week of July 26 - July 30, 2010    
the Griffin-Spalding County School System staff e-newsletter    
published by the school & community services department  
 

the gscs COMMUNICATOR 
system-wide straight talk
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In This Issue
Initial AYP report
Norcom's Education Celebration
 
A few quick links for the 2010-2011 school year...
 
Have you missed an important story over the summer?
 
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July 16 
 
 It's SUMMER; and as usual the heat and pressure are on the rise! (Construction/ Renovation / Facilities)
 
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July 2 

Teacher of the Year

July Board Briefs
 
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June 25
 
New & Improved HR
 
CRCT scores show improvements
 
Cowan Road Elementary awarded National Bronze Award
 
Beaverbrook and Jackson Road awarded federal grants

Griffin High School awarded multi-million dollar state grant
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Communication Catch
 
 Gov. Perdue Appoints Brad Bryant as State School Superintendent
 
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FY11 will be a year of compromise & cooperation
 
Don't be an unread book 
by Fannie Delaney, Chair, Board of Education
 
Teachers as Learners Conference
 
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A special message from Denise Burrell, Deputy Superintendent
 
June Board Briefs
 
2010 Graduation
 
2010 Graduating seniors amass over a million dollars in scholarships  
Coming soon to your snail mail box - the school system 1-page calendar!
 
GSCS bus
 
Dr. Curtis JonesWhat a group! 
a greeting from Dr. Curtis L. Jones, Superintendent
 
After returning from the Fourth of July break, I had the privilege of meeting our new teachers. These individuals appear to be an amazing group. As you look at them, your first impression is they're young, very young.
 
Throughout new teacher orientation, I shared our strategy for moving forward this year along with our mission and vision. In fact, as I was addressing them, I asked, "If any of you were students when I was principal of Griffin High School, please raise your hand." I was amazed at the number of hands that went up.
 
Our own graduates are coming back to work with us. Our own graduates are validating the work we have done. Additionally, there were many individuals from all over Georgia who are joining us for different reasons.
 
In their faces I saw their desire to be part of the team. I am thrilled for you because you are going to have outstanding, motivated, and dedicated individuals joining your team.
 
During new teacher orientation they:
  • Had the opportunity to look at differentiated instruction - The Griffin-Spalding County School System way.
  • Learned about Performance Matters from our Curriculum and Instruction staff.
  • Learned about ethics.
  • Even did some preliminary work in Infinite Campus.
For the two days they were in Central Office, they were focused and eager. On the last day of teacher orientation they went to their schools.
 
I think you're going to be impressed by this new group. I really do. I ask that we reach out to them and help them fully and completely transition into this system. Let's share our values and help them be successful.
 
I am looking forward to seeing each and every one of you next Wednesday when we gather in the Taylor Street Auditorium to begin this new adventure.
 
Welcome back!
Meet our new teachers!
 
Anne Street Elementary
Autumn Schaffer
Rebecca Ohihus
Tracy Brown
Risa Cloud
Jalisa King
Shaun Price
Kaleigh Sidwell
Carol Cobb
Barbara McDowell
 
A
tkinson Elementary
Tiffany Campbell
Chasidy Barden
Lori Taylor
Kurt Zeiger
 
Beaverbrook Elementary
Kathryn Hicks
 
Carver Road Middle
Kay Baker
Zakia Banks
Lashonda Lanoir
Denise King
Sarah Winchester
 
Crescent Elementary
Kathryn Claxton
Cherry Ann James
Melissa Bentley
Ashleigh Long
 
Cowan Road Elementary
Beth Layton
Jennifer Oglesbee
 
Cowan Road Middle School
Cynthia Carmichael
Allison Hall
Quenton Davis
Roderick Sylevester
Georgia Hayes
Gamal Kemp
Donnell Cox
Tonya Nelms
 
Futral Road Elementary
Felecia Ponder
Jenna Treadwell
 
Griffin High School
Jamila Harris
Leigh Jackson
Cindy Tucker
James Fowler
Tajuana Washington
Cassandra Marks
Paula Morris
Justin Rogers
Keith Simmons
Jennifer Wooden
Shayne Thompson
 
Taylor Street
Achievement Center

(formerly GSAS)
Jessica Springer
Riley Odell
Mark Aqui
 
J
ackson Road Elementary
Melissa Case
Amy Brown
Allison Buntyn
 
Kennedy Road Middle
Robert Johnson
Meredith Byrd
Precious Johnson
Leslie Taylor
Johnny Teemer Jr.
 
Moore Elementary
Ashley Reid
Nicole Manns
 
Moreland Road Elementary
Catherine Corbett
Kelly Cottinghman
Tracie King
 
Orrs Elementary
Jennifer Higgins
Rebecca Still
Melanie Saunders
 
Rehoboth Road Middle
Shannon Thompson
Jake Harris
 
Spalding High School
Carlette Reliford
Chad Pruitt
Shannon Thompson
Michael Marler
Mary Clark
Joshua Coffey
Kelly Jacobs
 
System-wide
Deidre Collier
Carol Harpe
Kelly Walker
Initial AYP report for Griffin-Spalding shows 11 schools met goals
 
When the Georgia Department of Education released the official Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) reports Monday,  it showed 11 of 17 Griffin-Spalding County schools made AYP, which is one more school than the initial status last year.
 
The schools that have made AYP on this initial report are

  • Anne Street Elementary
  • Beaverbrook Elementary
  • Crescent Elementary
  • Futral Road Elementary
  • Jackson Road Elementary
  • Jordan Hill Elementary
  • Moore Elementary
  • Moreland Road Elementary
  • Orrs Elementary
  • Kennedy Road Middle
  • Rehoboth Street Middle School.
 
Denise Burrell, Deputy Superintendent for Instruction said, "Because of CRCT retest scores or appeals, we anticipate several more schools making AYP when results for the second round are released."
 
 
"The report shows our high school graduation rate increased from 68.2% to 68.6%, which is small increase," Burrell said. "An increase means more students are graduating on time.
 
"
She continued, "This year's results show our system is still in Needs Improvement. We will continue to implement our strategic plan which includes strategies for increasing test scores, closing the achievement gap between subgroups, and increasing progression rates.
"
 
Our back to school event largest in nation
Event only for GSCS teachers

Norcom, Inc. and other community sponsors will hold the largest Back-To-School event in the nation on July 28 providing every teacher in the county with free school supplies to support their students who are unable to afford school necessities.  Called the Education Celebration, last year's event yielded 11 tractor-trailer loads of products that lasted many Spalding County students the entire year.

Event organizers expect even more instructional supplies ranging from envelopes to dry erase markers for the 2010 Education Celebration, and teachers will be able to come in and select what they need for their classrooms, including basic supplies like pens, copy paper, pencils, notebooks, erasers, notebook paper, art and activity items, crayons and much more for distribution to their students.
 
The event was conceived by Hal Rahn, president of Griffin-based school supply manufacturer Norcom, Inc.  Rahn's objective is to ease the financial burden on teachers who voluntarily provide supplies to their students and to ensure that needy children have all the tools they need to learn and succeed.
Although spearheaded by Norcom, the event - that is now in its fourth year - involves every facet of the Spalding community plus Kids In Need (a project of the Atlanta Community Food Bank).
 
The Education Celebration relies on community support such as from the Griffin Wal-Mart SuperCenter, Griffin Rotary Club, Griffin-Spalding Education Foundation, Griffin-Spalding Partners in Education, Nickell Equipment Rental & Sales, Georgia Banking Company, and many more sponsors.
Money donated by sponsors goes toward purchasing products not manufactured by Norcom such as pocket prong folders, rulers and scissors for the Kids In Need Store.
 
While other school districts have been the recipients of donated instructional supplies, the Griffin event will be the nation's largest.
 
Founded in 1995, The Kids In Need Foundation has distributed more than $300 million in free school supplies to low-income schools. It serves more than 1.6 million students and 100,000 teachers annually, as a resource to reduce the need for teachers having to spend their own money on instructional materials.
 
Over 900 teachers, community leaders and sponsors will assemble in the Griffin Auditorium the morning of July 28. for the Education Celebration ribbon-cutting program featuring guest speakers.  After the program, teachers are scheduled to shop at the Free Store for Teachers in Spalding High School where they will pile their shopping baskets with so many supplies that volunteers from Griffin and Spalding High School's JROTC and football programs will be needed to help load the teachers' vehicles.

Do you know a colleague in the Griffin-Spalding County School System who didn't receive this COMMUNICATOR?

 

Please ask them to contact Elizabeth Benz (770-229-3710 x340) so they may be added to the distribution list.

 

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Elizabeth Benz  
Editor, gscs COMMUNICATOR
Griffin-Spalding County School System

 Coming July 28
 
 Education Celebration
 
Click here for the tenative schedule!