonder who is in trouble". While, unfortunately, we do have to deal with some less than pleasant issues, our main goal in HR is to recruit, retain, grow, and support the very best staff to serve our students.....What an awesome job to have!
I hope you will take this opportunity to help us to put more "human" back in human resources. We want to get to know you better and for you to know us better! Just the frowns and suspicious looks on some faces make me feel so badly when I come out to the schools....I want to change that!
I know that Stephanie and I need to work harder to get out of our offices and into your buildings, buses, and classrooms so that we can brag even more about the awesome things that are going on in our system (and we do LOVE to brag) and I have set that as a major goal for our department.
Help us serve you better by letting me know what you like and what you dislike about working here; let me know what we can do to better support you at whatever point you are in your career with us! Additionally, I am excited to share that Valerie Mercer, our Director of Teacher Quality, is officially a part of the Human Resources Department now! What a perfect match - professional learning and support and human resources! You, our employees, are the reason we are here and we look forward to an exciting and productive year ahead (after you get some rest and relaxation over the summer)! |
|
CRCT scores show improvements | |
 On Wednesday, June 23, when the school system administrators and the public received the CRCT or Criterion Referenced Competency Tests scores, the Griffin-Spalding County School System learned: -
Six grades out of eight improved in reading
-
Five grades out of eight improved in math
-
The greatest gain was in 8th Grade math, up 16.7%.
Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones, said, "We are pleased with these test results! The scores show we are implementing the right strategies and that we are successfully educating our students. I commend all of our teachers and staff for a job well done.
He continued, "We still have room for improvement, especially in math. However, our test scores are headed in the right direction."
School system results are:
|
|
% Meeting or Exceeding Standards in Reading |
% Meeting or Exceeding Standards in
Math | |
|
2010 |
2009 |
2010 |
2009 | |
Grade 1 |
91.4 |
90.8 |
83.6 |
85.1 | |
Grade 2 |
88.6 |
90.6 |
82.4 |
84.0 | |
Grade 3 |
89.7 |
85.6 |
79.3 |
70.3 | |
Grade 4 |
85.8 |
84.6 |
69.1 |
65.0 | |
Grade 5 |
86.3 |
85.2 |
81.4 |
72.5 | |
Grade 6 |
87.2 |
89.5 |
61.5 |
63.7 | |
Grade 7 |
86.9 |
86.5 |
81.8 |
76.5 | |
Grade 8 |
94.4 |
89.0 |
64.5 |
47.8 |
|
|
Cowan Road Elementary awarded National Bronze Award by Alliance for a Healthier Generation | 
Teachers Andrea Bonner and Valerie Gilbert (pictured) led the effort at Cowan Road Elementary. Griffin, Ga. - Cowan Road Elementary School has received the National Bronze Award by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. The Griffin-Spalding school was one of 11 schools in Georgia that received the national recognition.
The alliance selected Cowan Road Elementary for efforts in improving learning and working environments while working collaboratively with the school nutrition department in an effort to fight childhood obesity and foster healthier eating habits.
Cowan Road Elementary, one of 179 in the nation, was recognized at the Fifth Annual Healthy Schools Program Forum in New York City where former President Bill Clinton was the key note speaker.
It states:
When she hears people say that it costs too much to make healthy changes in schools, special education teacher Valarie Gilbert replies that "Recess is free," and "It doesn't cost anything to walk students home from school." The school wellness council at Cowan Road also approaches their work with this proactive attitude and have made many changes to help their students and staff move more and eat healthier foods.
The wellness council forged partnerships with Safe Routes to School to assist in their efforts to create a Walking School Bus. A local gym helped them meet their goal of offering Zumba classes to staff in the school gym after school two days per week. Another action plan goal they were able to meet this year was to evaluate their physical and health education curricula. They also assessed the food and beverages offered in the lunchroom, during afterschool programs and in vending machines, bringing these into compliance with the Alliance Competitive Food and Beverages Guidelines.
--------------------------------
Alliance for a Healthier Generation
contributed to this news release. |
|
Beaverbrook Elementary and Jackson Road Elementary awarded federal grants worth over $93,000 | |
Griffin, Ga. - The Instructional Technology Division of the Georgia Department of Education has awarded both Beaverbrook Elementary School and Jackson Road Elementary School federal grants* worth just over $93,000 each for increasing student reading, writing, and digital literacy.
The Griffin-Spalding schools were two of 20 Georgia schools awarded grants.
T he grant's primary goals are to:
-
Increase student technology literacy by providing students opportunities to use digital media tools.
-
Leverage the Lexile Framework� to improve student reading and writing scores.
-
Create a model to improve literacy that can be replicated throughout Georgia.
-
Increase high quality literacy professional learning opportunities.
Jackson Road Elementary School principal Sara Jones said, "We are terribly excited about this grant that will help us address the academic needs of our students through technology, which is an area of high interest for students. Having our resources match the students' digital and technological abilities not only taps into their ability but their excitement levels as well. Motivation is key for learning. As we are moving towards 21st century schools, we believe that this literacy through technology grant will help the students and staff of two local schools continue to move in the right direction."
*The official name of the grant is:
FY10 Title II Part D ARRA Competitive Grant for Increasing Student Literacy
|
| Griffin High School awarded
multi-million dollar state grant | 
Griffin High School was awarded a state school improvement grant worth $4.5 million over the next three years during the Thursday, June 24, called state board of education meeting.
Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones, said, "This is a grand opportunity for Griffin High School, and we are grateful for it. The Griffin High School community is going to see many positive changes during the next three years." The school make-over grant will focus on:
- Building capacity through job-embedded professional learning
- Changing the school culture to focus on rigor, relevance, and relationships
- Implementing smaller learning communities such as freshman & and thematic academies
- Improving instructional technology in classrooms and the school
The desired outcomes from the school make-over will be:
- Increased Graduation Rate
- Increased capacity of faculty/staff
- Decreased Dropout Rate
- Decreased Teacher Attrition
- Thematic Academies for student
|
|
|
|
Elizabeth Benz
Editor, gscs COMMUNICATOR
Griffin-Spalding County School System
|
|
|
