What a great week!  

a message from Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones

• 1 Baccalaureate
• 2 emails
• 3 High School Graduations

This week has been fantastic!

It started when I received an email from Mrs. Christy Flatt praising the work of her child's teacher, Mr. Robbie Burke, in the classroom. It's good to receive that kind of message because quite often the emails, the telephone calls, and the visits I receive are of a different nature.

Within hours I received another email from Mr. Bokkeum who sang the praises of Orrs Elementary School. Wow! Here are two individuals taking time out of their busy schedules to send an email to the superintendent praising their child's teachers. 

• Click here to read Mrs. Flatt's email
• Click here to read Mr. Bokkeum's email

On Wednesday evening, I attended baccalaureate and watched Griffin High School and Spalding High School students together at First Assembly of God. It was a combined service: JROTC from one school presented the colors and the senior class president of another school led the pledge. It was a great time for all. And the phrase that I remember best from the evening was Mr. Exzayvius Williams' (GHS student body president) comment, "We are Griffin-Spalding County School Graduates!"

I had such a good feeling when I saw our students celebrating together because of your great leadership!

On Thursday I attended the A. Z. Kelsey Academy graduation where eight students joined the ranks of high school graduates. This is the school's 8th graduation, and it was exceptionally well done. Good job, Quimby and AZKA staff!

And as you all know, Griffin High School will celebrate its graduation tonight, and Spalding High School will celebrate its graduation on Saturday morning. What a way to end the school year!

I also want to mention our schools' honors programs where over $4 million in scholarships were presented to so many outstanding seniors at Griffin and Spalding High.

So, I close this note to you with this:

You're appreciated. I received only two good news emails this week but I know you receive more. Seeing our students at celebrations and ceremonies is just icing on the cake. You've had a great year, and you deserve to have a great summer. You're gonna be missed. Have fun, relax, and we'll see you in August. 

Griffin-Spalding County School System 2011 graduating college-bound seniors have earned over $4 million in scholarships from local organizations and higher education institutions.

The total value of reported local and institutional scholarships is $4,289,999.

Griffin High School: 252 Graduates, including 48 Honor Graduates

• Valedictorian - Kaylee Tuggle (below, left)
• Salutatorian - Chaston Matheny (below, right) 

Spalding High School: 246 Graduates, including 70 Honor Graduates

• Valedictorian - Meg Matthews (below, right)
• Salutatorian - Megan Poole (below, left)

A. Z. Kelsey Academy: 8 Graduates

Dr. Curtis Jones, Jr., Superintendent, said, "This is a fantastic class! We congratulate them on a job well done, and we wish them all the best in the future."

*Please note:

• All institutional scholarships are student reported. Institutional scholarships include athletic scholarships.
• Additional institutional scholarships may have been awarded or offered and not reported to GSCS.
• A single student can have institutional scholarship offers from multiple schools. All reported offers are included in these totals.

In an effort to address student safety and appropriate attire for school, the Griffin-Spalding County School System has adopted an updated student dress code for the 2011-2012 school year.

Important changes are:

• The student dress code applies to school hours and school activities.
• Students must wear appropriate footwear (flip-flops and bedroom shoes are not appropriate).
• No student may wear clothing with slits or holes.
• All shirt tails longer than wrist level (when arms are held loosely at the side) must be tucked in.
• Female students may wear leggings provided a dress or top is worn over the leggings. The length of the dress or top must fall below the fingertip when arms are held loosely at the side.

Click here for more information. 

This is going to be a fantastic conference!

Click here for the conference schedule, speaker biographies, and more information. 

Thank you to all of our sponsors!

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

BRITTANICA DIGITAL LEARNING

CENGAGE LEARNING

GRIFFIN-SPALDING EDUCATION FOUNDATION

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA EDUCATORS (PAGE)

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT NETWORK

THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

GEORGIA ACHIEVEMENT SOLUTIONS

NETPLANNER

PERFORMANCE MATTERS