There's much irony that on the day our school system received the official word that our record for schools making AYP was 17 & 1, the Griffin Daily News published the article "Griffin vs. Whitewater: Rocky vs. Apollo" (November 2, 2011).
17 & 1 is a winning season. 17 of 18 schools met the highest-ever academic performance in Math and English/Language Arts on state tests. I am proud of the work you are doing. I am proud of our students and their achievements.
It is because we are achieving that I have responded to the article in the Griffin Daily News with a letter to the editor. I hope the Griffin Daily will publish it soon. Let's keep telling our community about our successes! We are Daring to Do Better!
Submitted to the Griffin Daily News on
Thursday, November 3, 2011.
Dear Editor,
Ronald Reagan said it best with, "There you go again."
That's how I felt reading the Griffin Daily News's sports article, "Griffin vs. Whitewater: Rocky vs. Apollo". The analogy made was that Griffin was Rocky, and Whitewater was Apollo Creed. Griffin has nothing, Apollo Creed has everything.
As I read I thought, "There you go again." It reminded me of an article earlier this year where Anne Street and Atkinson elementaries were cited as "Low Performing Schools" because of one science score in one certain grade. I thought that was unfair. The principals responded with excellent letters that Griffin Daily News gets credit for publishing.
When I saw this article I felt: You don't get it, and you're still living in the past.
You think Griffin is a mill town? Wrong. You think Griffin High is dirt poor? Wrong. You think Griffin High doesn't have dedicated coaching staff? Wrong. You don't think they have weight equipment? Wrong. You don't think that Griffin High is a good school? Wrong.
I believe that the article about Anne Street, Atkinson, and now this article about Griffin High continues to hold Griffin back.
There is this culture that says we're still a mill town, our school system is not achieving, and our students can't perform. All wrong. We need to stand up and say so.
Want to talk about our record like it's a football record? We're 17-1. 17 schools made AYP (Annual Yearly Progress). I'll take a 17-1 record anywhere. That's the highest that we've ever had since AYP was created. Our schools did well!
The graduation rate at both Spalding High School and Griffin High School are record highs. The graduation rate for the system is the highest documented. We should be proud!
It's time we stop allowing others to say ours is not a good school system. We are a good system! Schools are performing; students are achieving and they going to some of the nation's best colleges. They're getting good jobs.
Are we perfect? No. Do we have more work to do? Yes.
It's time to recognize that it's 2011 - not the 60's or 70's.
Griffin is an educational center with the Griffin-Spalding County School System, Southern Crescent Technical College, the UGA Griffin Campus, and nearby Gordon College.
We are Daring to Do Better, and it's time that's recognized. We are Griffin! We are Spalding! We are Griffin-Spalding!
Sincerely,
Curtis L. Jones, Jr., Superintendent, Griffin-Spalding County School System
