the gscs
COMMUNICATOR

system-wide straight talk

a message from Superintendent Dr. Curtis  Jones

Congratulations to Governor-elect Nathan Deal.  As many of you know, throughout his campaign he said he is supportive of public education. The child of public school teachers, he says he believes in local control, and is looking forward to restoring our state's financial stability. We're fortunate that one of his neighbors and friends is Hall County Superintendent Will Schofield.

Congratulations to State School Superintendent-elect John Barge. Throughout his campaign, he said he supports local control and public education. He has experience on the school and district level and in the Georgia Department of Education. We look forward to our new school superintendent and governor to help us move our state forward and increase student achievement. 

Congratulations to James A. "Pete" Graham on his reelection to the 5th District seat on our local school board. Mr. Graham continues to support public education in our school district, and we look forward to working with him for another term.

Finally, congratulations to both Mrs. Fannie Delaney and Mike Kendall who are moving into a run-off for the Board of Education District 1 seat. The run-off election will be November 30. Both are supportive of public education and improving student achievement.

We wish all of these and other elected officials the very best as they move into their positions of public service.

We also had a great Board of Education meeting this week.
Board members received an informational briefing from our Teaching & Learning Division about the benchmarks we have implemented for the elementary and middle grades CRCT (Mathematics, English/Language Arts, and Reading) and the high school End-Of-Course Tests.

When you compare last year's benchmarks to this year's, as well as the standards that have been mastered, these reports reveal the impact you're having on student learning. Board members were very impressed.

I share this because I was proud of our board members as they engaged in a professional conversation about student achievement and the nitty-gritty work it takes to help students improve. And so while I usually don't talk publicly about the board's internal workings, I was proud of that particular board meeting. Even though they're my bosses, sometimes they need a pat on the back as well!

Earlier this week I visited A. Z. Kelsey Academy.
Great things are happening there, too!

I saw students engaged in their learning, interacting with teachers, and using all the technology and resources available. They are increasing their chances of passing the graduation test, the end-of-course test, and then receiving a diploma.

Kudos to the AZKA teachers who are providing standards-based instruction through standards-based classrooms - all in a non-traditional setting! Congratulations to Principal Dr. Melton and his entire staff.

And thank you to the newly formed Parent Advisory Council (PAC). We met on Thursday of this week for 90 minutes discussing increasing parent involvement and our Race to the Top (RT3) plan among other topics.

PAC members are: Tom Bair, Christy Baxley, Kerry Cross, Suzanne Cumming, Nina Dempsey, Alma Gijon, Brook Goodman, Rolanda Hardaway, Tamara Hill, Jimmy Hodo, Kim Jones, Tommie Kendall, Stephanee' Pyron, Dan Smith, Todd Thacker, Brandy Thompson, Darious Wilson and Dorthea Woolforlk.

I'm looking forward to working with them this year.

Have a great weekend!

Curtis
Daring to do Better!