GSCS Named A Constant Contact 2011 All Star

The Griffin-Spalding County School System has received the Constant Contact�, Inc. 2011 All Star Award for its gscs Communicator weekly e-newsletter sent to employees and key communicators.

Each year, a select group of Constant Contact customers are honored with the All Star Award for their exemplary communication and marketing results. The Griffin-Spalding County School System's results ranked among the top 10% of Constant Contact's customer base.

To be named an All Star, Constant Contact looked at the school system's performance indicators in:

• Frequency of communication campaigns,  
• Open, bounce, and click-through rates of each Communicator,
• Social media use of the Communicator on the school system's Facebook page, and
• growth of the key communicator recipient list.

"The gscs Communicator supports our value of Open Communication, and I am excited that we are recognized as a leader in communication" said Dr. Curtis Jones, Superintendent of the Griffin-Spalding County School System.

"We have greatly improved our internal communication since starting the Communicator in July 2009. In addition, the school system is lucky to have a Superintendent who writes a weekly column for employees," said Elizabeth Benz, Communications Specialist and the editor of the gscs Communicator.

Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact, said, "This group is really leading the charge when it comes to delivering relevant, engaging content that drives real business results. We salute this year's All Stars for their success, and are honored to have played a part in their achievements." 

As a part of the waiver from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that Georgia received in February, there will be no more Public School Choice in the state under federal law. 

Instead, Georgia students will follow Georgia House Bill 251 Intra-District School Choice law in applying for transfers out of their designated attendance-zone school. 

House Bill 251 has been one of the options for students to request transfers in years past along with the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and state Senate Bill 10 for special needs students. 

"In Griffin-Spalding, school transfers under federal law would begin to be severely limited because 17 of 18 schools made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) this year. However, even now, there are no choice options because  all of the high schools are on the Needs Improvement list (even though they made AYP)," said Ashley McLemore, Director of Federal Programs.  

"Cowan Road Middle School was already removed from the Needs Improvement list in November so students were no longer able to apply for a transfer to Carver Road or Kennedy Road middle schools. 

"However if students have transferred from Cowan Road Middle to one of these schools, they can remain until the highest grade level is reached. If they desire to remain, they will have to provide their own transportation though," she continued.

Letters about these changes are being sent to A.Z. Kelsey Academy and Griffin High School students as well as parents of students who previously transferred to let them know they can remain at their transfer school until the highest grade level is reached, while providing their own transportation to that transfer school. 

Information about school transfer options under House Bill 251 choice will be distributed in June 2012. 

On Wednesday came some of the first results from Georgia's waiver of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) when the Georgia "Title I Priority Schools" were announced.

Griffin High School was named a Title I "priority school" because it received a $4.5 million School Improvement Grant two years ago.  Five percent of Title I schools or 78 schools in Georgia are identified in the "priority" category.

There are three ways to be identified as a Title I Priority School: 

1. Received a School Improvement Grant (This is how GHS was identified as a Title I Priority School)
    
2. Had a graduation rate of less than 60% over 2 years (using the proxy rate not the cohort rate) (Griffin High School's graduation rate increased from 65% in 2010 to 72% in 2011.)
    
3. 2011 composite of standardized tests 

As part of the waiver, the Georgia Department of Education will next identify Focus Schools and Reward Schools. Achievement data from all core content areas and graduation rate data will be used to identify these schools.

At the end of this current school year, these Priority Schools and Focus Schools will replace current Needs Improvement Schools.

 Reward Schools will replace the current Distinguished Schools designation and will be announced in September 2012.

Georgia will also identify Alert Schools in three categories:  Subgroup Alert Schools, Subject Alert Schools, and Graduation Alert Schools.  These Alert Schools will be identified based on a more detailed evaluation of subgroup performance.  

Georgia is among a group of only 10 states to receive a waiver from ESEA. 

Griffin High School students Kayla Brantley and Nikki Stone, who competed in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge, recently had their novels published through CreateSpace. Fifty Griffin High School students participated in the challenge with the goal to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days.

Nikki Stone - 12th Grade (Photo left)

• This is the story of Audrey, who is mysteriously taken from her room in Haven.

Kayla Brantley - 11th Grade (Photo right)

• Jinx, a teenage girl, navigates through the chaotic atmosphere of a dying world in Chronicles of Thermon. She is published under the pen name of Ember Adams. (This novel can be purchased on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Thermon-Ember-L-Adams/dp/1468112732)

Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones said, "It is especially exciting when our students find success in 'the real world'. Making the connections between high school curriculum and careers is the future of education, and I'm proud of our Griffin High School students who are leading the way."

Spalding High School student Dayton Grogan Named Georgia EMC Delegate

Dayton Grogan, a Spalding High School junior, has been selected by Central Georgia EMC to represent Georgia on their Washington Youth Tour.  Dayton competed against students in Central Georgia EMC's fourteen county region to win this honor.

This leadership award includes meeting with state and national leaders in D.C., personal leadership training, joining over 1400 other student delegates from across the nation, and touring major sights across our nation's capital.  This program is one of the highlights of Georgia EMC's focus on youth education and leadership training.

"It is quite an honor for Dayton to be named a delegate, and we are proud of him. We know that he will represent our school and our community with honor," said Derrell Jeffcoat, principal of Spalding High School.  

Griffin High School student to compete at state level in "Laws of Life" contest

Sixteen students received recognition and/or monetary awards for their "compelling" essays in the Rotary Club's Georgia Laws of Life Essay Contest.  More than 900 Griffin High School students competed for the top prize, which was won by Joni Marie Patterson. She will continue to the state competition for additional awards. 

Griffin High School teacher Melanie Underwood said, "This contest asks students to select a "Law of Life" such as "to give is better than to receive" and to explain how the character value contained in the maxim applies to the student's life. The contest challenges students to examine values such as love, loyalty, generosity, courage, compassion and perseverance. Winners were chosen for their heartfelt, compelling stories that make the reader both think and feel." 

She continued, "Joni Marie won $100 for her essay about a Father's Day canoeing trip that took much longer and was more arduous than she and her father had planned. They had to work together through the challenges, and through this adventure she realized that 'parents need their children as much as their children need their parents.' Her essay will now be entered into the state finalist competition for prizes up to $1,000." 

The winners are:
Overall School Winner: Joni Marie Patterson

9th Grade Winner: Laura Harness (right)
Honorable Mention: Mary Holmes and Victoria Kohl

10th Grade Winner: Zakiria Mays (2nd from right)
Honorable Mention: Betty Murphy, Geraldine Lewis, and Shacarri Cheves

11th Grade Winner: Joni Marie Patterson (2nd from left)
Honorable Mention: Shannon McLarty, Trey Mallett, and Jed Paz

12th Grade Winner: Jacquelynn Harmon (left)
Honorable Mention: Amanda Lynch, Sarah Hill, Amber Leacock, and Ashleigh Skelton

Grade-level winners

Education Celebration sponsor Norcom, Inc., hosted the West Central Regional Work-Based Learning Coordinator meeting on Wednesday, March 14.

Coordinators, including Griffin-Spalding's Carol Harpe, toured Norcom to see the array of skills needed in the work force so they can better mentor students.